Parsec-scale Dusty Winds in Active Galactic Nuclei: Evidence for Radiation Pressure Driving

• Published in: The Astrophysical journal 2019-11, Vol.886 (1), p.55
• Main Authors: Leftley, James H., Hönig, Sebastian F., Asmus, Daniel, Tristram, Konrad R. W., Gandhi, Poshak, Kishimoto, Makoto, Venanzi, Marta, Williamson, David J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Active galactic nuclei; Astrophysics; Cosmic dust; Dust; Dust emission; Infrared analysis; Infrared interferometers; Interferometry; Luminosity; Radiation; Radiation pressure; Stress concentration; Toruses; Very Large Telescope; Wind
• ISSN: 0004-637X; 1538-4357
• DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/ab4a0b

Infrared interferometry of the local active galactic nucleus (AGN) has revealed a warm (∼300–400 K) polar dust structure that cannot be trivially explained by the putative dust torus of the unified model. This led to the development of the disk+wind scenario which comprises a hot (∼1000 K) compact equatorial dust disk and a polar dust wind. This wind is assumed to be driven by radiation pressure and, therefore, we would expect that long-term variation in radiation pressure would influence the dust distribution. In this paper we attempt to quantify if and how the dust distribution changes with radiation pressure. We analyze so far unpublished Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI)/MID-infrared Interferometer (MIDI) data on 8 AGN and use previous results on 25 more to create a sample of 33 AGN. This sample comprises all AGN successfully observed with VLTI/MIDI. For each AGN, we calculate the Eddington ratio, using the intrinsic 2–10 keV X-ray luminosity and black hole mass, and compare this to the resolved dust emission fraction as seen by MIDI. We tentatively conclude that there is more dust in the wind at higher Eddington ratios, at least in type 2 AGN where such an effect is expected to be more easily visible.