Spatially Resolved Circumnuclear Dust in Centaurus A
Abstract
In this paper we present results from our exploratory mid-IR study of Centaurus A circumnuclear environment using high-angular resolution imaging at the Magellan 6.5m telescope with the MIRAC/BLINC camera. We detected emission from a compact region surrounding the nuclear source, and obtained photometry at 8.8 microns and in the N band. Our analysis suggests that the nuclear region is resolved with a size of approximately 3 pc. The mid-IR emission from this region is likely associated with cool dust with an estimated temperature of \~160 K, surrounding the central ``hidden'' AGN. We discuss the characteristics of this emission in relation to other mid-IR observations and the implications on models of dust formation in AGNs.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.astro-ph/0311139,
title = {Spatially Resolved Circumnuclear Dust in Centaurus A},
author = {Margarita Karovska and Massimo Marengo and Martin Elvis and Giovanni Fazio and Joseph Hora and Philip Hinz and William Hoffmann and Michael Meyer and Eric Mamajek},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:astro-ph/0311139},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
14 pages 3 figures, to appear in The Astrophysical Journal Letters