Thermal imaging of dust hiding the black hole in NGC 1068

Autor(en): Violeta Gámez Rosas, Jacob W. Isbell, Walter Jaffe, Romain G. Petrov, James H. Leftley, Karl Heinz Hofmann, Florentin Millour, Leonard Burtscher, Klaus Meisenheimer, Anthony Meilland, Laurens B.F.M. Waters, Bruno Lopez, Stéphane Lagarde, Gerd Weigelt, Philippe Berio, Fatme Allouche, Sylvie Robbe-Dubois, Pierre Cruzalèbes, Felix Bettonvil, Thomas Henning, Jean Charles Augereau, Pierre Antonelli, Udo Beckmann, Roy van Boekel, Philippe Bendjoya, William C. Danchi, Carsten Dominik, Julien Drevon, Jack F. Gallimore, Uwe Graser, Matthias Heininger, Vincent Hocdé, Michiel Hogerheijde, Josef Hron, Caterina M.V. Impellizzeri, Lucia Klarmann, Elena Kokoulina, Lucas Labadie, Michael Lehmitz, Alexis Matter, Claudia Paladini, Eric Pantin, Jörg Uwe Pott, Dieter Schertl, Anthony Soulain, Philippe Stee, Konrad Tristram, Jozsef Varga, Julien Woillez, Sebastian Wolf, Gideon Yoffe, Gerard Zins
Abstrakt: In the widely accepted `unified model'¹ solution of the classification puzzle of active galactic nuclei, the orientation of a dusty accretion torus around the central black hole dominates their appearance. In `type-1' systems, the bright nucleus is visible at the centre of a face-on torus. In `type-2' systems the thick, nearly edge-on torus hides the central engine. Later studies suggested evolutionary effects² and added dusty clumps and polar winds³ but left the basic picture intact. However, recent high-resolution images⁴ of the archetypal type-2 galaxy NGC 1068^5,6, suggested a more radical revision. The images displayed a ring-like emission feature that was proposed to be hot dust surrounding the black hole at the radius where the radiation from the central engine evaporates the dust. That ring is too thin and too far tilted from edge-on to hide the central engine, and ad hoc foreground extinction is needed to explain the type-2 classification. These images quickly generated reinterpretations of the dichotomy between types 1 and 2^7,8. Here we present new multi-band mid-infrared images of NGC 1068 that detail the dust temperature distribution and reaffirm the original model. Combined with radio data (J.F.G. and C.M.V.I., manuscript in preparation), our maps locate the central engine that is below the previously reported ring and obscured by a thick, nearly edge-on disk, as predicted by the unified model. We also identify emission from polar flows and absorbing dust that is mineralogically distinct from that towards the Milky Way centre.
Organisation(en): Institut für Astrophysik
Externe Organisation(en): Leiden University, Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie, Université Côte d'Azur, Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Radboud University, SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research , Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON), Laboratoire d'Écologie Alpine, National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA), University of Amsterdam (UvA), Bucknell University, Universität zu Köln, European Southern Observatory (Germany), Institute of research into the fundamental laws of the Universe (IRFU), The University of Sydney, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel
Journal: Nature
Band: 602
Seiten: 403-407
Anzahl der Seiten: 5
ISSN: 0028-0836
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-04311-7
Publikationsdatum: 02-2022
Peer-reviewed: Ja
ÖFOS 2012: 103003 Astronomie, 103004 Astrophysik
Schlagwörter
ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete: General
Link zum Portal: https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/208889d8-5aa3-44df-aae1-35c66a436115

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