Investigating the dusty torus of Seyfert galaxies using SOFIA/FORCAST photometry

Abstract

We present 31.5 micron imaging photometry of 11 nearby Seyfert galaxies observed from the Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) using the Faint Object infraRed CAmera for the SOFIA Telescope (FORCAST). We tentatively detect extended 31 micron emission for the first time in our sample. In combination with this new data set, subarcsecond resolution 1-18 micron imaging and 7.5-13 micron spectroscopic observations were used to compute the nuclear spectral energy distribution (SED) of each galaxy. We found that the turnover of the torus emission does not occur at wavelengths <31.5 micron, which we interpret as a lower-limit for the wavelength of peak emission. We used CLUMPY torus models to fit the nuclear infrared (IR) SED and infer trends in the physical parameters of the AGN torus for the galaxies in the sample. Including the 31.5 micron nuclear flux in the SED 1) reduces the number of clumpy torus models compatible with the data, and 2) modifies the model output for the outer radial extent of the torus for 10 of the 11 objects. Specifically, six (60%) objects show a decrease in radial extent while four (40%) show an increase. We find torus outer radii ranging from <1pc to 8.4 pc

15 pages, 7 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

References in corpus (13)

• Early Science with SOFIA, the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy
• 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
• The innermost region of AGN tori: implications from the HST/NICMOS Type 1 point sources and near-IR reverberation
• Resolving the obscuring torus in NGC 1068 with the power of infrared interferometry: Revealing the inner funnel of dust
• The Infrared Nuclear Emission of Seyfert Galaxies on Parsec Scales: Testing the Clumpy Torus models
• On the difference of torus geometry between hidden and non-hidden broad line active galactic nuclei
• The Nuclear Near-Infrared Spectral Properties of Nearby Galaxies
• The Origin of the Silicate Emission Features in the Seyfert 2 Galaxy, NGC 2110
• Gemini Imaging of Mid-IR Emission from the Nuclear Region of Centaurus A
• Resolving the AGN and host emission in the mid-infrared using a model-independent spectral decomposition
• Silicate absorption in heavily obscured galaxy nuclei
• The nuclear and extended infrared emission of the Seyfert galaxy NGC 2992 and the interacting system Arp 245

Cited by in corpus (12)

• The Complete Infrared View of Active Galactic Nuclei from the 70-month Swift/BAT Catalog
• Torus model properties of an ultra-hard X-ray selected sample of Seyfert galaxies
• Probing the Active Galactic Nuclei Unified Model Torus Properties in Seyfert Galaxies
• Torus and polar dust dependence on AGN properties
• The dusty tori of nearby QSOs as constrained by high-resolution mid-IR observations
• 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
• The Extreme Super-Eddington NLS1 RX J0134.2-4258 -- II. A Weak-Line Seyfert Linking to the Weak-Line Quasar
• SOFIA/FORCAST resolves 30 - 40 um extended dust emission in nearby active galactic nuclei
• Hypercubes of AGN Tori (HYPERCAT) -- I. Models and Image Morphology
• Blazar Sheath Illumination of the Outer Molecular Torus: A Resolution of the Seed Photon Problem for the far-GeV Blazar flares
• Chandra Imaging of the Outer Accretion Flow onto the Black Hole at the Center of the Perseus Cluster