MID-INFRARED PROPERTIES OF LOCAL ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI

Daniel Asmus
(MPIfR, Bonn, Germany) Poshak Gandhi Sebastian F. Hnig Alain Smette Wolfgang J. Duschl

ISAS/JAXA 2012

Types of nuclear activity

B. Keel

Types of nuclear activity

NASA

Type 2 AGN

Type 1 AGN

B. Keel

AGN in the mid-infrared

VISIR manual

AGN N-band SED

Aver. Sy 1

Aver. Sy 2

Spitzer/IRS (~0.8m)
Hernn-Caballero & Hatziminaoglou (2011)

AGN N-band SED

PAH silicate PAH [NeII] PAH silicate PAH [NeII]

Aver. Sy 1

Aver. Sy 2

Spitzer/IRS (~0.8m)
Hernn-Caballero & Hatziminaoglou (2011)

Importance of angular resolution in the MIR

PAH silicate PAH [NeII] PAH silicate PAH [NeII]

Aver. Sy 1

Aver. Sy 2

Spitzer/IRS (~0.8m) versus VLT/VISIR (~8m)

Hernn-Caballero & Hatziminaoglou (2011) and Hnig et al. (2010)

continuum

The MIR--X-ray luminosity correlation

Strong correlation

(e.g. Gandhi et al. 2009)

observed MIR luminosity

No noticeable dependence on object type!

LINER Type 1 AGN (other) Type 2 AGN (other)

absorption-corr. X-ray luminosity

Gandhi et al. 2009

Open issues
Sample not uniform or complete in any sense extend study to such a sample

Possible trend of MIR excess for log L2-10keV < 41.5 enlarge coverage at lowest luminosities
real?

Gandhi et al. 2009

Structure of the talk

Low-luminosity AGN
BAT AGN

High-res. Photometry

Non-AGN Contamination

High-res. Photometry

MIR SED

Low-luminosity AGN

M 87

M 104 Sombrero

NGC 1097

NGC 4261

MIR emission sources in LLAGN

The LLAGN programme

Goals:

Investigate existence of obscuring tori around LLAGN Test apparent deviation of MIR--X-ray relation at low L
Estimate contamination by star-formation

The LLAGN programme

Goals:

Investigate existence of obscuring tori around LLAGN Test apparent deviation of MIR--X-ray relation at low L
Estimate contamination by star-formation

Method: photometry at highest available angular resolution

in 2 narrow-band filters (12m continuum and PAH at 11.3m)

Samples: <D> ~ 20 Mpc, <r0> ~ 40 pc, <log LX> ~ 40.8

Southern hemisphere - VLT/VISIR

Observed in 2009 11 new LLAGN (+7 with additional data) Mixed properties

The LLAGN programme

Goals:

Investigate existence of obscuring tori around LLAGN Test apparent deviation of MIR--X-ray relation at low L
Estimate contamination by star-formation

Method: photometry at highest available angular resolution

in 2 narrow-band filters (12m continuum and PAH at 11.3m)

Samples: <D> ~ 20 Mpc, <r0> ~ 40 pc, <log LX> ~ 40.8

Southern hemisphere - VLT/VISIR

Northern hemisphere - Gemini/Michelle

Observed in 2009 11 new LLAGN (+7 with additional data) Mixed properties

Observed in 2010 15 LL-Seyferts from Palomar Sample

(Ho et al. 1997) 13 observed (but not all in both filters)

The chop & nod method

Chop position A Chop position B Chop position A Chop position B

Staring images

Chopped images Nod position A Nod position B

+
Choppednodded images

Object: Centaurus A

Results: Photometry

18 detections (out of 31)

Gemini/Michelle PAH continuum

VLT/VISIR PAH continuum

Point-like No evidence for extended emission One reason: high uncertainty in LX

13 non-detections
DEC offset []

Add 7 objects from the archive total of 25

detected LLAGN

smoothed

Ra offset []

Comparison to Spitzer/IRS

Solid line: Spitzer/IRS Red points: VISIR photometry

Comparison to Spitzer/IRS

For LLAGN: 0.4 4-scale

Solid line: Spitzer/IRS Red points: VISIR photometry

Maximum SF contamination

Scale the SF template by the PAH 11.3m from the IRS of the LLAGN maximum of SF contribution (to 12m)

Spitzer/IRS VISIR photometry

maximum SF contribution

Maximum SF contamination

Scale the SF template by the PAH 11.3m from the IRS of the LLAGN maximum of SF contribution (to 12m) For the 24 detected LLAGN with IRS:
>75% >75% (4) (4) <25% <25% 50 -- 75% 50 75% (10) (10) (6) (6) 25 -- 50% 25 50% (4) (4)

Spitzer/IRS VISIR photometry

maximum SF contribution

Maximum SF contamination

Scale the SF template by the PAH 11.3m from the IRS of the LLAGN maximum of SF contribution (to 12m) For the 24 detected LLAGN with IRS:
>75% >75% (4) (4) <25% <25% 50 -- 75% 50 75% (10) (10) (6) (6) 25 -- 50% 25 50% (4) (4)

Star formation is weak at 0.4-scale in most LLAGN

(if PAH remains a valid tracer...)
Spitzer/IRS VISIR photometry maximum SF contribution

Structure of the talk

Low-luminosity AGN
BAT AGN

High-res. Photometry

Non-AGN Contamination

High-res. Photometry

MIR SED

The BAT AGN

BAT AGN

Credit: NASA

Swift/BAT AGN observations

Swift

Launched 2004 Gamma-ray burst hunter 3 instruments:

UVOT (UV & optical, 170-650 nm) XRT (X-ray, 0.2-10keV) BAT (gamma-ray, 14-195 keV)

Hardest X-rays (>20keV) are absorbed only in the Compton-thick case

BAT is well-suited for unbiased AGN searches

Credit: NASA

Swift/BAT AGN observations

Swift

Launched 2004 Gamma-ray burst hunter 3 instruments:

UVOT (UV & optical, 170-650 nm) XRT (X-ray, 0.2-10keV) BAT (gamma-ray, 14-195 keV)

Hardest X-rays (>20keV) are absorbed only in the Compton-thick case

BAT is well-suited for unbiased AGN searches

Credit: NASA

Unbiased, flux-limited, complete, all-sky sample of 104 AGN (Tueller et al.

2008, Winter et al. 2009)

Swift/BAT AGN observations

Swift

Launched 2004 Gamma-ray burst hunter 3 instruments:

UVOT (UV & optical, 170-650 nm) XRT (X-ray, 0.2-10keV) BAT (gamma-ray, 14-195 keV)

Hardest X-rays (>20keV) are absorbed only in the Compton-thick case

BAT is well-suited for unbiased AGN searches

Credit: NASA

Unbiased, flux-limited, complete, all-sky sample of 104 AGN (Tueller et al.

2008, Winter et al. 2009)

We observed 77 of the 104 BAT AGN (high-res MIR photometry)

Results: MIR imaging

75 of 77 detected

silicate

PAH

continuum

Point-like mostly no evidence for extended emission (except NGC 6240)

Star formation (PAH) weak in majority of BAT AGN at 0.4-scale

Results: average MIR SED

Type 1 Type 2

Silicate in emission in type 1 & in absorption for type 2 AGN

Results: average MIR SED

Type 1 Type 2

Comparison to: - - - clumpy torus models (Hnig &

Kishimoto 2010)

Silicate in emission in type 1 & in absorption for type 2 AGN

Structure of the talk

Low-luminosity AGN
BAT AGN

High-res. Photometry

Non-AGN Contamination

High-res. Photometry

MIR SED

12m 2-10keV correlation

Correlation from Gandhi et al. 09...

Power-law fit to: all AGN from G09

Objects: 42 Spearman Rank: = 0.88 (log p = -17) Power-law fit: log LMIR ~ (1.00 0.08) log LX

(absorption-corrected)

12m 2-10keV correlation

Adding the LLAGN...

Power-law fit to: all AGN from G09

Objects: 77 Spearman Rank: = 0.94 (log p = -30) Power-law fit: log LMIR ~ (1.05 0.05) log LX

(absorption-corrected)

12m 2-10keV correlation

Adding the BAT AGN...

Objects: 134 Spearman Rank: = 0.90 (log p = -42) Power-law fit: log LMIR ~ (1.00 0.04) log LX Fit depends somewhat on algorithm used Correlation dominated by X-ray uncertainties

Power-law fit to: all AGN from G09 all AGN

(absorption-corrected)

12m 2-10keV correlation

Adding the BAT AGN...

Objects: 134 Spearman Rank: = 0.90 (log p = -42) Power-law fit: log LMIR ~ (1.00 0.04) log LX Fit depends somewhat on algorithm used Correlation dominated by X-ray uncertainties

Power-law fit to: all AGN from G09 all AGN

Correlation applicable to all AGN

(absorption-corrected)

The MIRX-ray correlation

Xra y

M id

-in fr ar ed

Hot corona
UV
U V

Clumpy dusty structure

Thin accr. disk

Conclusions

High-angular resolution mid-infrared imaging of ~120 local AGN

Most objects show point-like MIR emission at ~0.4 resolution

Comparison to Spitzer/IRS spectra

No correlation between MIR properties at 4 and 0.4 scale Most AGN show weak or absent nuclear PAH emission Nuclear MIR emission contribution due to star formation likely minor Strongest 12m2-10keV correlation for all AGN combined (slope ~1) MIR--X-ray correlation valid for all AGN down to LX ~1040 erg/s! fundamental physical connection uniform structure in all AGN

MIR--X-ray luminosity correlation

Origin of MIR emission in AGN

Results favor dusty obscuring torus... LLAGN might have additional non-thermal component, e.g., jet...

Future work

Add radio data into the multiwavelength analysis For lowest accretion rate objects:

Assemble high spatial resolution IR SEDs and N-band spectroscopy Model comparisons and SED fitting with various components Complete Palomar LLAGN Assess importance of CT AGN Intrinsic indicator comparison Obtain N-band spectra Test AGN unification

For all AGN:

...

Observed MIR luminosity

Thank you for your attention!

Absorption-corr. X-ray luminosity