Program: GN-2010A-C-7

The existence of accretion disks in active galactic nuclei (AGN) is revealed by a strong pointlike X-ray emission, while the dust located further outward in a torus-like geometry reprocesses the central emission and causes the nuclear infrared continuum. Is this still the case for low-luminosity AGN (LLAGN)? Our group has recently found that the expected relation between the intrinsic X-ray and the mid-infrared (MIR) luminosities is actually very tight for AGN with log (L2-10keV ) > 42. However, there is also a trend of deviation for LLAGN, which we propose to confirm by measuring the nuclear MIR luminosity for a well-defined sample of LLAGN from the Palomar Survey and investigate the existence of obscuring dusty tori. If LLAGN correspond to the transition stage between the active and inactive AGN-phase, our observations would constrain the parameters describing this transition. Furthermore, some of the objects are considered to be 'true' Seyfert 2s, i.e. no torus and no broad line region. Our existing VLT/VISIR observations clearly demonstrate the need for the highest spatial resolution, as e.g. Spitzer data are significantly affected by circum-nuclear activity.