Thermal imaging of dust hiding the black hole in the Active Galaxy NGC 1068

TL;DR

This study uses multi-band mid-infrared imaging to clarify the dust distribution in NGC 1068, supporting the traditional Unified Model of Active Galactic Nuclei and revealing detailed dust and polar flow structures.

Contribution

The paper provides high-resolution mid-infrared images that confirm the central engine's location and dust configuration, challenging recent reinterpretations of the galaxy's structure.

Findings

Central engine located below the ring, obscured by a thick disk

Dust temperature distribution supports the Unified Model

Identification of mineralogically distinct dust in polar flows

Abstract

In the widely accepted 'Unified Model' solution of the classification puzzle of Active Galactic Nuclei, the orientation of a dusty accretion torus around the central black hole dominates their appearance. In 'type-1' systems, the bright nucleus is visible at the centre of a face-on torus. In 'type-2' systems the thick, nearly edge-on torus hides the central engine. Later studies suggested evolutionary effects and added dusty clumps and polar winds but left the basic picture intact. However, recent high-resolution images of the archetypal type-2 galaxy NGC 1068 suggested a more radical revision. They displayed a ring-like emission feature which the authors advocated to be hot dust surrounding the black hole at the radius where the radiation from the central engine evaporates the dust. That ring is too thin and too far tilted from edge-on to hide the central engine, and ad hoc foreground extinction is needed to explain the type-2 classification. These images quickly generated reinterpretations of the type 1-2 dichotomy. Here we present new multi-band mid-infrared images of NGC1068 that detail the dust temperature distribution and reaffirm the original model. Combined with radio data, our maps locate the central engine below the previously reported ring and obscured by a thick, nearly edge-on disk, as predicted by the Unified Model. We also identify emission from polar flows and absorbing dust that is mineralogically distinct from that towards the Milky Way centre.