Detail for Program: GS-2009A-Q-59

Abstract

We propose to identify the location of the MIR emission from a pilot sample of unobscured AGN. We will distinguish the dusty material associated with the optically and geometrically thick torus of the unified AGN scheme, which arises on small (<10pc) scales, from the dust associated with the spectrally narrow optical emission lines, which extends over larger (100pc) scales. Indirect evidence for large-scale MIR emission arises in distant quasars, but ground-based observations of nearby Seyfert galaxies offer the best possibility of resolving the emission directly. Isolating the small-scale emission, we will test novel models of clumpy tori to determine the distribution of dusty material in detail.

Publications using this program's data

[data] [ADS] The subarcsecond mid-infrared view of local active galactic nuclei - I. The N- and Q-band imaging atlas

[data] [ADS] Nuclear obscuration in LINERs. Clues from Spitzer/IRS spectra on the Compton thickness and the existence of the dusty torus

[data] [ADS] A mid-infrared statistical investigation of clumpy torus model predictions

[data] [ADS] Active Galactic Nucleus Ghosts: A Systematic Search for Faded Nuclei

[data] [ADS] On the origin of X-ray oxygen emission lines in obscured AGN

Title:	Quantifying the Dusty Surroundings of Unobscured AGN with Mid-IR Observations
PI:	James Radomski
Co-I(s):	Nancy Levenson, Rachel Mason, Grant Thompson