Related papers: A multiwavelength-motivated X-ray model for the Ci…
We have used the Chandra X-ray Observatory to resolve spatially and spectrally the X-ray emission from the Circinus Galaxy. We report here on the nature of the X-ray emission from the off-nuclear point sources associated with the disk of…
One of the key ingredients of the Unified Model of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) is the presence of a torus-like optically thick medium composed by dust and gas around the putative supermassive black hole. However, the structure, size and…
Aims. To investigate the star formation activity and the gas and stellar dynamics on scales of a few parsecs in the nucleus of the Circinus Galaxy. Methods.Using the adaptive optics near infrared integral field spectrometer SINFONI on the…
VLT J- to M\p-band adaptive optics observations of the Circinus Galaxy on parsec scales resolve a central bright Ks-band source with a FWHM size of 1.9 $\pm$ 0.6 pc. This source is only visible at wavelengths longward of 1.6 $\mu$m and…
X-ray observations provide a powerful tool to probe the central engines of active galactic nuclei (AGN). A hard X-ray continuum is produced from deep within the accretion flow onto the supermassive black hole, and all optically thick…
Monte Carlo simulation is one of the best tools to study the complex spectra of Compton-thick AGNs and to figure out the relation between their nuclear structures and X-ray spectra. We have simulated X-ray spectra of Compton-thick AGNs…
The Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) is finding previously unidentified, luminous red active galactic nuclei (AGN). This new sample has a space density similar to, or greater than, previously known AGN, suggesting that a large fraction of…
We present near-infrared broad-band polarization images of the nuclear regions of the Circinus galaxy in the J, H and K bands. For the first time the south-eastern reflection cone is detected in polarized light, which is obscured at optical…
The metal abundances in galactic nuclei carry key information on the history of star formation and mass transfer in central regions of galaxies. X-ray fluorescence analysis is a unique tool to reliably measure the abundances of various…
We estimate the abundance of Compton-thick (CT) active galactic nuclei (AGN) based on our joint model of X-ray and infrared backgrounds. At L_{rest 2-10 keV} > 10^42 erg/s, the CT AGN density predicted by our model is a few 10^-4 Mpc^-3…
The hard X-ray emission of active galactic nuclei (AGN), and in particular, the reflection component, is shaped by the innermost and outer regions of the galactic nucleus. Our main goal is to investigate the variation of the Compton hump…
Heavily obscured accretion is believed to represent an important stage in the growth of supermassive black holes, and to play an important role in shaping the observed spectrum of the Cosmic X-ray Background (CXB). Hard X-ray (E$>$10 keV)…
We analyze observations obtained with the Chandra X-ray Observatory of bright Compton thick active galactic nuclei (AGNs), those with column densities in excess of 1.5 x 10^{24} cm^{-2} along the lines of sight. We therefore view the…
We present a spectral and imaging analysis of the X-ray reflecting structure at the heart of the Circinus galaxy, investigating the innermost regions surrounding the central black hole. By studying an archival 200 ks Chandra ACIS-S…
X-ray fluorescent lines are unique features of the reflection spectrum of the torus when irradiated by the central AGN. Their intrinsic line width can be used to probe the line-emitting region. Previous studies have focused on the Fe Ka…
We presented the multiwavelength analysis of a heavily obscured active galactic nucleus (AGN) in NGC 449. We first constructed a broadband X-ray spectrum using the latest NuSTAR and XMM-Newton data. Its column density ($\simeq 10^{24}…
The nuclear obscurer of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) is poorly understood in terms of its origin, geometry and dynamics. We investigate whether physically motivated geometries emerging from hydro-radiative simulations can be differentiated…
We describe improved modelling of the emission by dust in a toroidal--like structure heated by a central illuminating source within Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). We chose a simple but realistic torus geometry, a flared disc, and a dust…
We perform a systematic X-ray spectroscopic analysis of 57 local ultra/luminous infrared galaxy systems (containing 84 individual galaxies) observed with Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array and/or Swift/BAT. Combining soft X-ray data…
We present a detailed and self-consistent modeling of the cosmic X-ray background (XRB) based on the most up-to-date X-ray luminosity functions (XLF) and evolution of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). The large body of observational results…