Probing the nature and origin of dust in the reddened quasar IC 4329A with global modelling from X-ray to infrared

TL;DR

This study investigates the properties and origin of dust in the reddened quasar IC 4329A using multi-wavelength spectroscopy and modeling, revealing distinct dust components in the host galaxy and AGN torus with larger, porous grains.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of dust in an active galactic nucleus, identifying different dust components and their properties, including grain size and composition, through combined X-ray and IR data.

Findings

Two dust components identified: in the ISM and in the AGN torus/wind.

Dust grains in the torus and wind are larger and porous compared to Galactic dust.

The dust in the nuclear environment shows evidence of grain coagulation.

Abstract

Cosmic dust is a key tracer of structure formation and evolution in the universe. In active galactic nuclei (AGN) the origin and role of dust are uncertain. Here, we have studied dust in the X-ray bright and reddened type-1 quasar IC 4329A, which exhibits an ionised AGN wind. We incorporated high-resolution X-ray and mid-IR spectroscopy, combined with broad-band continuum modelling, to investigate the properties of dust in this AGN. We used new Chandra HETGS observations taken in June 2017, as well as archival data from XMM-Newton, Swift, HST, Spitzer, IRAS, and Herschel for our IR-optical-UV-X-ray modelling. Two distinct components of dust in IC 4329A are found. One component is in the interstellar medium (ISM) of the host galaxy, and the other is a nuclear component in the AGN torus and its associated wind. The emitting dust in the torus is evident in mid-IR emission (9.7 and 18 micron features), while dust in the wind is present through both reddening and X-ray absorption (O, Si, and Fe edge features). The gas depletion factors into dust for O, Si, and Fe are measured. We derive an intrinsic reddening E(B-V) ~ 1.0, which is most consistent with a grey (flat) extinction law. The AGN wind consists of three ionisation components. From analysis of long-term changes in the wind, we determine limits on the location of the wind components. The two lowest ionisation components are likely carriers of dust from the AGN torus. We find that the dust in the nuclear component of IC 4329A is different from dust in the Milky Way. The dust grains in the AGN torus and wind are likely larger than the standard Galactic dust, and are in a porous composite form (containing amorphous silicate with iron and oxygen). This can be a consequence of grain coagulation in the dense nuclear environment of the AGN.