Infrared Diagnostics of Obscuring Geometry toward Galactic Nuclei

Details Infrared Diagnostics of Obscuring Geometry toward Galactic Nuclei Infrared Diagnostics of Obscuring Geometry toward Galactic Nuclei

May 2007

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007aas...21011202l&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society Meeting 210, #112.02; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 39, p.236

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

Scientific paper

Dust reprocesses the intrinsic short-wavelength radiation of active galactic nuclei and starbursts, and the light ultimately emerges in the infrared. The resulting thermal emission does not reveal the nature of the underlying source. While far-infrared flux ratios or "colors" have been used to identify candidate AGN, the success of this selection is a consequence of the distribution of dusty material around optically-identifiable AGN. The far-infrared flux ratio is not a direct signature of the AGN continuum that heats the dust. Numerical radiative transfer models demonstrate that both AGN and starburst spectra produce the same IR emission when embedded in the same dusty environments. Preferentially bluer far-infrared spectra are characteristic of sources located in inhomogeneous rather than continuous media, independent of the spectral energy distributions of the underlying sources themselves.
Observations show systematic differences between known AGN and starburst galaxies in their far-infrared spectra, which are the result of their differing nuclear environments. However, these results cannot be directly applied to identify the energy source of ultraluminous infrared galaxies, where galactic interactions govern the distribution of dust.
I acknowledge work supported by the NSF under grant number 0237291.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Infrared Diagnostics of Obscuring Geometry toward Galactic Nuclei does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Infrared Diagnostics of Obscuring Geometry toward Galactic Nuclei, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Infrared Diagnostics of Obscuring Geometry toward Galactic Nuclei will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1034328