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Register a new userTime-resolved infrared emission from radiation-driven central obscuring structures in Active Galactic Nuclei
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The central engines of Seyfert galaxies are thought to be enshrouded by geometrically thick gas and dust structures. In this article, we derive observable properties for a self-consistent model of such toroidal gas and dust distributions, where the geometrical thickness is achieved and maintained with the help of X-ray heating and radiation pressure due to the central engine. Spectral energy distributions (SEDs) and images are obtained with the help of dust continuum radiative transfer calculations with RADMC-3D. For the first time, we are able to present time-resolved SEDs and images for a physical model of the central obscurer. Temporal changes are mostly visible at shorter wavelengths, close to the combined peak of the dust opacity as well as the central source spectrum and are caused by variations in the column densities of the generated outflow. Due to the three-component morphology of the hydrodynamical models -- a thin disc with high density filaments, a surrounding fluffy component (the obscurer) and a low density outflow along the rotation axis -- we find dramatic differences depending on wavelength: whereas the mid-infrared images are dominated by the elongated appearance of the outflow cone, the long wavelength emission is mainly given by the cold and dense disc component. Overall, we find good agreement with observed characteristics, especially for those models, which show clear outflow cones in combination with a geometrically thick distribution of gas and dust, as well as a geometrically thin, but high column density disc in the equatorial plane.
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In order to better understand how active galactic nuclei (AGN) effect the interstellar media of their host galaxies, we perform a meta-analysis of the CO emission for a sample of $z=0.01-4$ galaxies from the literature with existing CO detections and well-constrained AGN contributions to the infrared (67 galaxies). Using either Spitzer/IRS mid-IR spectroscopy or Spitzer+Herschel colors we determine the fraction of the infrared luminosity in each galaxy that can be attributed to heating by the AGN or stars. We calculate new average CO spectral line ratios (primarily from Carilli & Walter 2013) to uniformly scale the higher-$J$ CO detections to the ground state and accurately determine our samples molecular gas masses. We do not find significant differences in the gas depletion timescales/star formation efficiencies (SFEs) as a function of the mid-infrared AGN strength ($f_{rm AGN}({rm MIR})$ or $L_{rm IR} ({rm AGN})$), which indicates that the presence of an IR-bright AGN is not a sufficient sign-post of galaxy quenching. We also find that the dust-to-gas ratio is consistent for all sources, regardless of AGN emission, redshift, or $L_{rm IR}$, indicating that dust is likely a reliable tracer of gas mass for massive dusty galaxies (albeit with a large degree of scatter). Lastly, if we classify galaxies as either AGN or star formation dominated, we do not find a robust statistically significant difference between their CO excitation.
We use mid-infrared spectroscopy of unobscured active galactic nuclei (AGNs) to reveal their native dusty environments. We concentrate on Seyfert 1 galaxies, observing a sample of 31 with the Infrared Spectrograph aboard the Spitzer Space Telescope, and compare them with 21 higher-luminosity quasar counterparts. Silicate dust reprocessing dominates the mid-infrared spectra, and we generally measure the 10 and 18 micron spectral features weakly in emission in these galaxies. The strengths of the two silicate features together are sensitive to the dust distribution. We present numerical radiative transfer calculations that distinguish between clumpy and smooth geometries, which are applicable to any central heating source, including stars as well as AGNs. In the observations, we detect the obscuring ``torus of unified AGN schemes, modeling it as compact and clumpy. We also determine that star formation increases with AGN luminosity, although the proportion of the galaxies bolometric luminosity attributable to stars decreases with AGN luminosity.
For nearly seven decades astronomers have been studying active galaxies, that is to say galaxies with actively accreting central supermassive black holes, AGN. A small fraction of these are characterized by luminous, powerful radio emission: this class is known as radio-loud. A substantial fraction, the so-called radio-quiet AGN population, displays intermediate or weak radio emission. However, an appreciable fraction of strong X-rays emitting AGN are characterized by the absence of radio emission, down to an upper limit of about $10^{-7}$ times the luminosity of the most powerful radio-loud AGN. We wish to address the nature of these - seemingly radio-silent - X-ray-luminous AGN and their host galaxies: is there any radio emission, and if so, where does it originate? Focusing on the GOODS-N field, we examine the nature of these objects employing stacking techniques on ultra-deep radio data obtained with the JVLA. We combine these radio data with Spitzer far-infrared data. We establish the absence, or totally insignificant contribution of jet-driven radio-emission in roughly half of the otherwise normal population of X-ray luminous AGN, which appear to reside in normal star-forming galaxies. We conclude that AGN- or jet-driven radio emission is simply a mechanism that may be at work or may be dormant in galaxies with actively accreting black holes. The latter can be classified as radio-silent AGN.
In a sample of local active galactic nuclei studied at a spatial resolution on the order of 10 pc we show that the interstellar medium traced by the molecular hydrogen v=1-0 S(1) 2.1um line forms a geometrically thick, clumpy disk. The kinematics of the molecular gas reveals general rotation, although an additional significant component of random bulk motion is required by the high local velocity dispersion. The size scale of the typical gas disk is found to have a radius of ~30 pc with a comparable vertical height. Within this radius the average gas mass is estimated to be ~10^7 Msun based on a typical gas mass fraction of 10%, which suggests column densities of Nh ~ 5x10^23 cm^-2. Extinction of the stellar continuum within this same region suggest lower column densities of Nh ~ 2x10^22 cm^-2, indicating that the gas distribution on these scales is dominated by dense clumps. In half of the observed Seyfert galaxies this lower column density is still great enough to obscure the AGN at optical/infrared wavelengths. We conclude, based on the spatial distribution, kinematics, and column densities that the molecular gas observed is spatially mixed with the nuclear stellar population and is likely to be associated with the outer extent of any smaller scale nuclear obscuring structure. Furthermore, we find that the velocity dispersion of the molecular gas is correlated with the star formation rate per unit area, suggesting a link between the two phenomena, and that the gas surface density follows known Schmidt-Kennicutt relations. The molecular/dusty structure on these scales may be dynamic since it is possible that the velocity dispersion of the gas, and hence the vertical disk height, is maintained by a short, massive inflow of material into the nuclear region and/or by intense, short-lived nuclear star formation.
Apart from viewing-dependent obscuration, intrinsic broad-line emission from active galactic nuclei (AGNs) follows an evolutionary sequence: Type $1 to 1.2/1.5 to 1.8/1.9 to 2$ as the accretion rate onto the central black hole is decreasing. This spectral evolution is controlled, at least in part, by the parameter $L_{rm bol}/M^{2/3}$, where $L_{rm bol}$ is the AGN bolometric luminosity and $M$ is the black hole mass. Both this dependence and the double-peaked profiles that emerge along the sequence arise naturally in the disk-wind scenario for the AGN broad-line region.
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