Resolving the nuclear dust distribution of the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 3081
We report far-infrared (FIR) imaging of the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 3081 in the range 70–500 µm, obtained with an unprecedented angular resolution, using the Herschel Space Observatory instruments PACS and SPIRE. The 11 kpc (∼70 arcsec) diameter star-forming ring of the galaxy appears resolved up to 25...
| Autores: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2011 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Universidad de Cantabria (UC) |
| Repositorio: | UCrea Repositorio Abierto de la Universidad de Cantabria |
| Idioma: | inglés |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:repositorio.unican.es:10902/27025 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/10902/27025 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Galaxies Active – galaxies Nuclei – galaxies Seyfert – infrared Galaxies – galaxies Individual NGC 3081 |
| Sumario: | We report far-infrared (FIR) imaging of the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 3081 in the range 70–500 µm, obtained with an unprecedented angular resolution, using the Herschel Space Observatory instruments PACS and SPIRE. The 11 kpc (∼70 arcsec) diameter star-forming ring of the galaxy appears resolved up to 250 µm. We extracted IR (1.6–500 µm) nuclear fluxes, that is active nucleus-dominated fluxes, and fitted them with clumpy torus models, which successfully reproduce the FIR emission with small torus sizes. Adding the FIR data to the near- and mid-IR spectral energy distribution (SED) results in a torus radial extent of Ro= 4+2− 1 pc, as well as in a flat radial distribution of the clouds (i.e. the q parameter). At wavelengths beyond 200 µm, cold dust emission at T= 28 ± 1 K from the circumnuclear star-forming ring of 2.3 kpc (∼15 arcsec) in diameter starts making a contribution to the nuclear emission. The dust in the outer parts of the galaxy is heated by the interstellar radiation field (19 ± 3 K). |
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