Ensemble Mapping the Inner Structure of Luminous Quasars

Abstract

A simple prediction of the well-known unification model of active galactic nuclei is that a sample of sources should exhibit an anti-correlation between the solid angle of the dusty torus and of the ionization cone (as the sum of them shall equal 4$\pi$), which however has never been detected. In this work, we analyze the correlation between [OIII] 5007 narrow emission line equivalent width and $L_{\mathrm{IR}}(\lambda )/L_{\mathrm{bol}}$ for a large sample of luminous quasars. For the first time, we detect a clear intrinsic anti-correlation between them, which immediately verifies the torus/ionization-cone geometry in luminous quasars. More interestingly, the anti-correlation significantly weakens with increasing wavelength from $\sim$ 2 to 12 $\mu$m, and disappears at $\sim$ 12 $\mu$m. Simulations show a cool dust component (in addition to equatorial torus) with its strength positively correlating with the solid angle of the ionization cone is required to explain the observations. This shows that the polar dust seen in nearby active galaxies also exists in luminous quasars, with its contribution to total dust emission increasing with $\lambda$ (from $\sim$ 2 to 12 $\mu$m) and reaching between 39%-62% (model dependent) at rest frame 12 $\mu$m. Our findings provide a unique approach to map the otherwise spatially unresolvable inner structure of quasars.

arXiv comment10 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

References in corpus (45)

• The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE): Mission Description and Initial On-orbit Performance
• Unified Schemes for Radio-Loud Active Galactic Nuclei
• The UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey (UKIDSS)
• SDSS-III: Massive Spectroscopic Surveys of the Distant Universe, the Milky Way Galaxy, and Extra-Solar Planetary Systems
• A Catalog of Quasar Properties from SDSS DR7
• A Quantitative Comparison of SMC, LMC, and Milky Way UV to NIR Extinction Curves
• Color Transformations for the 2MASS Second Incremental Data Release
• The Sloan Digital Sky Survey Quasar Catalog V. Seventh Data Release
• Revisiting the Unified Model of Active Galactic Nuclei
• AGN Dusty Tori: II. Observational Implications of Clumpiness
• The Sloan Digital Sky Survey Quasar Catalog: Sixteenth Data Release
• The dust covering factor in active galactic nuclei
• Outflows from AGN: Kinematics of the Narrow-Line and Coronal-Line Regions in Seyfert Galaxies
• X-CIGALE: fitting AGN/galaxy SEDs from X-ray to infrared
• Dust covering factor, silicate emission and star formation in luminous QSOs
• The New Generation Atlas of Quasar Spectral Energy Distributions from Radio to X-rays
• Dusty Structure Around Type-I Active Galactic Nuclei: Clumpy Torus Narrow Line Region and Near-Nucleus Hot Dust
• Analysis of optical Fe II emission in a sample of AGN spectra
• Hot Graphite Dust and the Infrared Spectral Energy Distribution of Active Galactic Nuclei
• Dusty winds in active galactic nuclei: reconciling observations with models
• The subarcsecond mid-infrared view of local active galactic nuclei: III. Polar dust emission
• Near Infrared Spectroscopy of High Redshift Active Galactic Nuclei. II. Disappearing Narrow Line Regions and the Role of Accretion
• Mid-infrared interferometry of 23 AGN tori: On the significance of polar-elongated emission
• BAT AGN Spectroscopic Survey - XI. The Covering Factor of Dust and Gas in Swift/BAT Active Galactic Nuclei
• The correlation of line strength with luminosity and redshift from composite QSO spectra
• Dissecting the active galactic nucleus in Circinus -- II. A thin dusty disc and a polar outflow on parsec scales
• [O III] Equivalent Width and Orientation Effects in Quasars
• Extended silicate dust emission in PG QSOs
• New evidence for the ubiquity of prominent polar dust emission in AGN on tens of parsec scales
• IR-derived covering factors for a large sample of quasars from WISE-UKIDSS-SDSS
• Hot Dust Clouds with Pure Graphite Composition around Type-I Active Galactic Nuclei
• The Galaxy Activity, Torus and Outflow Survey (GATOS): II. Torus and polar dust emission in nearby Seyfert galaxies
• On the X-ray Baldwin effect for narrow Fe Kalpha emission line
• The Infrared Emission from the Narrow Line Region
• How does the Polar Dust affect the Correlation between Dust Covering Factor and Eddington Ratio in Type 1 Quasars Selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 16?
• The Baldwin effect in the narrow emission lines of AGNs
• Bipolar ionization cones in the Extended Narrow-Line Region of nearby QSO2s
• Infrared Classification and Luminosities For Dusty AGN and the Most Luminous Quasars
• The Covering Factor of Warm Dust in Quasars: View from WISE All-Sky Data Release
• On the X-ray Baldwin Effect in Active Galactic Nuclei Observed by the Chandra High Energy Grating
• Outflow and hot dust emission in high redshift quasars
• Hypercubes of AGN Tori (HYPERCAT) -- I. Models and Image Morphology
• Resolving the Hot Dust Disk of ESO323-G77
• Polar Dust Emission in Quasar IR SEDs and Its Correlation with Narrow Line Regions
• Orientation effects on the near-infrared broad band emission of quasars

Cited by in corpus (2)

• The near-infrared SED of blue quasars: what drives the evolution of the dusty torus?
• The Composite Spectral Energy Distribution of Quasars is Surprisingly Universal Since Cosmic Noon