The innermost region of the water megamaser radio galaxy 3C403

Abstract

The standard unified scheme of active galactic nuclei requires the presence of high column densities of gas and dust potentially obscuring the central engine. So far, few direct subarcsecond resolution studies of this material have been performed toward radio galaxies. The goal of this paper is to elucidate the nuclear environment of the prototypical X-shaped Fanaroff-Riley type II radio galaxy 3C403, the only powerful radio galaxy known to host a water megamaser. Very Large Array A-array and single-dish Green Bank and Effelsberg 1.3 cm measurements were performed to locate and monitor the water maser emission. Very Long Baseline Interferometry 6 cm continuum observations were taken to analyze the spatial structure of the nuclear environment at even smaller scales, while the CO J=1-0 and 2-1 transitions were observed with the IRAM 30-m telescope to search for thermal emission from a spatially extended, moderately dense gas component.[abridged]

arXiv comment11 pages, 12 figures, accepted by A&A. For a version with high quality figures, see http://erg.ca.astro.it/~atarchi/3C403/

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• Suzaku View of the Swift/Bat Active Galactic Nuclei. IV. Nature of Two Narrow-Line Radio Galaxies (3C 403 and IC 5063)
• A Search for H2O Megamasers in High-z Type-2 AGNs
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• Water vapour at high redshift: Arecibo monitoring of the megamaser in MG J0414+0534
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