Title: The diversity of dusty AGN tori: results from the VLTI/MIDI AGN large programme
Abstract: The molecular gas and dust surrounding the central engine of active galactic nuclei (AGN) plays a fundamental role in understanding their physics. Due to the small angular size of this torus, direct studies of its properties require very high angular resolution. The VLTI/ MIDI AGN Large Programme aims at characterising a statistical sample of AGN tori for the first time by resolving their dust emission in the mid-infrared interferometrically. Measurements of 23 sources show that most tori are very compact with sizes of 0.1 to 10 pc and emission from a two-component structure. The morphology of the torus differs significantly between individual objects and does not show the expected dependency on viewing angle (edgeon vs. face-on). The torus is thus significantly more complex than typically pictured, requiring new models and imaging interferometry on milliarcsecond scales to decipher the physics.
Publication Year: 2013
Publication Date: 2013-12-01
Language: en
Type: article
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