The central dusty torus in the active nucleus of NGC 1068.
Active galactic nuclei (AGNs) display many energetic phenomena--broad emission lines, X-rays, relativistic jets, radio lobes--originating from matter falling onto a supermassive black hole. It is widely accepted that orientation effects play a major role in explaining the observational appearance of AGNs. Seen from certain directions, circum-nuclear dust clouds would block our view of the central powerhouse. Indirect evidence suggests that the dust clouds form a parsec-sized torus-shaped distribution. This explanation, however, remains unproved, as even the largest telescopes have not been able to resolve the dust structures. Here we report interferometric mid-infrared observations that spatially resolve these structures in the galaxy NGC 1068. The observations reveal warm (320 K) dust in a structure 2.1 parsec thick and 3.4 parsec in diameter, surrounding a smaller hot structure. As such a configuration of dust clouds would collapse in a time much shorter than the active phase of the AGN, this observation requires a continual input of kinetic energy to the cloud system from a source coexistent with the AGN.
Jaffe
W
W
Leiden Observatory, Niels Bohrweg 2, 2333 CA Leiden, The Netherlands. jaffe@strw.leidenuniv.nl
Meisenheimer
K
K
Röttgering
H J A
HJ
Leinert
Ch
Ch
Richichi
A
A
Chesneau
O
O
Fraix-Burnet
D
D
Glazenborg-Kluttig
A
A
Granato
G-L
GL
Graser
U
U
Heijligers
B
B
Köhler
R
R
Malbet
F
F
Miley
G K
GK
Paresce
F
F
Pel
J-W
JW
Perrin
G
G
Przygodda
F
F
Schoeller
M
M
Sol
H
H
Waters
L B F M
LB
Weigelt
G
G
Woillez
J
J
De Zeeuw
P T
PT