Esparza-Arredondo, D.; González-Martín, Omaira; Dultzin, Deborah; Alonso-Herrero, Almudena; Ramos Almeida, C.; Díaz-Santos, Tanio; García-Bernete, I.; Martinez-Paredes, Mariela; Rodríguez-Espinosa, J. M.
Bibliographical reference
The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 859, Issue 2, article id. 124, 33 pp. (2018).
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2018
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Citations
21
Refereed citations
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Description
We studied the circumnuclear mid-IR emission in a sample of 19 local
active galactic nuclei (AGNs) with high spatial resolution spectra using
T-ReCS (Gemini) and CanariCam (GTC), together with Spitzer/IRS
observations. We measured the flux and the equivalent width for the 11.3
μm PAH feature and the [S IV] line emission as a function of
galactocentric distance. This allowed us to study the star formation
(SF) at subkiloparsec scales from the nucleus for a large sample of
nearby AGNs. The [S IV] line emission could be tracing the AGN radiation
field within a few thousand times the sublimation radius (R
sub), but it often peaks at distances greater than 1000 R
sub. One possibility is that the SF is contributing to the [S
IV] total flux. We found an 11.3 μm PAH emission deficit within the
inner few tens of parsecs from the AGN. This deficit might be due to the
destruction of the molecules responsible for this feature or the lack of
SF at these distances. We found a sensible agreement in the expected
shift of the relation of the AGN bolometric luminosity and the SF rate.
This indicates that numerical models attributing the link between AGN
activity and host galaxy growth to mergers are in agreement with our
data, for most inner galaxy parts.
Related projects
Nuclear Activity in Galaxies: a 3D Perspective from the Nucleus to the Outskirts
This project consists of two main research lines. First, the study of quasar-driven outflows in luminous and nearby obscured active galactic nuclei (AGN) and the impact that they have on their massive host galaxies (AGN feedback). To do so, we have obtained Gran Telescopio CANARIAS (GTC) infrared and optical observations with the instruments
Cristina
Ramos Almeida