Bibcode
Alonso-Herrero, A.; Ramos Almeida, C.; Esquej, P.; Roche, P. F.; Hernán-Caballero, A.; Hönig, S. F.; González-Martín, O.; Aretxaga, I.; Mason, R. E.; Packham, C.; Levenson, N. A.; Rodríguez Espinosa, J. M.; Siebenmorgen, R.; Pereira-Santaella, M.; Díaz-Santos, T.; Colina, L.; Alvarez, C.; Telesco, C. M.
Bibliographical reference
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 443, Issue 3, p.2766-2782
Advertised on:
9
2014
Citations
78
Refereed citations
76
Description
We present Gran Telescopio CANARIAS CanariCam 8.7 μm imaging and
7.5-13 μm spectroscopy of six local systems known to host an active
galactic nucleus (AGN) and have nuclear star formation. Our main goal is
to investigate whether the molecules responsible for the 11.3 μm
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) feature are destroyed in the close
vicinity of an AGN. We detect 11.3 μm PAH feature emission in the
nuclear regions of the galaxies as well as extended PAH emission over a
few hundred parsecs. The equivalent width (EW) of the feature shows a
minimum at the nucleus but increases with increasing radial distances,
reaching typical star-forming values a few hundred parsecs away from the
nucleus. The reduced nuclear EWs are interpreted as due to increased
dilution from the AGN continuum rather than destruction of the PAH
molecules. We conclude that at least those molecules responsible for the
11.3 μm PAH feature survive in the nuclear environments as close as
10 pc from the AGN and for Seyfert-like AGN luminosities. We propose
that material in the dusty tori, nuclear gas discs, and/or host galaxies
of AGN is likely to provide the column densities necessary to protect
the PAH molecules from the AGN radiation field.
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