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Register a new userRevealing the large nuclear dust structures in NGC 1068 with MIDI/VLTI
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Added by
Noel L\\'opez Gonzaga
Publication date
2014
fields
Physics
and research's language is
English
Authors
N. Lopez-Gonzaga
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To understand the relation between the small obscuring torus and dusty structures at larger scales (5-10 pc) in NGC 1068, we use ESOs Mid-Infrared Interferometer (MIDI) with the 1.8 m Auxiliary Telescopes to achieve the necessary spatial resolution (~ 20-100 millarcsec). We use the chromatic phases in the data to improve the spatial fidelity of the analysis. We present interferometric data for NGC 1068 obtained in 2007 and 2012. We find no evidence of source variability. Many (u,v) points show non-zero chromatic phases indicating significant asymmetries. Gaussian model fitting of the correlated fluxes and chromatic phases provides a 3-component best fit with estimates of sizes, temperatures and positions of the components. A large, warm, off-center component is required at a distance approximately 90 mas to the north-west at a PA ~ -18 deg. The dust at 5-10 pc in the polar region contributes 4 times more to the mid-infrared flux at 12 um than the dust located at the center. This dust may represent the inner wall of a dusty cone. If similar regions are heated by the direct radiation from the nucleus, then they will contribute substantially to the classification of many Seyfert galaxies as Type 2. Such a region is also consistent in other Seyfert galaxies (the Circinus galaxy, NGC 3783 and NGC 424).
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We present new interferometric data obtained with MIDI (MID infrared Interferometric instrument) for the Seyfert II galaxy NGC 1068, with an extensive coverage of sixteen uv points. These observations resolve the nuclear mid-infrared emission from NGC 1068 in unprecedented detail with a maximum resolution of 7 mas. For the first time, sufficient uv points have been obtained, allowing us to generate an image of the source using maximum entropy image reconstruction. The features of the image are similar to those obtained by modelling. We find that the mid-infrared emission can be represented by two components, each with a Gaussian brightness distribution. The first, identified as the inner funnel of the obscuring torus, is hot (800K), 1.35 parsec long, and 0.45 parsec thick in FWHM at a PA=-42 degrees (from north to east). It has an absorption profile different than standard interstellar dust and with evidence for clumpiness. The second component is 3 by 4 pc in FWHM with T=300K, and we identify it with the cooler body of the torus. The compact component is tilted by 45 degrees with respect to the radio jet and has similar size and orientation to the observed water maser distribution. We show how the dust distribution relates to other observables within a few parsecs of the core of the galaxy such as the nuclear masers, the radio jet, and the ionization cone. We compare our findings to a similar study of the Circinus galaxy and other relevant studies. Our findings shed new light on the relation between the different parsec-scale components in NGC 1068 and the obscuring torus.
In order to put MIDI/VLTI observations of AGNs on a significant statistical basis, the number of objects had to be increased dramatically from the few prominent bright cases to over 20. For this, correlated fluxes as faint as ~ 150 mJy need to be observed, calibrated and their errors be estimated reliably. We have developed new data reduction methods for the coherent estimation of correlated fluxes with the Expert Work Station (EWS). They increase the signal/noise of the reduced correlated fluxes by decreasing the jitter in the group delay estimation. While correlation losses cannot be fully avoided for the weakest objects even with the improved routines, we have developed a method to simulate observations of weak targets and can now detect --- and correct for --- such losses. We have analyzed all sources of error that are relevant for the observations of weak targets. Apart from the photon-noise error, that is usually quoted, there is an additional error from the uncertainty in the calibration (i.e. the conversion factor). With the improved data reduction, calibration and error estimation, we can consistently and reproducibly observe fluxes as weak as ~ 150 mJy with an uncertainty of ~ 15 % under average conditions.
We present near-infrared interferometric data on the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 1068, obtained with the GRAVITY instrument on the European Southern Observatory Very Large Telescope Interferometer. The extensive baseline coverage from 5 to 60 Mlambda allowed us to reconstruct a continuum image of the nucleus with an unrivaled 0.2 pc resolution in the K-band. We find a thin ring-like structure of emission with a radius r = 0.24+/-0.03 pc, inclination i = 70+/-5 deg, position angle PA = -50+/-4 deg, and h/r < 0.14, which we associate with the dust sublimation region. The observed morphology is inconsistent with the expected signatures of a geometrically and optically thick torus. Instead, the infrared emission shows a striking resemblance to the 22 GHz maser disc, which suggests they share a common region of origin. The near-infrared spectral energy distribution indicates a bolometric luminosity of (0.4-4.7) x 10^45 erg/s, behind a large A_K ~ 5.5 (A_V ~ 90) screen of extinction that also appears to contribute significantly to obscuring the broad line region.
The obscuring structure surrounding active galactic nuclei (AGN) can be explained as a dust and gas flow cycle that fundamentally connects the AGN with their host galaxies. This structure is believed to be associated with dusty winds driven by radiation pressure. However, the role of magnetic fields, which are invoked in almost all models for accretion onto a supermassive black hole and outflows, is not thoroughly studied. Here we report the first detection of polarized thermal emission by means of magnetically aligned dust grains in the dusty torus of NGC 1068 using ALMA Cycle 4 polarimetric dust continuum observations ($0.07$, $4.2$ pc; 348.5 GHz, $860$ $mu$m). The polarized torus has an asymmetric variation across the equatorial axis with a peak polarization of $3.7pm0.5$% and position angle of $109pm2^{circ}$ (B-vector) at $sim8$ pc east from the core. We compute synthetic polarimetric observations of magnetically aligned dust grains assuming a toroidal magnetic field and homogeneous grain alignment. We conclude that the measured 860 $mu$m continuum polarization arises from magnetically aligned dust grains in an optically thin region of the torus. The asymmetric polarization across the equatorial axis of the torus arises from 1) an inhomogeneous optical depth, and 2) a variation of the velocity dispersion, i.e. variation of the magnetic field turbulence at sub-pc scales, from the eastern to the western region of the torus. These observations and modeling constrain the torus properties beyond spectral energy distribution results. This study strongly supports that magnetic fields up to a few pc contribute to the accretion flow onto the active nuclei.
Warm debris disks are a sub-sample of the large population of debris disks, and display excess emission in the mid-IR. Around solar-type stars, very few objects show emission features in mid-IR spectroscopic observations, that are attributed to small, warm silicate dust grains. The origin of this warm dust can possibly be explained either by a collision between several bodies or by transport from an outer belt. We present and analyse new far-IR Herschel/Pacs observations, supplemented by ground-based data in the mid-IR (VLTI/Midi and VLT/Visir), for one of these rare systems: the 10-16 Myr old debris disk around HD 113766 A. We improve an existing model to account for these new observations, and better constrain the spatial distribution of the dust and its composition. We underline the limitations of SED modelling and the need for spatially resolved observations. We find that the system is best described by an inner disk located within the first AU, well constrained by the Midi data, and an outer disk located between 9-13 AU. In the inner dust belt, our previous finding of Fe-rich crystalline olivine grains still holds. We do not observe time variability of the emission features over at least a 8 years time span, in a environment subjected to strong radiation pressure. The time stability of the emission features indicates that {mu}m-sized dust grains are constantly replenished from the same reservoir, with a possible depletion of sub-{mu}m-sized grains. We suggest that the emission features may arise from multi-composition aggregates. We discuss possible scenarios concerning the origin of the warm dust. The compactness of the innermost regions as probed by Midi, as well as the dust composition, suggest that we are witnessing the outcomes of (at least) one collision between partially differentiated bodies, in an environment possibly rendered unstable by terrestrial planetary formation.
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