Parsec-scale dust distributions in Seyfert galaxies - Results of the MIDI AGN snapshot survey

Abstract

The emission of warm dust dominates the mid-infrared spectra of active galactic nuclei (AGN). Only interferometric observations provide the necessary angular resolution to resolve the nuclear dust and to study its distribution and properties. The investigation of dust in AGN cores is hence one of the main science goals for the MID-infrared Interferometric instrument MIDI at the VLTI. As the first step, the feasibility of AGN observations was verified and the most promising sources for detailed studies were identified. This was carried out in a "snapshot survey" with MIDI using Guaranteed Time Observations. In the survey, observations were attempted for 13 of the brightest AGN in the mid-infrared which are visible from Paranal. The results of the three brightest, best studied sources have been published in separate papers. Here we present the interferometric observations for the remaining 10, fainter AGN. For 8 of these, interferometric measurements could be carried out. Size estimates or limits on the spatial extent of the AGN-heated dust were derived from the interferometric data of 7 AGN. These indicate that the dust distributions are compact, with sizes on the order of a few parsec. The derived sizes roughly scale with the square root of the luminosity in the mid-infrared, s ~ sqrt(L), with no clear distinction between type 1 and type 2 objects. This is in agreement with a model of nearly optically thick dust structures heated to T ~ 300 K. For three sources, the 10 micron feature due to silicates is tentatively detected either in emission or in absorption. Based on the results for all AGN studied with MIDI so far, we conclude that in the mid-infrared the differences between individual galactic nuclei are greater than the generic differences between type 1 and type 2 objects.

18 pages, 8 figures, updated to version published in A&A 502, 67-84

References in corpus (13)

• Resolving the complex structure of the dust torus in the active nucleus of the Circinus galaxy
• Radiative Transfer Modeling of Three-Dimensional Clumpy AGN Tori and its Application to NGC 1068
• Three-dimensional radiative transfer models of clumpy tori in Seyfert galaxies
• Resolving the obscuring torus in NGC 1068 with the power of infrared interferometry: Revealing the inner funnel of dust
• Spitzer IRS spectra of a large sample of Seyfert galaxies: a variety of infrared SEDs in the local AGN population
• Resolving the innermost parsec of Centaurus A at mid-infrared wavelengths
• The XMM-Newton long look of NGC 1365: uncovering of the obscured X-ray source
• The effect of stellar feedback on the formation and evolution of gas and dust tori in AGN
• VLTI/VINCI observations of the nucleus of NGC 1068 using the adaptive optics system MACAO
• Probing the dusty environment of the Seyfert 1 nucleus in NGC 3783 with MIDI/VLTI interferometry
• A historic jet-emission minimum reveals hidden spectral features in 3C 273
• Mid-infrared imaging of 25 local AGN with VLT-VISIR
• The core flux of the brightest 10 micron galaxies in the southern sky

Cited by in corpus (31)

• ALMA images the many faces of the NGC1068 torus and its surroundings
• The Galaxy Activity, Torus and Outflow Survey (GATOS) I. ALMA images of dusty molecular tori in Seyfert galaxies
• Nuclear 11.3$\mu$m PAH emission in local active galactic nuclei
• Time-resolved infrared emission from radiation-driven central obscuring structures in Active Galactic Nuclei
• Torus model properties of an ultra-hard X-ray selected sample of Seyfert galaxies
• The variable and non-variable X-ray absorbers in Compton-thin type-II Active Galactic Nuclei
• Probing the Active Galactic Nuclei Unified Model Torus Properties in Seyfert Galaxies
• The dust-gas AGN torus as constrained from X-ray and mid-infrared observations
• The nuclear and extended infrared emission of the Seyfert galaxy NGC 2992 and the interacting system Arp 245
• The nuclear and extended mid-infrared emission of Seyfert galaxies
• Spitzer Space Telescope Measurements of Dust Reverberation Lags in the Seyfert 1 Galaxy NGC 6418
• A mid-infrared statistical investigation of clumpy torus model predictions
• Torus and polar dust dependence on AGN properties
• Correlation between X-ray and radio absorption in compact radio galaxies
• Hard X-Ray to Radio Multiwavelength SED Analysis of Local U/LIRGs in GOALS Sample with Self-consistent AGN Model Including Polar-dust Component
• Radiative heating in the kinetic mode of AGN feedback
• AGN torus detectability at sub-millimeter wavelengths: What to expect from ALMA continuum data
• Imaging the AGN Torus in Cygnus
• A Compact Jet at the Infrared Heart of the Prototypical Low-Luminosity AGN in NGC 1052
• Infrared Interferometry and AGNs: Parsec-scale Disks and Dusty Outflows
• Dust Dynamics in AGN Winds: A New Mechanism For Multiwavelength AGN Variability
• Active Galactic Nuclei and their Role in Galaxy Evolution: The Infrared Perspective
• Subaru Spectroscopy and Spectral Modeling of Cygnus A
• The nature of massive black hole binary candidates: II. Spectral energy distribution atlas
• The Nuclear Filaments inside the Circumnuclear Disk in the Central 0.5 pc of the Galactic center
• A complex dust morphology in the high-luminosity AGN Mrk 876
• The nature of obscuration in AGN: II. insights from clustering properties
• On planet formation around supermassive black holes and the grain disruption barriers by radiative torques
• ALMA uncovers optically thin and multi-component CO gas in the outflowing circumnuclear disk of NGC1068
• The first spectroscopic IR reverberation programme on Mrk 509
• The properties of the obscuring material of an AGNs sample from mid-IR and X-ray simultaneous fitting