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Register a new user3.3 {mu}m PAH observations of the central kiloparsecs of Centaurus A
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Added by
L. E. Tacconi-Garman
Publication date
2013
fields
Physics
and research's language is
English
Authors
L.E. Tacconi-Garman
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Aims. The aim of this work is to further investigate the nature of PAH excitation and emission especially in the context of tracing star formation in a variety of extragalactic environments. Here we turn our attention to the energetic environment of the closest AGN in our sample, Centaurus A. Methods. Using ISAAC on the ESO VLT UT1 (Antu) we have made high spatial resolution 3.3 {mu}m imaging observations of the central kiloparsec of CenA. These observations have been compared with star formation tracers in the near- and mid-infrared, as well as with mid-infrared tracers of nuclear activity. Results. The nucleus is not devoid of PAH emission, implying that the PAH particles are not destroyed in the nucleus as might be expected for such a harsh environment. However, we see the feature to continuum ratio decrease towards the AGN. As well, the 3.3 {mu}m PAH feature emission generally traces the sites of star formation in Cen A, but in detail there are spatial offsets, consistent with an earlier study of the starburst galaxies NGC 253 and NGC 1808. However, the feature-to-continuum ratio does not drop at the positions of star formation as was previously seen in that earlier study. The cause for this difference remains uncertain. Finally, our data reveal possible evidence for a nearly face-on, circular or spiral, dust structure surrounding the nucleus.
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We explore the relationships between the 3.3 {mu}m polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) feature and active galactic nucleus (AGN) properties of a sample of 54 hard X-ray selected bright AGNs, including both Seyfert 1 and Seyfert 2 type objects, using the InfraRed Camera (IRC) on board the infrared astronomical satellite AKARI. The sample is selected from the 9-month Swift/BAT survey in the 14-195 keV band and all of them have measured X-ray spectra at $E lesssim 10$ keV. These X-ray spectra provide measurements of the neutral hydrogen column density ($N_{rm H}$) towards the AGNs. We use the 3.3 {mu}m PAH luminosity ($L_{rm 3.3{mu}m}$) as a proxy for star formation activity and hard X-ray luminosity ($L_{rm 14-195keV}$) as an indicator of the AGN activity. We search for possible difference of star-formation activity between type 1 (un-absorbed) and type 2 (absorbed) AGNs. We have made several statistical analyses taking the upper-limits of the PAH lines into account utilizing survival analysis methods. The results of our $log(L_{rm 14-195keV})$ versus $log(L_{rm 3.3{mu}m})$ regression shows a positive correlation and the slope for the type 1/unobscured AGNs is steeper than that of type 2/obscured AGNs at a $3sigma$ level. Also our analysis show that the circum-nuclear star-formation is more enhanced in type 2/absorbed AGNs than type 1/un-absorbed AGNs for low X-ray luminosity/low Eddington ratio AGNs, while there is no significant dependence of star-formation activities on the AGN type in the high X-ray luminosities/Eddington ratios.
The PAH model predicts many weak emission features in the 1-5 $mu$m region that can resolve significant questions that it has faced since its inception in the mid-80s. These features contain fundamental information about the PAH population that is inaccessible via the much stronger PAH bands in the 5-20 $mu$m region. Apart from the 3.3 $mu$m band and plateau, PAH spectroscopy across most of the 1-5 $mu$m region has been unexplored due to its low intrinsic intensity. ISO and Akari covered some of this wavelength range, but lacked the combined sensitivity and resolution to measure the predicted bands with sufficient fidelity. The spectroscopic capabilities of the NIRSpec instrument on board JWST will make it possible to measure and fully characterize many of the PAH features expected in this region. These include the fundamental, overtone and combination C-D and C$equiv$N stretching bands of deuterated PAHs, cyano-PAHs (PAH-C$equiv$ N), and the overtones and combinations of the strong PAH bands that dominate the 5-20 $mu$m region. These bands will reveal the amount of D tied up in PAHs, the PAH D/H ratio, the D distribution between PAH aliphatic and aromatic subcomponents, and delineate key stages in PAH formation and evolution on an object-by-object basis and within extended objects. If cyano-PAHs are present, these bands will also reveal the amount of cyano groups tied up in PAHs, determine the N/C ratio within that PAH subset, and distinguish between the bands near 4.5 $mu$m that arise from CD versus C$equiv$N.
We present spectra of the 3.3 $mu$m and 11.2 $mu$m PAH features of a large number of (extra-) galactic sources, obtained with ISO-SWS. Clear variations are present in the profiles of these features. The sources are classified independently based on the 3.3 and 11.2 $mu$m feature profiles and peak positions. Correlations between these classes and those based on the 6--9 $mu$m features (Peeters et al. 2002) are found. Also, these classifications depend on the type of object. The observed pronounced contrast in the spectral variations for the CH modes (3.3 and 11.2 $mu$m bands) versus the CC modes (6.2, 7.7 and 8.6 $mu$m bands) is striking : the peak wavelengths of the features attributed to CC modes vary by $sim$15--80 cm$^{-1}$, while for the CH modes the variations are $sim$4--6.5 cm$^{-1}$. We summarize existing laboratory data and theoretical calculations of PAH molecules and complexes. In contrast to the 6.2 and 7.7 $mu$m components which are attributed to PAH cations, the 3.3 $mu$m feature appears to originate in neutral and/or negatively charged PAHs. We attribute the variations in peak position and profile of these features to the composition of the PAH family. The variations in FWHM of the 3.3 $mu$m feature remains an enigma while those of the 11.2 $mu$m can be explained by anharmonicity and molecular structure. The possible origin of the observed contrast in profile variations between the CH modes and the CC modes is highlighted.
For star-forming galaxies, we investigate a global relation between polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emission luminosity at 3.3 um, L_PAH3.3, and infrared (8-1000 um) luminosity, L_IR, to understand how the PAH 3.3 um feature relates to the star formation activity. With AKARI, we performed near-infrared (2.5-5 um) spectroscopy of 184 galaxies which have L_IR sim 10^8 - 10^13 L_sun. We classify the samples into infrared galaxies (IRGs; L_IR < 10^11 L_sun), luminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs; L_IR sim 10^11 -10^12 L_sun) and ultra luminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs; L_IR > 10^12 L_sun). We exclude sources which are likely contaminated by AGN activity, based on the rest-frame equivalent width of the PAH emission feature (< 40 nm) and the power-law index representing the slope of continuum emission (Gamma > 1; F_nu propto lambda^Gamma). Of these samples, 13 IRGs, 67 LIRGs and 20 ULIRGs show PAH emission feature at lambda_rest= 3.3 um in their spectra. We find that the L_PAH3.3/L_IR ratio considerably decreases toward the luminous end. Utilizing the mass and temperature of dust grains as well as the BrAlpha emission for the galaxies, we discuss the cause of the relative decrease in the PAH emission with L_IR.
We present Gran Telescopio CANARIAS CanariCam 8.7$mu$m imaging and 7.5-13$mu$m spectroscopy of six local systems known to host an active galactic nucleus (AGN) and have nuclear star formation. Our main goal is to investigate whether the molecules responsible for the 11.3$mu$m polyclyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) feature are destroyed in the close vicinity of an AGN. We detect 11.3$mu$m PAH feature emission in the nuclear regions of the galaxies as well as extended PAH emission over a few hundred parsecs. The equivalent width (EW) of the feature shows a minimum at the nucleus but increases with increasing radial distances, reaching typical star-forming values a few hundred parsecs away from the nucleus. The reduced nuclear EW are interpreted as due to increased dilution from the AGN continuum rather than destruction of the PAH molecules. We conclude that at least those molecules responsible for the 11.3$mu$m PAH feature survive in the nuclear environments as close as 10pc from the AGN and for Seyfert-like AGN luminosities. We propose that material in the dusty tori, nuclear gas disks, and/or host galaxies of AGN is likely to provide the column densities necessary to protect the PAH molecules from the AGN radiation field.
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