1,721,014 research outputs found
Dissecting the active galactic nucleus in Circinus – II. A thin dusty disc and a polar outflow on parsec scales
Get PDFRecent observations which resolved the mid-infrared (MIR) emission of nearby active galactic nuclei (AGNs), surprisingly revealed that their dust emission appears prominently extended in the polar direction, at odds with the expectations from the canonical dusty torus. This polar dust, tentatively associated with dusty winds driven by radiation pressure, is found to have a major contribution to the MIR flux from scales of a few to hundreds of parsecs. When facing a potential change of paradigm, case studies of objects with the best intrinsic resolution are essential. One such source with a clear detection of polar dust is a nearby, well-known AGN in the Circinus galaxy. In the first paper, we successfully explained the peculiar MIR morphology of Circinus observed on large, tens of parsec scales with a model consisting of a compact dusty disc and an extended hollow dusty cone. In this work, we further refine the model on smaller, parsecs scales to test whether it can also explain the MIR interferometric data. We find that a model composed of a thin dusty disc seen almost edge-on and a polar outflow in the form of a hyperboloid shell can reproduce well the VLTI/MIDI observations at all wavelengths, baselines, and position angles. In contrast, while providing a good fit to the integrated MIR spectrum, the dusty torus model fails to reproduce the spatially resolved interferometric data. We put forth the disc + hyperboloid wind model of Circinus AGN as a prototype for the dust structure in the AGN population with polar dust
Towards a new paradigm of dust structure in AGN: Dissecting the mid-IR emission of Circinus galaxy
No full textRecent mid-infrared (MIR) observations of nearby active galactic nuclei (AGN), revealed that their dust emission appears prominently extended in the polar direction, at odds with the expectations from the canonical dusty torus. This polar dust, tentatively associated with dusty winds driven by radiation pressure, is found to have a major contribution to the MIR flux from a few to hundreds of parsecs. One such source with a clear detection of polar dust is a nearby, well-known AGN in the Circinus galaxy. We proposed a phenomenological model consisting of a compact, thin dusty disk and a large-scale polar outflow in the form of a hyperboloid shell and demonstrated that such a model is able to explain the peculiar MIR morphology on large scales seen by VLT/VISIR and the interferometric data from VLTI/MIDI that probe the small scales. Our results call for caution when attributing dust emission of unresolved sources entirely to the torus and warrant further investigation of the MIR emission in the polar regions of AGN
The dust covering factor in AGN
No full textWe undertook a critical investigation of a common estimator of the dust covering factor in active galactic nuclei (AGN). The infrared radiation emitted by the obscuring dusty structure ("the dusty torus") is nothing but a reprocessed fraction of the accretion disk emission, so the ratio of their luminosities (L_torus /L_AGN) should correspond to the fraction of the AGN sky obscured by dust. Using state-of-the-art Monte Carlo radiative transfer code, we calculated a grid of spectral energy distributions (SEDs) emitted by the clumpy two-phase dusty structure. Using this grid of SEDs, we studied the relation between L_torus /L_AGN and the dust covering factor for different parameters of the torus. We found that in case of type 1 AGNs, due to the torus anisotropy, L_torus/L AGN underestimate low covering factors and overestimate high covering factors. In type 2 AGNs covering factors are always underestimated. Our results provide a novel easy-to-use method to account for anisotropy and obtain correct covering factors. Using two samples from the literature, we demonstrated the importance of these effects for inferring the obscured AGN fraction. We found that after the anisotropy is properly accounted for, the dust covering factors show very weak dependence on L_AGN, with values in the range of approx. 0.6 − 0.7. Our results suggest a higher fraction of obscured AGNs at high luminosities than those found by X-ray surveys. We discuss the possible causes of this discrepancy and demonstrate that it is partially due to the presence of a Compton-thick AGN population, which is missed by X-ray surveys, but not by infrared
An X-ray view on the AGN torus with SKIRT
No full textActieve galactische kernen zijn omgeven door grote hoeveelheden gas en stof die de centrale bron verduisteren, en de straling daarvan herverwerken. De röntgenband vormt een interessant golflengtegebied om de structuur van gas en stof in actieve galactische kernen te bestuderen, omdat de interacties tussen röntgenstraling en het circumnucleaire medium spectrale kenmerken produceert die informatie coderen over dit verduisterende materiaal. Deze thesis presenteert de noodzakelijke `tools' voor het modelleren van de herverwerking van röntgenstraling door koud gas en stof in drie dimensies, om realistische voorspellingen te kunnen maken voor circumnucleaire media, en het diagnostische potentieel van herverwerkte röntgenkenmerken in observationele data te benutten
Dissecting the active galactic nucleus in Circinus -- III. VLT/FORS2 polarimetry confirms dusty cone illuminated by a tilted accretion disc
Get PDFpeer reviewedWe present polarimetric maps of the Circinus galaxy nucleus in the
bands, obtained with VLT/FORS2. Circinus is the closest Seyfert 2 galaxy and
harbours an archetypal obscured active galactic nucleus (AGN). Recent high
angular resolution imaging revealed that a major fraction of its mid-infrared
(MIR) emission is coming from the polar region. Previously, we demonstrated
that these observations are consistent with a model of a compact dusty disc and
a hyperboloid shell, resembling a hollow cone on larger scales. Here we focus
on the AGN core, up to 40 pc from the central engine, and compare the
observations to the radiative transfer models. Polarization maps reveal a
conical structure, coinciding with the ionization cone. The
wavelength-dependence of the polarization degree indicates that scattering on
dust grains is producing polarization. The observed polarization degree
() is lower than predicted by the models; however, this is only a
lower limit, since stellar emission dominates the total flux in the optical.
The observed polarization angle ( degrees) is reproduced by the
model of a dusty disc with a hollow cone that is illuminated by a tilted
anisotropic central source. An accretion disc aligned with the ionization cone
axis, and alternative dust geometries, such as a paraboloid shell, or a torus
enveloped by ambient dust, are inconsistent with the data. We conclude that the
optical polarimetric imaging supports earlier evidence for the presence of dust
in the polar region, tentatively associated with dusty outflows
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Investigating the structure of active galactic nuclei : the dusty torus
Get PDFActive galactic nuclei Nowadays it is widely accepted that every massive galaxy harbors a supermassive black hole (SMBH) at its center. A number of apparent correlations between SMBH mass and host galaxy structural and dynamical properties have been observed. The correlation between the masses of SMBHs and their host galactic bulges suggest a link between their growth (Kormendy & Richstone, 1995; Kormendy & Gebhardt, 2001). Active galactic nucleus (AGN) represents a phase in the life of a galaxy, during which the SMBH growth is directly observable. The term AGN encompasses a variety of energetic phenomena in galactic centers triggered by the matter spiralling into a SMBH at a relatively high rate. The radiation coming from AGNs originates in the conversion of gravitational potential energy into thermal energy as matter spirals towards the SMBH through an accretion disk (Lynden- Bell, 1969). Their luminosity can be up to 10000 greater then the total luminosity of a normal galaxy. The radiated AGN continuum covers a broad range of spectrum, from the X to radio domain, it is partially polarized and variable in time. Radiation from the central engine is ionizing the surrounding medium, creating conditions for the strong emission line spectrum, superimposed on the continuum. Sometimes, highly collimated and fast outflows (“jets”) emerge perpendicular to the accretion disk. Since the discovery of Keel (1980) that the orientation of Seyfert 1 galaxies is not random, it xxx has been recognized that the appearance of an AGN varies with the viewing angle. This has led to the picture of “orientation unification” (see Antonucci, 1993; Urry & Padovani, 1995) where the structure of AGNs is believed to be basically similar but what we see is a strong function of orientation (see Fig. 9). In this unified model, the central black hole is surrounded by a geometrically-thin accretion disk which is the source of the strong X-ray emission and UV/optical continuum (see Jovanovic, 2012, and references therein). Above and below the disk is the broad-line region (BLR), turbulent, rapidly-moving, dense, emission-line gas orbiting the black hole (see Gaskell, 2009, for a review). Both the accretion disk and the BLR are surrounded by a geometrically- and optically-thick, roughly toroidal structure of dust and gas (the “dusty torus”), which is absorbing the incoming radiation and re-emitting it in the infrared (IR). In addition to these components there is lower density, more slowly moving gas present on a scale similar to or significantly larger than that of the torus. This gas can be seen when it is illuminated by the cone of ionizing radiation emanating from inside the torus. It is a source of narrow emission lines and thus is know as the “narrow-line region” (NLR). The broad emission lines and the thermal continuum emission can only be seen when the torus is close to faceon and thus, such an object appears as a type 1 active galaxy. Close to edge-on orientations, the dusty torus blocks the radiation coming from the accretion disk and BLR. In this case an UV/optical bump and broad emission lines are absent and an object appears as a type 2 active galaxy. If jet of matter, ejected perpendicular to the accretion disk is present, then viewing such an object along the jet would exhibit strong non-thermal, polarized and rapidly variable continuum. The masses of SMBHs can be readily estimated in some types of AGN, (Dibai, 1977) and AGNs are currently our only way of studying the evolution of SMBHs over cosmic time. Furthermore, the brightest AGNs are the most luminous quasi-steady compact sources of radiation in the universe and hence they are valuable probes of cosmic evolution up to very high redshifts. In order to understand black hole growth across cosmic time and the connection between galaxies and black holes, we need to understand how AGNs work. We need to test the basic picture outlined above and, in particular, to be able to explain observations which presently challenge this picture and might force modifications of it
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
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