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The central parsec of NGC 3783: a rotating broad emission line region, asymmetric hot dust structure, and compact coronal line region

The central parsec of NGC 3783: a rotating broad emission line region, asymmetric hot dust structure, and compact coronal line region
The central parsec of NGC 3783: a rotating broad emission line region, asymmetric hot dust structure, and compact coronal line region

Using VLTI/GRAVITY and SINFONI data, we investigate the subparsec gas and dust structure around the nearby type 1 active galactic nucleus (AGN) hosted by NGC 3783. The K-band coverage of GRAVITY uniquely allows simultaneous analysis of the size and kinematics of the broad line region (BLR), the size and structure of the near-infrared(near-IR)-continuum-emitting hot dust, and the size of the coronal line region (CLR). We find the BLR, probed through broad Brγ emission, to be well described by a rotating, thick disc with a radial distribution of clouds peaking in the inner region. In our BLR model, the physical mean radius of 16 light-days is nearly twice the ten-day time-lag that would be measured, which closely matches the ten-day time-lag that has been measured by reverberation mapping. We measure a hot dust full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) size of 0.74 mas (0.14 pc) and further reconstruct an image of the hot dust, which reveals a faint (5% of the total flux) offset cloud that we interpret as an accreting or outflowing cloud heated by the central AGN. Finally, we directly measure the FWHM size of the nuclear CLR as traced by the [Ca » VIII] and narrow Brγ line. We find a FWHM size of 2.2 mas (0.4 pc), fully in line with the expectation of the CLR located between the BLR and narrow line region. Combining all of these measurements together with larger scale near-IR integral field unit and mid-IR interferometry data, we are able to comprehensively map the structure and dynamics of gas and dust from 0.01 to 100 pc.

Galaxies: Seyfert, Galaxies: active, Galaxies: nuclei, Quasars: individual: NGC 3783
0004-6361
GRAVITY Collaboration,
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Amorim, A.
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Bauböck, M.
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Brandner, W.
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Bolzer, M.
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Clénet, Y.
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de Zeeuw, P. T.
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Drescher, A.
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Eckart, A.
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Eisenhauer, F.
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Förster Schreiber, N. M.
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Garcia, P. J. V.
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Genzel, R.
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Hönig, S.
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Kishimoto, M.
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Lacour, S.
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Lutz, D.
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Millour, F.
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Netzer, H.
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Ott, T.
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Paumard, T.
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Perrin, G.
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Peterson, B. M.
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Petrucci, P. O.
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Pfuhl, O.
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Prieto, M. A.
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Rouan, D.
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Sanchez-Bermudez, J.
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Shangguan, J.
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Shimizu, T.
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Schartmann, M.
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Stadler, J.
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Sternberg, A.
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Straub, O.
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Straubmeier, C.
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Sturm, E.
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Tacconi, L. J.
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Tristram, K. R. W.
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Vermot, P.
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von Fellenberg, S.
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Waisberg, I.
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Widmann, F.
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Woillez, J.
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GRAVITY Collaboration
GRAVITY Collaboration,
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Amorim, A.
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Bauböck, M.
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Brandner, W.
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Bolzer, M.
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Clénet, Y.
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de Zeeuw, P. T.
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Dexter, J.
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Drescher, A.
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Eckart, A.
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Eisenhauer, F.
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Förster Schreiber, N. M.
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Garcia, P. J. V.
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Genzel, R.
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Gillessen, S.
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Gratadour, D.
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Hönig, S.
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Kaltenbrunner, D.
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Kishimoto, M.
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Lacour, S.
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Lutz, D.
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Millour, F.
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Netzer, H.
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Ott, T.
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Paumard, T.
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Perraut, K.
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Perrin, G.
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Peterson, B. M.
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Petrucci, P. O.
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Pfuhl, O.
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Prieto, M. A.
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Rouan, D.
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Sanchez-Bermudez, J.
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Shangguan, J.
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Shimizu, T.
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Schartmann, M.
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Stadler, J.
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Sternberg, A.
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Straub, O.
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Straubmeier, C.
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Sturm, E.
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Tacconi, L. J.
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Tristram, K. R. W.
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Vermot, P.
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von Fellenberg, S.
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Waisberg, I.
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Widmann, F.
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Woillez, J.
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GRAVITY Collaboration (2021) The central parsec of NGC 3783: a rotating broad emission line region, asymmetric hot dust structure, and compact coronal line region. Astronomy & Astrophysics, 648, [a117]. (doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202040061).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Using VLTI/GRAVITY and SINFONI data, we investigate the subparsec gas and dust structure around the nearby type 1 active galactic nucleus (AGN) hosted by NGC 3783. The K-band coverage of GRAVITY uniquely allows simultaneous analysis of the size and kinematics of the broad line region (BLR), the size and structure of the near-infrared(near-IR)-continuum-emitting hot dust, and the size of the coronal line region (CLR). We find the BLR, probed through broad Brγ emission, to be well described by a rotating, thick disc with a radial distribution of clouds peaking in the inner region. In our BLR model, the physical mean radius of 16 light-days is nearly twice the ten-day time-lag that would be measured, which closely matches the ten-day time-lag that has been measured by reverberation mapping. We measure a hot dust full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) size of 0.74 mas (0.14 pc) and further reconstruct an image of the hot dust, which reveals a faint (5% of the total flux) offset cloud that we interpret as an accreting or outflowing cloud heated by the central AGN. Finally, we directly measure the FWHM size of the nuclear CLR as traced by the [Ca » VIII] and narrow Brγ line. We find a FWHM size of 2.2 mas (0.4 pc), fully in line with the expectation of the CLR located between the BLR and narrow line region. Combining all of these measurements together with larger scale near-IR integral field unit and mid-IR interferometry data, we are able to comprehensively map the structure and dynamics of gas and dust from 0.01 to 100 pc.

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Published date: 28 April 2021
Additional Information: Funding Information: Acknowledgements. We thank the anonymous referee for their careful reading and suggestions that helped to improve this manuscript. J.D. was supported in part by NSF grant AST 1909711 and an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship. A.A. and P.G. were supported by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnolo-gia, with grants reference UIDB/00099/2020 and SFRH/BSAB/142940/2018. SH acknowledges support from the European Research Council via Starting Grant ERC-StG-677117 DUST-IN-THE-WIND. JSB acknowledges the full support from the UNAM PAPIIT project IA 101220. This research has made use of the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED), which is operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. This research made use of astropy (http://www.astropy.org), a community-developed core Python package for Astronomy (Astropy Collaboration 2013, 2018), numpy (Van Der Walt et al. 2011), scipy (Jones et al. 2001), and matplotlib (Hunter 2007). Publisher Copyright: © GRAVITY Collaboration 2021.
Keywords: Galaxies: Seyfert, Galaxies: active, Galaxies: nuclei, Quasars: individual: NGC 3783

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 452804
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/452804
ISSN: 0004-6361
PURE UUID: 7c5774a4-be5d-4c8c-8287-2875a4bf9ba1

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Date deposited: 21 Dec 2021 17:31
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 14:09

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Contributors

Author: GRAVITY Collaboration
Author: A. Amorim
Author: M. Bauböck
Author: W. Brandner
Author: M. Bolzer
Author: Y. Clénet
Author: P. T. de Zeeuw
Author: J. Dexter
Author: A. Drescher
Author: A. Eckart
Author: F. Eisenhauer
Author: N. M. Förster Schreiber
Author: P. J. V. Garcia
Author: R. Genzel
Author: S. Gillessen
Author: D. Gratadour
Author: S. Hönig
Author: D. Kaltenbrunner
Author: M. Kishimoto
Author: S. Lacour
Author: D. Lutz
Author: F. Millour
Author: H. Netzer
Author: T. Ott
Author: T. Paumard
Author: K. Perraut
Author: G. Perrin
Author: B. M. Peterson
Author: P. O. Petrucci
Author: O. Pfuhl
Author: M. A. Prieto
Author: D. Rouan
Author: J. Sanchez-Bermudez
Author: J. Shangguan
Author: T. Shimizu
Author: M. Schartmann
Author: J. Stadler
Author: A. Sternberg
Author: O. Straub
Author: C. Straubmeier
Author: E. Sturm
Author: L. J. Tacconi
Author: K. R. W. Tristram
Author: P. Vermot
Author: S. von Fellenberg
Author: I. Waisberg
Author: F. Widmann
Author: J. Woillez
Corporate Author: GRAVITY Collaboration

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