Investigating the sensitivity of observed spectral energy distributions to clumpy torus properties in Seyfert galaxies

Abstract

We present nuclear spectral energy distributions (SEDs) from 1 to 18 micron of a small sample of nearby, nearly face-on and undisturbed Seyfert galaxies without prominent nuclear dust lanes. These nuclear SEDs probe the central ~35 pc of the galaxies, on average, and include photometric and spectroscopic infrared (IR) data. We use these SEDs, the clumpy torus models of Nenkova et al. and a Bayesian approach to study the sensitivity of different IR wavelengths to the torus parameters. We find that high angular resolution 8-13 micron spectroscopy alone reliably constrains the number of clumps and their optical depth (N0 and tau_V). On the other hand, we need a combination of mid- and near-IR subarcsecond resolution photometry to constrain torus width and inclination, as well as the radial distribution of the clouds (sigma, i and q). For flat radial profiles (q=0,1), it is possible to constrain the extent of the mid-IR-emitting dust within the torus (Y) when N-band spectroscopy is available, in addition to near-IR photometry. Finally, by fitting different combinations of average and individual Seyfert 1 and Seyfert 2 data, we find that, in general, for undisturbed, nearly face-on Seyferts without prominent nuclear dust lanes, the minimum combination of data necessary to reliably constrain all the torus parameters is J+K+M-band photometry + N-band spectroscopy.

arXiv comment15 pages, 11 figures, accepted in MNRAS

References in corpus (43)

• AGN Dusty Tori: II. Observational Implications of Clumpiness
• AGN Dusty Tori: I. Handling of Clumpy Media
• Dust Emission from Active Galactic Nuclei
• Three-dimensional radiative transfer modeling of AGN dusty tori as a clumpy two-phase medium
• Resolving the mid-infrared cores of local Seyferts
• The relation between AGN hard X-ray emission and mid-infrared continuum from ISO spectra: Scatter and unification aspects
• Pixie Dust: The Silicate Features in the Diffuse Interstellar Medium
• Radiative Transfer Modeling of Three-Dimensional Clumpy AGN Tori and its Application to NGC 1068
• Torus and AGN properties of nearby Seyfert galaxies: Results from fitting IR spectral energy distributions and spectroscopy
• Dusty Structure Around Type-I Active Galactic Nuclei: Clumpy Torus Narrow Line Region and Near-Nucleus Hot Dust
• The innermost region of AGN tori: implications from the HST/NICMOS Type 1 point sources and near-IR reverberation
• The dusty heart of nearby active galaxies -- II. From clumpy torus models to physical properties of dust around AGN
• Three-dimensional radiative transfer models of clumpy tori in Seyfert galaxies
• The Infrared Nuclear Emission of Seyfert Galaxies on Parsec Scales: Testing the Clumpy Torus models
• Testing the Unification Model for AGN in the Infrared: are the obscuring tori of Type 1 and 2 Seyferts different?
• The dusty heart of nearby active galaxies. I. High-spatial resolution mid-IR spectro-photometry of Seyfert galaxies
• Deep Silicate absorption features in Compton-thick AGN predominantly arise due to dust in the host galaxy
• Deep Mid-Infrared Silicate Absorption as a Diagnostic of Obscuring Geometry Toward Galactic Nuclei
• Spiral Galaxies with HST/NICMOS. I. Nuclear Morphologies, Color Maps and Distinct Nuclei
• Spatially-resolved mid-infrared spectroscopy of NGC 1068: the nature and distribution of the nuclear material
• Silicate emissions in active galaxies - From LINERs to QSOs
• On the 10-micron silicate feature in Active Galactic Nuclei
• The mid IR -- hard X-ray correlation in AGN and its implications for dusty torus models
• The spectral energy distribution of the central parsecs of the nearest AGN
• Resolved Mid-IR Emission in the Narrow Line Region of NGC 4151
• Spectral Energy Distributions of Seyfert Nuclei
• Dust in active galactic nuclei. Mid-infrared T-ReCS/Gemini spectra using the new RedCan pipeline
• The non-stellar infrared continuum of Seyfert galaxies
• The effect of stellar feedback on the formation and evolution of gas and dust tori in AGN
• The Nuclear Infrared Emission of Low-Luminosity Active Galactic Nuclei
• The Multitude of Unresolved Continuum Sources at 1.6 microns in Hubble Space Telescope images of Seyfert Galaxies
• Modeling the Nuclear Infrared Spectral Energy Distribution of Type II Active Galactic Nuclei
• BayesCLUMPY: Bayesian Inference with Clumpy Dusty Torus Models
• The Origin of the Silicate Emission Features in the Seyfert 2 Galaxy, NGC 2110
• Mid Infrared Spectral Energy Distribution of NGC 1068 with 0.1 arcsec Spatial Resolution
• Probing the Nuclear and Circumnuclear Activity of NGC1365 in the Infrared
• The Unusual Tidal Dwarf Candidate in the Merger System NGC 3227/6: Star Formation in a Tidal Shock?
• Mid-infrared imaging of 25 local AGN with VLT-VISIR
• The role of the accretion disk, dust, and jets in the IR emission of low-luminosity AGN
• Uncovering the deeply embedded AGN activity in the nuclear regions of the interacting galaxy Arp299
• Resolving the nuclear dust distribution of the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 3081
• Constraining clumpy dusty torus models using optimized filter sets
• On donuts and crumbs: A brief history of torus models

Cited by in corpus (33)

• Revisiting the Unified Model of Active Galactic Nuclei
• On the difference of torus geometry between hidden and non-hidden broad line active galactic nuclei
• A mid-infrared spectroscopic atlas of local active galactic nuclei on sub-arcsecond resolution using GTC/CanariCam
• Self-consistent 2-phase AGN torus models: SED library for observers
• On the LINER nuclear obscuration, Compton-thickness and the existence of the dusty torus; Clues from Spitzer/IRS spectra
• The emission and distribution of dust of the torus of NGC 1068
• Compton-Thick AGN in the NuSTAR era VI: The observed Compton-thick fraction in the Local Universe
• Systematic Study of AGN Clumpy Tori with Broadband X-ray Spectroscopy: Updated Unified Picture of AGN Structure
• The variable and non-variable X-ray absorbers in Compton-thin type-II Active Galactic Nuclei
• Exploring the mid-infrared SEDs of six AGN dusty torus models II: the data
• Probing the Active Galactic Nuclei Unified Model Torus Properties in Seyfert Galaxies
• Upholding the Unified Model for Active Galactic Nuclei: VLT/FORS2 Spectropolarimetry of Seyfert 2 galaxies
• A mid-infrared view of the inner parsecs of the Seyfert galaxy Mrk 1066 using CanariCam/GTC
• The dust-gas AGN torus as constrained from X-ray and mid-infrared observations
• A mid-infrared statistical investigation of clumpy torus model predictions
• Exploring the mid-infrared SEDs of six AGN dusty torus models I: synthetic spectra
• The dusty tori of nearby QSOs as constrained by high-resolution mid-IR observations
• Investigating the dusty torus of Seyfert galaxies using SOFIA/FORCAST photometry
• Application of X-Ray Clumpy Torus Model (XCLUMPY) to 10 Obscured Active Galactic Nuclei Observed with Suzaku and NuSTAR
• AGN torus detectability at sub-millimeter wavelengths: What to expect from ALMA continuum data
• A deep look at the nuclear region of UGC 5101 through high angular resolution mid-IR data with GTC/CanariCam
• The complex evolutionary paths of local infrared bright galaxies: a high angular resolution mid-infrared view
• Absence of nuclear polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon emission from a compact starburst: The case of the type-2 quasar Mrk 477
• Hydrogen Column Density Variability in a Sample of Local Compton-Thin AGN
• SOFIA/FORCAST resolves 30 - 40 um extended dust emission in nearby active galactic nuclei
• On the Nature of the High-Energy Rollover in 1H 0419-577
• Near- to Mid- Infrared Imaging and Spectroscopy of Two Buried AGNs of the Nearby Merging Galaxy NGC 6240 with Subaru/IRCS+AO and GTC/CanariCam
• The role of grain size in AGN torus dust models
• The complex infrared dust continuum emission of NGC1068: ground-based N- and Q-band spectroscopy and new radiative transfer models
• Modeling the unresolved NIR-MIR SEDs of local ($z<0.1$) QSOs
• Silicate emission in a type-2 quasar: JWST/MIRI constraints on torus geometry and radiative feedback
• Time Domain Astronomy with the THESEUS Satellite
• The properties of the obscuring material of an AGNs sample from mid-IR and X-ray simultaneous fitting