The central dusty torus in the active nucleus of NGC 1068

Jaffe, W.; Meisenheimer, K.; Röttgering, H. J. A.; Leinert, Ch.; Richichi, A.; Chesneau, O.; Fraix-Burnet, Didier; Glazenborg-Kluttig, Annelie W.; Granato, G. L.; Graser, U.; Heijligers, B.; Köhler, Rainer H.; Malbet, Fabien; Miley, G. K.; Paresce, Francesco; Pel, J. W.; Perrin, G.; Przygodda, Frank; Schoeller, Markus; Sol, H.; Waters, L. B. F. M.; Weigelt, G.; Woillez, J.; Zeeuw, P. T. de

doi:10.1038/nature02531

Cited by 473 publications

(530 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…3. The SED of NGC 1068 we derived from the MIDI data is different from the one presented by Jaffe et al (2004): quantitatively, the former is in the range 13 to 30 Jy whereas the latter is between 8 and 15 Jy. Moreover the slope of the SED we derived after 11 µm is steeper than the one of Jaffe et al We have validated our calibration procedure on an independent data set acquired on Betelgeuse.…”

Section: Spectral Energy Distribution Calibrationmentioning

confidence: 48%

“…The temperatures we derive are much cooler than those of Jaffe et al (2004). There are different reasons for these discrepancies.…”

Section: Temperature Of the Midi Compact Componentmentioning

confidence: 54%

“…Observations with MIDI should place additional constrains on the modeling and lead to a convergent description of the morphology and of the physical properties of the dust distribution. As the slope of the visibility function considered in the model presented by Jaffe et al (2004) differs from ours at low spatial frequency, visibility points at low projected baseline should lead to the choice of the most favorable model. As the shortest projected baseline reachable with the VLTI and the UTs is ∼30 m, one would have to make use of VISIR (the VLT imager and spectrometer for the mid-IR) to get 8.2 m baseline visibility points.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The MIDI visibility points can be fitted by a different and a priori model that consists of a two Gaussian elliptical disk model (Jaffe et al 2004). The derived sizes are ∼10 × 12 mas for an inner hot, optically thick component and ∼30 × 49 mas for a warm component.…”

Section: Spatial Description Of the Sourcementioning

confidence: 99%

“…They use a modified grey-body radiation, with absorbing silicate features in order to model the spectral energy distribution (SED) of the central peak. Jaffe et al (2004) reported the first mid-IR N-band longbaseline interferometric measurements using MIDI, the VLTI mid-IR beamcombiner. They consider a model composed of two ellipsoidal Gaussian disks.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A new analysis of the nucleus of NGC 1068 with MIDI observations

Poncelet

Perrin²,

Sol³

2006

A&A

Self Cite

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We present a new analysis of the first mid-infrared N-band long-baseline interferometric observations of an extragalactic source: the nucleus of the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 1068, obtained with MIDI (Mid-InfrareD Interferometer), the mid-infrared beamcombiner at the European Southern Observatory (ESO) Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI). The resolution of λ/B ∼ 10 mas allows us to study the compact central core of the galaxy between 8 and 13 µm. Both visibility measurements and MIDI spectrum are well reproduced by a simple radiative transfer model with two concentric spherical components. The derived angular sizes and temperatures are ∼35 and 83 mas, and ∼361 K and 226 K for these two components respectively. Other evidence strongly supports such low temperatures. This modeling also provides the variation of optical depth as a function of wavelength for the extended component across the N-band suggesting the presence of amorphous silicate grains. This shows that MIDI has carried out the first direct observations of the distribution of dust around the central engine.

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Section: Spectral Energy Distribution Calibrationmentioning

confidence: 48%

“…The temperatures we derive are much cooler than those of Jaffe et al (2004). There are different reasons for these discrepancies.…”

Section: Temperature Of the Midi Compact Componentmentioning

confidence: 54%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Spatial Description Of the Sourcementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A new analysis of the nucleus of NGC 1068 with MIDI observations

Poncelet

Perrin²,

Sol³

2006

A&A

Self Cite

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Relativistic Jets and Very High Energy Mechanisms

Sol

2022

Active Galactic Nuclei

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Active Galactic Nuclei

Haas¹,

Biermann²,

Chini³

et al. 2005

Astron Nachr

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The presence of obscuring material (or a dusty 'torus') in active galactic nuclei (AGN) is central to the unification model for AGN. Two models, the multi-population model for radio sources and the receding torus model, are capable of describing observational properties of powerful radio galaxies and radio quasars. Aiming to discriminate between two working models, I study the changes of the half opening angle (or critical angle, θ c ) of the obscuring torus with radio luminosity at 151 MHz, [O III] emission-line luminosity and cosmic epoch for 206 FRII radio sources from the combined sample of 3CRR, 6CE and 7CR complete samples (Arshakian 2005, accepted by A&A, astro-ph/0411636). An equation for estimating the opening angle of the torus by means of the mean projected linear sizes of FRII radio galaxies and quasars has been derived. The small errors involved in estimation of the opening angle makes the linear size statistics a powerful tool for investigating the orientation-dependent structures in AGN. A statistically significant correlation is found only between the half opening angle of the torus and [O III] emission-line luminosity (Fig. 1). The opening angle increases from 20• to 60• with increasing [O III] emission-line luminosity (tan θ c ∝ L 0.35 [O III] ). This empirical relation is interpreted as direct evidence of the receding torus around central engines of powerful FRII double radio sources. In this model the opening angle of the torus increases with increasing luminosity of the ionizing radiation from the AGN, L phot ∝ L O III ∝ tan 2 θ c , which is assumed to be independent of the height of the torus. This result apparently breaks the degeneracy (multi-population or receding torus) in the interpretation of data in favor of the receding torus model. Infrared emission from a clumpy and dusty torus around AGN D 02THOMAS Based on a model for a clumpy and dusty torus surrounding supermassive black holes (Beckert & Duschl 2004, A&A 426, 445), we discuss the near to mid-infrared emission of AGN. Both dynamical arguments and the weakness of spectral features in the infrared suggest that dust in the torus is organized in distinct clouds. The optical depth of individual clouds is so large that the clumpiness of the torus is important for the shape of the broad-band spectrum and the appearance of AGN in high-resolution speckle imaging and interferometric experiments with MIDI and AMBER at the VLTI. The solution of the radiative transfer problem uses a statistical approach for a large number of ≥ 10 4 clouds. In a two step process a database of cloud models is generated first. The emission from a distribution of clouds in the torus model is then calculated in a separate second step. The results show that the optical depth of clouds must decrease from the center outwards. An optical depth τ V ∼ 20 for individual clouds is reached at positions along a line of sight from the observer at which the mean number of clouds is about one. The simulated spectra are in agreement with recent high resolution observations...

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The central dusty torus in the active nucleus of NGC 1068

Cited by 473 publications

References 19 publications

A new analysis of the nucleus of NGC 1068 with MIDI observations

A new analysis of the nucleus of NGC 1068 with MIDI observations

Relativistic Jets and Very High Energy Mechanisms

Active Galactic Nuclei

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