Mid-Infrared Imaging of Nearby Radio-Loud AGN

TL;DR

This study uses high-resolution mid-infrared imaging from Gemini telescopes to analyze nearby radio-loud AGN, revealing nuclear and extended emission features and exploring MIR-X-ray luminosity correlations.

Contribution

First high-resolution MIR imaging of nearby radio-loud AGN, providing insights into nuclear structures and MIR-X-ray correlations.

Findings

Detected MIR emission in 5 of 6 observed RLAGN

Evidence of low-level extended emission in some objects

MIR flux correlates with X-ray luminosity

Abstract

We present high spatial resolution MIR observations for several nearby radio loud active galactic nuclei (RLAGN), which were obtained using the Gemini North and South telescopes. Of the six observed objects, we detected five in the Si-2 (8.7 microns) and Si-6 (12.3 microns) filters, of which two objects show some evidence of low level extended emission surrounding the unresolved nucleus. In Pictor A, we also obtained an image in Qs (18.3 microns) that has a flux of only half that seen in the Spitzer image, suggesting structure on arcsecond scales. We also used the Si-6 (12.3 microns) flux measurement to investigate correlation between our MIR flux and xray luminosity and compare this to results for AGN in general. This work also forms a basis for future high resolution imaging and spectroscopy of these objects.