Parsec-scale Dusty Winds in Active Galactic Nuclei: Evidence for Radiation Pressure Driving

Abstract

Infrared interferometry of local AGN has revealed a warm (~300K-400K) polar dust structure that cannot be trivially explained by the putative dust torus of the unified model. This led to the development of the disk+wind scenario which comprises of a hot (~1000K) compact equatorial dust disk and a polar dust wind. This wind is assumed to be driven by radiation pressure and, therefore, we would expect that long term variation in radiation pressure would influence the dust distribution. In this paper we attempt to quantify if and how the dust distribution changes with radiation pressure. We analyse so far unpublished VLTI/MIDI data on 8 AGN and use previous results on 25 more to create a sample of 33 AGN. This sample comprises all AGN successfully observed with VLTI/MIDI. For each AGN, we calculate the Eddington ratio, using the intrinsic 2-10keV X-ray luminosity and black hole mass, and compare this to the resolved dust emission fraction as seen by MIDI. We tentatively conclude that there is more dust in the wind at higher Eddington ratios, at least in type 2 AGN where such an effect is expected to be more easily visible.

13 pages, Accepted in ApJ

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Cited by in corpus (7)

• The Galaxy Activity, Torus and Outflow Survey (GATOS): II. Torus and polar dust emission in nearby Seyfert galaxies
• Stratified disc wind models for the AGN broad-line region: ultraviolet, optical and X-ray properties
• A multiwavelength-motivated X-ray model for the Circinus Galaxy
• The Subarcsecond Mid-Infrared View of Local Active Galactic Nuclei. IV. The L- and M-band Imaging Atlas
• Spectroscopic study of the [OIII]$\lambda$5007 profile in Seyfert 1 galaxies
• AGN anisotropic radiative feedback set by black hole spin
• A quasar shedding its dust cocoon at redshift 2