Resolving the nuclear dust distribution of the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 3081
Abstract
We report far-infrared (FIR) imaging of the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 3081 in the range 70-500 micron, 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 micron. We extracted infrared (1.6-500 micron) 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-infrared 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 micron, 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).
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1107.2420,
title = {Resolving the nuclear dust distribution of the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 3081},
author = {C. Ramos Almeida and M. Sanchez-Portal and A. M. Perez-Garcia and J. A. Acosta-Pulido and M. Castillo and A. Asensio Ramos and J. I. Gonzalez-Serrano and A. Alonso-Herrero and J. M. Rodriguez Espinosa and E. Hatziminaoglou and D. Coia and I. Valtchanov and M. Povic and P. Esquej and C. Packham and B. Altieri},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1107.2420},
year = {2015}
}
Comments
6 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS letters