Silicate emission in a type-2 quasar: JWST/MIRI constraints on torus geometry and radiative feedback

Abstract

Type-2 quasars (QSO2s) are AGN seen through a significant amount of dust and gas that obscures the central supermassive black hole and the broad line region. Despite this, recent mid-infrared spectra of the central 0.5-1.1 kpc of five QSO2s at z~0.1, obtained with the MRS module of JWST/MIRI, revealed 9.7, 18, and 23 micron silicate features in emission in two of them. This indicates that the high angular resolution of JWST/MIRI now allows us to peer into their nuclear region, exposing some of the directly illuminated dusty clouds that produce silicate emission. To test this, we fitted the nuclear mid-infrared spectrum of the QSO2 with the strongest silicate features, J1010, with two different sets of torus models implemented in an updated version of the Bayesian tool {\tt BayesClumpy}. These are the CLUMPY and the CAT3D-WIND models. The CAT3D-WIND model is preferred by the observations based on the marginal likelihood and fit residuals, although the two torus models successfully reproduce the spectrum by means of intermediate covering factors (${\mathrm{C}}_{\mathrm{T}}=0.45{\pm }_{0.18}^{0.26}$ and ${\mathrm{C}}_{\mathrm{T}}=0.66{\pm }_{0.17}^{0.16}$ for the CLUMPY and CAT3D-WIND models) and low inclinations ($\mathrm{i}=50^{\circ }{\pm }_{9^{\circ }}^{8^{\circ }}$ and $\mathrm{i}=13^{\circ }{\pm }_{6^{\circ }}^{7^{\circ }}$). Indeed, four of the five QSO2s with JWST/MIRI observations, including J1010, are in the blowout or ''forbidden'' region of the Eddington ratio-column density diagram, indicating that they are actively clearing gas and dust from their nuclear regions, leading to reduced covering factors. This is in contrast with Seyfert 2 galaxies observed with JWST, which are in the ''permitted'' regions of the diagram and show 9.7 micron silicate features in absorption. This supports a scenario where the more luminous the AGN and the higher their Eddington ratio, the lower the torus covering factor, driven by radiation pressure on dusty gas.

14 pages, 7 figures. Accepted for publication in A&A

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