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  • Dust Emission from a Parsec...
    Burtscher, L; Jaffe, W; Raban, D; Meisenheimer, K; Tristram, K. R. W; Röttgering, H

    The Astrophysical journal, 11/2009, Volume: 705, Issue: 1
    Journal Article

    We report mid-infrared interferometric measurements (based on observations collected at the European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere, Chile, programme number 081.B-0092(A)) with approx10 mas resolution, which resolve the warm (T = 285{sup +25} {sub -50} K) thermal emission at the center of NGC 4151. Using pairs of Very Large Telescope 8.2 m telescopes with the Mid-infrared interferometric instrument and by comparing the data to a Gaussian model, we determined the diameter of the dust emission region, albeit only along one position angle, to be (2.0 +- 0.4) pc (FWHM). This is the first size and temperature estimate for the nuclear warm dust distribution in a Seyfert 1 galaxy. The parameters found are comparable to those in Seyfert 2 galaxies, thus providing direct support for the unified model. Using simple analytic temperature distributions, we find that the mid-infrared emission is probably not the smooth continuation of the hot nuclear source that is marginally resolved with K-band interferometry. We also detected weak excess emission around 10.5 mum in our shorter baseline observation, possibly indicating that silicate emission is extended to the parsec scale.