Other
Scientific paper
May 2007
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007sptz.prop40018s&link_type=abstract
Spitzer Proposal ID #40018
Other
Scientific paper
The nearly edge-on galaxy NGC4945 is one of the closest galaxies where an AGN and starburst coexist. Hard X-ray observations have shown the central black hole in this galaxy to be obscured by a Compton-thick hydrogen column of N_H=5 x 10^24 cm^-2. Despite this huge column, the AGN in NGC4945 is one of the brightest extragalactic sources in the sky at 100keV. In contrast, at optical and infrared wavelengths the AGN has remained undetected until very recently. Instead, at these wavelengths the central region is dominated by a starburst responsible for a spectacular starburst wind-blown, conical shaped cavity aligned with the galaxy's minor axis. Near and mid-infrared spectroscopy of the nucleus have shown the central region to be dominated by very strong obscuration, rivaled only in strength by some of the most deeply obscured UltraLuminous Infrared Galaxies (ULIRGs). This obscuring medium is littered with cold molecular clouds, as evidenced by the presence of strong absorption bands of water ice and volatile ice species such as CO2, CO and `XCN' in the 3-5 micron range, as well as by a very deep 10 micron silicate absorption feature. Other similarly inclined nearby starburst galaxies such as M82 and NGC253 do not show similar spectral properties on these scales. This makes NGC4945 a unique laboratory to study an environment otherwise only found in distant ULIRGs and, likely, their higher redshift counterparts. We therefore propose to map the bright central region of NGC4945 in SL, LL and SH to obtain the spatial distribution of ISM emission and absorption features, which will allow a characterization of the physical conditions in the frosty exotic ISM exposed to the hostile radiation from the circumnuclear starburst which coexists with a deeply buried AGN.
Bernard-Salas Jeronimo
Charmandaris Vassilis
Devost Daniel
Farrah Duncan
Roussel Helene
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