Year: 2016
Type: article
Abstract: ABSTRACT We used the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) to map the emission of the CO(6–5) molecular line and the 432 μ m continuum emission from the 300 pc sized circumnuclear disk (CND) of the nearby Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 1068 with a spatial resolution of ∼4 pc. These observations spatially resolve the CND and, for the first time, image the dust emission, the molecular gas distribution, and the kinematics from a 7–10 pc diameter disk that represents the submillimeter counterpart of the putative torus of NGC 1068 . We fitted the nuclear spectral energy distribution of the torus using ALMA and near- and mid-infrared (NIR/MIR) data with CLUMPY torus models. The mass and radius of the best-fit solution for the torus are both consistent with the values derived from the ALMA data alone: M gas torus = ( 1 ± 0.3 ) × 10 5 M ☉ and R torus = 3.5 ± 0.5 pc. The dynamics of the molecular gas in the torus show strong non-circular motions and enhanced turbulence superposed on a surprisingly slow rotation pattern of the disk. By contrast with the nearly edge-on orientation of the H 2 O megamaser disk, we found evidence suggesting that the molecular torus is less inclined ( i = 34°–66°) at larger radii. The lopsided morphology and complex kinematics of the torus could be the signature of the Papaloizou–Pringle instability, long predicted to likely drive the dynamical evolution of active galactic nuclei tori.
Authors: S. García-Burillo, F. Combes, C. Ramos Almeida, A. Usero, M. Krips, A. Alonso-Herrero, S. Aalto, V. Casasola, L. K. Hunt, S. Martín, S. Viti, L. Colina, F. Costagliola, A. Eckart, A. Fuente, C. Henkel, I. Márquez, R. Neri, E. Schinnerer, L. J. Tacconi, P. P. van der Werf
Institutions: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Collège de France, Université Paris Sciences et Lettres, Sorbonne Université, Laboratoire d’Etudes du Rayonnement et de la Matière en Astrophysique et Atmosphères, Universidad de La Laguna, Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial, Centro de Astrobiología, Chalmers University of Technology, Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory, Atacama Large Millimeter Submillimeter Array, European Southern Observatory, University College London, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Istituto di Radioastronomia di Bologna, University of Cologne, King Abdulaziz University, Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, Leiden University, Leiden Observatory
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2319865874