High resolution mapping of molecular tori with ALMA

Abstract

Recent high resolution mapping of the circum-nuclear regions of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) has revealed the existence of geometrically thin nuclear disks, in general randomly oriented with respect to their galaxy hosts. These molecular tori have typical radii of 10~pc, and contain a few 10${}^7$ M${}_{\odot }$ of H${}_2$, with H${}_2$ column densities between 10${}^{23}$ and 10${}^{25}$ cm${}^{-2}$. We mapped two of the most massive of these molecular tori with higher resolution, in order to unveil their morphology and kinematics, their possible warp and clumpiness, and derive their stability and life-time. We used the highest resolution possible with ALMA (16~km baseline) in Band 7, taking into account for mapping CO(3-2) and HCO${}^{+}$(4-3) the compromise between sensitivity and resolution. New features are discovered at the high resolution, obtained with a beam of 0.015\arcsec, equivalent to $\sim$ 1~pc scale, at their $\sim$ 15~Mpc distance. The molecular torus in NGC~613 appears like a ring, depleted in molecular gas near the center. The depletion region is displaced by 3~pc toward the NW from the AGN position, meaning some $m=1$ asymmetry in the torus. The molecular torus in NGC~1672 has a different position angle from previous lower-resolution observations, and is edge-on, revealing a geometrically very thin torus (axis ratio 6.5 to 10), with a clear warp. This confirms that the classical model of a simple geometrically thick dusty torus is challenged by high resolution observations. The nuclear disks appear clumpy, and slightly lopsided. The molecular outflow in NGC~613 is now resolved out. Well inside the sphere of influence of the black holes (BH), we are now able to determine more accurately their mass, for those Seyfert spiral galaxies, in a region of the M-sigma relation where the scatter is maximum.

14 pages, 18 figures, re-submitted to Astronomy and Astrophysics, after referee's comments

References in corpus (60)

• Unified Schemes for Radio-Loud Active Galactic Nuclei
• The CO-to-H2 Conversion Factor
• Massive Molecular Outflows and Evidence for AGN Feedback from CO Observations
• AGN Dusty Tori: II. Observational Implications of Clumpiness
• PHIBSS: Unified Scaling Relations of Gas Depletion Time and Molecular Gas Fractions
• AGN wind scaling relations and the co-evolution of black holes and galaxies
• A Hubble Space Telescope Imaging Survey of Nearby Active Glactic Nuclei
• How Do Massive Black Holes Get Their Gas?
• Molecular line emission in NGC1068 imaged with ALMA. I An AGN-driven outflow in the dense molecular gas
• A 4% Geometric Distance to the Galaxy NGC4258 from Orbital Motions in a Nuclear Gas Disk
• AGN-driven quenching of star formation: morphological and dynamical implications for early-type galaxies
• The dusty heart of nearby active galaxies -- II. From clumpy torus models to physical properties of dust around AGN
• ALMA resolves the torus of NGC 1068: continuum and molecular line emission
• ALMA observations of feeding and feedback in nearby Seyfert galaxies: an AGN-driven outflow in NGC 1433
• ALMA observations of molecular tori around massive black holes
• Molecular Gas in NUclei of GAlaxies (NUGA): IV. Gravitational Torques and AGN Feeding
• Molecular gas in extreme star-forming environments: the starbursts Arp220 and NGC6240 as case studies
• Variations in the Star Formation Efficiency of the Dense Molecular Gas across the Disks of Star-Forming Galaxies
• ALMA images the many faces of the NGC1068 torus and its surroundings
• ALMA reveals the feeding of the Seyfert 1 nucleus in NGC 1566
• Molecular outflows in local galaxies: Method comparison and a role of intermittent AGN driving
• The subarcsecond mid-infrared view of local active galactic nuclei: III. Polar dust emission
• The interplay between a galactic bar and a supermassive black hole: nuclear fueling in a sub-parsec resolution galaxy simulation
• The Galaxy Activity, Torus and Outflow Survey (GATOS) I. ALMA images of dusty molecular tori in Seyfert galaxies
• AGN-driven outflows without immediate quenching in simulations of high-redshift disk galaxies
• Redefining the torus: A unifying view of AGN in the infrared and sub-mm
• Molecular Gas in NUclei of GAlaxies (NUGA) I.The counter-rotating LINER NGC4826
• An image of the dust sublimation region in the nucleus of NGC 1068
• Counter-Rotation and High Velocity Outflow in the Parsec-Scale Molecular Torus of NGC 1068
• New evidence for the ubiquity of prominent polar dust emission in AGN on tens of parsec scales
• Discovery of Water Maser Emission in Eight AGN with 70-m Antennas of NASA's Deep Space Network
• ALMA captures feeding and feedback from the active galactic nucleus in NGC613
• A nuclear molecular outflow in the Seyfert galaxy NGC3227
• Why Are AGN and Host Galaxies Misaligned?
• Multi-phase feedback processes in the Sy2 galaxy NGC 5643
• Do Circumnuclear Dense Gas Disks Drive Mass Accretion onto Supermassive Black Holes?
• ALMA 0.1-0.2 arcsec resolution imaging of the NGC 1068 nucleus - compact dense molecular gas emission at the putative AGN location
• Redshift-Independent Distances in the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database: Methodology, Content and Use of NED-D
• ALMA 0.02"-resolution observations reveal HCN-abundance-enhanced counter-rotating and outflowing dense molecular gas at the NGC 1068 nucleus
• New Compton-thick AGN in the circumnuclear water maser hosts UGC3 789 and NGC 6264
• Molecular Gas in NUclei of GAlaxies (NUGA) XIV. The barred LINER/Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 3627
• Hydrodynamic instability in eccentric astrophysical discs
• Deciphering the imprint of AGN feedback in Seyfert galaxies: Nuclear-scale molecular gas deficits
• Parsec-scale Dusty Winds in Active Galactic Nuclei: Evidence for Radiation Pressure Driving
• A Massive Molecular Torus inside a Gas-Poor Cirnumnuclear Disk in the Radio Galaxy NGC 1052 Discovered with ALMA
• On the development of the Papaloizou-Pringle instability of the black hole-torus systems and quasi-periodic oscillations
• AGN feedback in action in the molecular gas ring of the Seyfert galaxy NGC7172
• Angular Velocity Perturbations Inducing the Papaloizou-Pringle Instability and QPOs in the Torus around the Black Hole
• Investigating the nuclear activity of barred spiral galaxies: the case of NGC 1672
• ALMA imaging of the cold molecular and dusty disk in the type 2 active nucleus of the Circinus galaxy
• ALMA multiline observations toward the central region of NGC 613
• New X-ray Constraints on Starburst and Seyfert Activity in the Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 1672
• High Sensitivity Observations of the Water Megamasers of NGC 1068: Precise Astrometry and Detailed Kinematics
• Dust beyond the torus: Revealing the mid-infrared heart of local Seyfert ESO 428-G14 with JWST/MIRI
• Circumnuclear Multi-phase Gas in Circinus Galaxy IV: absorption owing to high-$J$ CO rotational transitions
• Nonlinear hydrodynamical evolution of eccentric Keplerian discs in two dimensions: validation of secular theory
• Dynamical processes in galaxy centers
• Dynamical model of an obscuring clumpy torus in AGNs: I. Velocity and velocity dispersion maps for interpretation of ALMA observations
• A spectacular galactic scale magnetohydrodynamic powered wind in ESO 320-G030
• Decoding the molecular torus of NGC 1068: Insights into its structure and kinematics from high-resolution ALMA observations