Thermal imaging of dust hiding the black hole in the Active Galaxy NGC 1068
Abstrak
In the widely accepted 'Unified Model' solution of the classification puzzle of Active Galactic Nuclei, the orientation of a dusty accretion torus around the central black hole dominates their appearance. In 'type-1' systems, the bright nucleus is visible at the centre of a face-on torus. In 'type-2' systems the thick, nearly edge-on torus hides the central engine. Later studies suggested evolutionary effects and added dusty clumps and polar winds but left the basic picture intact. However, recent high-resolution images of the archetypal type-2 galaxy NGC 1068 suggested a more radical revision. They displayed a ring-like emission feature which the authors advocated to be hot dust surrounding the black hole at the radius where the radiation from the central engine evaporates the dust. That ring is too thin and too far tilted from edge-on to hide the central engine, and ad hoc foreground extinction is needed to explain the type-2 classification. These images quickly generated reinterpretations of the type 1-2 dichotomy. Here we present new multi-band mid-infrared images of NGC1068 that detail the dust temperature distribution and reaffirm the original model. Combined with radio data, our maps locate the central engine below the previously reported ring and obscured by a thick, nearly edge-on disk, as predicted by the Unified Model. We also identify emission from polar flows and absorbing dust that is mineralogically distinct from that towards the Milky Way centre.
Topik & Kata Kunci
Penulis (52)
Violeta Gamez Rosas
Jacob W. Isbell
Walter Jaffe
Romain G. Petrov
James H. Leftley
Karl-Heinz Hofmann
Florentin Millour
Leonard Burtscher
Klaus Meisenheimer
Anthony Meilland
Laurens B. F. M. Waters
Bruno Lopez
Stephane Lagarde
Gerd Weigelt
Philippe Berio
Fatme Allouche
Sylvie Robbe-Dubois
Pierre Cruzalebes
Felix Bettonvil
Thomas Henning
Jean-Charles Augereau
Pierre Antonelli
Udo Beckmann
Roy van Boekel
Philippe Bendjoya
William C. Danchi
Carsten Dominik
Julien Drevon
Jack F. Gallimore
Uwe Graser
Matthias Heininger
Vincent Hocde
Michiel Hogerheijde
Josef Hron1
Caterina M. V. Impellizzeri
Lucia Klarmann
Elena Kokoulina
Lucas Labadie
Michael Lehmitz
Alexis Matter
Claudia Paladini
Eric Pantin
Jorg-Uwe Pott
Dieter Schert
Anthony Soulain
Philippe Stee
Konrad Tristram
Jozsef Varga
Julien Woillez
Sebastian Wolf
Gideon Yoffe
Gerard Zins
Akses Cepat
- Tahun Terbit
- 2021
- Bahasa
- en
- Sumber Database
- arXiv
- Akses
- Open Access ✓