ALBERT

Description: Gravitational instabilities play an important role in structure formation of gas-rich high-redshift disc galaxies. In this paper, we revisit the axisymmetric perturbation theory and the resulting growth of structure by taking the realistic thickness of the disc into account. In the unstable regime, which corresponds for thick discs to a Toomre parameter below the critical value Q 0, crit  = 0.696, we find a fastest growing perturbation wavelength that is always a factor 1.93 times larger than in the classical razor-thin disc approximation. This result is independent of the adopted disc scaleheight and by this independent of temperature and surface density. In order to test the analytical theory, we compare it with a high-resolution hydrodynamical simulation of an isothermal gravitationally unstable gas disc with the typical vertical sech 2 density profile and study its break up into rings that subsequently fragment into dense clumps. In the first phase, rings form, that organize themselves discretely, with distances corresponding to the local fastest growing perturbation wavelength. We find that the disc scaleheight has to be resolved initially with five or more grid cells in order to guarantee proper growth of the ring structures, which follow the analytical prediction. These rings later on contract to a thin and dense line, while at the same time accreting more gas from the inter-ring region. It is these dense, circular filaments, that subsequently fragment into a large number of clumps. Contrary to what is typically assumed, the clump sizes are therefore not directly determined by the fastest growing wavelength.

Description: Stellar winds and supernova (SN) explosions of massive stars (‘stellar feedback’) create bubbles in the interstellar medium (ISM) and insert newly produced heavy elements and kinetic energy into their surroundings, possibly driving turbulence. Most of this energy is thermalized and immediately removed from the ISM by radiative cooling. The rest is available for driving ISM dynamics. In this work we estimate the amount of feedback energy retained as kinetic energy when the bubble walls have decelerated to the sound speed of the ambient medium. We show that the feedback of the most massive star outweighs the feedback from less massive stars. For a giant molecular cloud (GMC) mass of 10 5 M (as e.g. found in the Orion GMCs) and a star formation efficiency of 8 per cent the initial mass function predicts a most massive star of approximately 60 M . For this stellar evolution model we test the dependence of the retained kinetic energy of the cold GMC gas on the inclusion of stellar winds. In our model winds insert 2.34 times the energy of an SN and create stellar wind bubbles serving as pressure reservoirs. We find that during the pressure-driven phases of the bubble evolution radiative losses peak near the contact discontinuity (CD), and thus the retained energy depends critically on the scales of the mixing processes across the CD. Taking into account the winds of massive stars increases the amount of kinetic energy deposited in the cold ISM from 0.1 per cent to a few per cent of the feedback energy.

Description: The gas cloud G2 is currently being tidally disrupted by the Galactic Centre supermassive black hole, Sgr A*. The region around the black hole is populated by ~30 Wolf–Rayet stars, which produce strong outflows. We explore the possibility that gas clumps, such as G2, originate from the collision of stellar winds via the non-linear thin shell instability . Following an analytical approach, we study the thermal evolution of slabs formed in the symmetric collision of winds, evaluating whether instabilities occur, and estimating possible clump masses. We find that the collision of relatively slow (750 km s –1 ) and strong (~10 –5 M  yr –1 ) stellar winds from stars at short separations (〈10 mpc) is a process that indeed could produce clumps of G2's mass and above. Such short separation encounters of single stars along their known orbits are not common in the Galactic Centre, making this process a possible but unlikely origin for G2. We also discuss clump formation in close binaries such as IRS 16SW and in asymmetric encounters as promising alternatives that deserve further numerical study.

Description: The central engines of Seyfert galaxies are thought to be enshrouded by geometrically thick gas and dust structures. In this paper, we derive observable properties for a self-consistent model of such toroidal gas and dust distributions, where the geometrical thickness is achieved and maintained with the help of X-ray heating and radiation pressure due to the central engine. Spectral energy distributions (SEDs) and images are obtained with the help of dust continuum radiative transfer calculations with radmc-3d . For the first time, we are able to present time-resolved SEDs and images for a physical model of the central obscurer. Temporal changes are mostly visible at shorter wavelengths, close to the combined peak of the dust opacity as well as the central source spectrum and are caused by variations in the column densities of the generated outflow. Because of the three-component morphology of the hydrodynamical models – a thin disc with high-density filaments, a surrounding fluffy component (the obscurer) and a low-density outflow along the rotation axis – we find dramatic differences depending on wavelength: whereas the mid-infrared images are dominated by the elongated appearance of the outflow cone, the long wavelength emission is mainly given by the cold and dense disc component. Overall, we find good agreement with observed characteristics, especially for those models, which show clear outflow cones in combination with a geometrically thick distribution of gas and dust, as well as a geometrically thin, but high column density disc in the equatorial plane.

Description: We use high-spectral resolution ( R  〉 8000) data covering 3800–13 000 Å to study the physical conditions of the broad-line region (BLR) of nine nearby Seyfert 1 galaxies. Up to six broad H i lines are present in each spectrum. A comparison – for the first time using simultaneous optical to near-infrared observations – to photoionization calculations with our devised simple scheme yields the extinction to the BLR at the same time as determining the density and photon flux, and hence distance from the nucleus, of the emitting gas. This points to a typical density for the H i emitting gas of 10 11  cm –3 and shows that a significant amount of this gas lies at regions near the dust sublimation radius, consistent with theoretical predictions. We also confirm that in many objects, the line ratios are far from case B, the best-fitting intrinsic broad-line Hα/H β ratios being in the range 2.5–6.6 as derived with our photoionization modelling scheme. The extinction to the BLR, based on independent estimates from H i and He ii lines, is A V  ≤ 3 for Seyfert 1–1.5s, while Seyfert 1.8–1.9s have A V in the range 4–8. A comparison of the extinction towards the BLR and narrow-line region (NLR) indicates that the structure obscuring the BLR exists on scales smaller than the NLR. This could be the dusty torus, but dusty nuclear spirals or filaments could also be responsible. The ratios between the X-ray absorbing column N H and the extinction to the BLR are consistent with the Galactic gas-to-dust ratio if N H variations are considered.

Description: Type 2 active galactic nuclei (AGN) are by definition nuclei in which the broad-line region and continuum light are hidden at optical/UV wavelengths by dust. Via accurate registration of infrared (IR) Very Large Telescope adaptive optics images with optical Hubble Space Telescope images we unambiguously identify the precise location of the nucleus of a sample of nearby, type 2 AGN. Dust extinction maps of the central few kpc of these galaxies are constructed from optical–IR colour images, which allow tracing the dust morphology at scales of few pc. In almost all cases, the IR nucleus is shifted by several tens of pc from the optical peak and its location is behind a dust filament, prompting to this being a major, if not the only, cause of the nucleus obscuration. These nuclear dust lanes have extinctions A V ≥ 3 – 6 mag, sufficient to at least hide the low-luminosity AGN class, and in some cases are observed to connect with kpc-scale dust structures, suggesting that these are the nuclear fueling channels. A precise location of the ionized gas Hα and [ Si vii ] 2.48 μ coronal emission lines relative to those of the IR nucleus and dust is determined. The Hα peak emission is often shifted from the nucleus location and its sometimes conical morphology appears not to be caused by a nuclear – torus – collimation but to be strictly defined by the morphology of the nuclear dust lanes. Conversely, [ Si vii ] 2.48 μ emission, less subjected to dust extinction, reflects the truly, rather isotropic, distribution of the ionized gas. All together, the precise location of the dust, ionized gas and nucleus is found compelling enough to cast doubts on the universality of the pc-scale torus and supports its vanishing in low-luminosity AGN. Finally, we provide the most accurate position of the NGC 1068 nucleus, located at the south vertex of cloud B.

Description: Context. Active galactic nuclei (AGN) are anisotropic objects surrounded by an optically thick equatorial medium whose true geometry still defies observers. Aims. We aim to explore the optical scattering-induced polarization that emerges from clumpy and warped dusty tori to check whether they can fit the unified model predictions. Methods. We ran polarized radiative transfer simulations in a set of warped and non-warped clumpy tori to explore the differences induced by distorted dust distributions. We then included warped tori in a more complex model representative of an AGN to check, using polarimetry and imaging methods, whether warps can reproduce the expected polarization dichotomy between Seyfert-I and Seyfert-II AGN. Results. The main results from our simulations highlight that isolated warped structures imprint the polarization degree and angle with distinctive signatures at Seyfert-I orientations. Included in an AGN model, the signatures of warps are easily (but not always) washed out by multiple scattering in a clumpy environment. Imaging polarimetry may help to detect warped tori, but we prove that warps can exist in AGN circumnuclear regions without contradicting observations. Conclusions. Two warped tori with a non-significant difference in geometry in terms of photometry or spectroscopy can have entirely different signatures in polarimetry. Testing the geometry of any alternative model to the usual dusty torus using polarized radiative transfer is a necessary approach to verify or reject a hypothesis.

Description: We present near-infrared interferometric data on the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 1068, obtained with the GRAVITY instrument on the European Southern Observatory Very Large Telescope Interferometer. The extensive baseline coverage from 5 to 60 Mλ allowed us to reconstruct a continuum image of the nucleus with an unrivaled 0.2 pc resolution in the K-band. We find a thin ring-like structure of emission with a radius r = 0.24 ± 0.03 pc, inclination i = 70 ± 5°, position angle PA = −50 ± 4°, and h/r 〈  0.14, which we associate with the dust sublimation region. The observed morphology is inconsistent with the expected signatures of a geometrically and optically thick torus. Instead, the infrared emission shows a striking resemblance to the 22 GHz maser disc, which suggests they share a common region of origin. The near-infrared spectral energy distribution indicates a bolometric luminosity of (0.4–4.7) × 1045 erg s−1, behind a large AK ≈ 5.5 (AV ≈ 90) screen of extinction that also appears to contribute significantly to obscuring the broad line region.