Near-IR 2D-Spectroscopy of the 4''x 4'' region around the Active Galactic Nucleus of NGC1068 with ISAAC/VLT

We present new near-IR long slit spectroscopic data obtained with ISAAC on VLT/ANTU (ESO/Paranal) of the central 4''x 4'' region surrounding the central engine of NGC1068 . Bracket Gamma (Bg) and H2 emission line maps and line profile grids are produced, at a spatial resolution~0.5" and spectral resolution 35km/s. Two conspicuous knots of H2 emission are detected at about 1'' on each side of the central engine along PA=90deg, with a projected velocity difference of 140km/s: this velocity jump has been interpreted in Alloin et al (2001) as the signature of a rotating disk of molecular material. Another knot with both H2 and Bg emission is detected to the North of the central engine, close to the radio source C where the small scale radio jet is redirected and close to the brightest [OIII] cloud NLR-B. At the achieved spectral resolution, the H2 emission line profiles appear highly asymmetric with their low velocity wing being systematically more extended than their high velocity wing. A simple way to account for the changes of the H2 line profiles (peak-shift with respect to the systemic velocity, width, asymmetry) over the entire 4''x 4'' region, is to consider that a radial outflow is superimposed over the emission of the rotating molecular disk. We present a model of such a kinematical configuration and compare our predicted H2 emission profiles to the observed ones.Comment: 15 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in A&

Molecular gas chemistry in AGN. II. High-resolution imaging of SiO emission in NGC1068: shocks or XDR?

This paper is part of a multi-species survey of line emission from the molecular gas in the circum-nuclear disk (CND) of the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC1068. Single-dish observations have provided evidence that the abundance of silicon monoxide(SiO) in the CND of NGC1068 is enhanced by 3-4 orders of magnitude with respect to the values typically measured in quiescent molecular gas in the Galaxy. We aim at unveiling the mechanism(s) underlying the SiO enhancement. We have imaged with the IRAM Plateau de Bure interferometer the emission of the SiO(2-1) and CN(2--1) lines in NGC1068 at 150pc and 60pc spatial resolution, respectively. We have also obtained complementary IRAM 30m observations of HNCO and methanol (CH3OH) lines. SiO is detected in a disk of 400pc size around the AGN. SiO abundances in the CND of (1-5)xE-09 are about 1-2 orders of magnitude above those measured in the starburst ring. The overall abundance of CN in the CND is high: (0.2-1)xE-07. The abundances of SiO and CN are enhanced at the extreme velocities of gas associated with non-circular motions close to the AGN (r<70pc). Abundances measured for CN and SiO, and the correlation of CN/CO and SiO/CO ratios with hard X-ray irradiation, suggest that the CND of NGC1068 has become a giant X-ray dominated region (XDR). The extreme properties of molecular gas in the circum-nuclear molecular disk of NGC1068 result from the interplay between different processes directly linked to nuclear activity. Whereas XDR chemistry offers a simple explanation for CN and SiO in NGC1068, the relevance of shocks deserves further scrutiny. The inclusion of dust grain chemistry would help solve the controversy regarding the abundances of other molecular species, like HCN, which are under-predicted by XDR models.Comment: 18 pages, 13 figures, 2 tables; accepted for publication in A&

Line observations of the 30-Dor complex and N159A5 with the MPE imaging NIR spectrometer FAST

Images with subarcsec spatial resolution in the light of near-infrared atomic (Bry) and molecular hydrogen H2 (S(1) v=1-0) emission lines were obtained for some extended, pointlike objects in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) for the first time. We used the Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik (MPE) near-infrared array spectrometer FAST (image scale 0.8”/pix, spectral resolving power 950) at the ESO/MPI 2.2m telescope, La Silla. We present some results on the 30-Dor complex and N159A5.</jats:p