The central parsec of NGC 3783: a rotating broad emission line region, asymmetric hot dust structure, and compact coronal line region

Using VLTI/GRAVITY and SINFONI data, we investigate the subparsec gas and dust structure around the nearby type 1 active galactic nucleus (AGN) hosted by NGC 3783. The K-band coverage of GRAVITY uniquely allows simultaneous analysis of the size and kinematics of the broad line region (BLR), the size and structure of the near-infrared(near-IR)-continuum-emitting hot dust, and the size of the coronal line region (CLR). We find the BLR, probed through broad Brγ emission, to be well described by a rotating, thick disc with a radial distribution of clouds peaking in the inner region. In our BLR model, the physical mean radius of 16 light-days is nearly twice the ten-day time-lag that would be measured, which closely matches the ten-day time-lag that has been measured by reverberation mapping. We measure a hot dust full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) size of 0.74 mas (0.14 pc) and further reconstruct an image of the hot dust, which reveals a faint (5% of the total flux) offset cloud that we interpret as an accreting or outflowing cloud heated by the central AGN. Finally, we directly measure the FWHM size of the nuclear CLR as traced by the [Ca VIII] and narrow Brγ line. We find a FWHM size of 2.2 mas (0.4 pc), fully in line with the expectation of the CLR located between the BLR and narrow line region. Combining all of these measurements together with larger scale near-IR integral field unit and mid-IR interferometry data, we are able to comprehensively map the structure and dynamics of gas and dust from 0.01 to 100 pc.

Mass ratio, the hills mechanism, and the galactic centre S-stars

The Galactic centre contains several young populations within its central parsec: a disk between ∼0.05 to 0.5 pc from the centre, and the isotropic S-star cluster extending an order of magnitude further inwards in radius. Recent observations (i.e. spectroscopy and hypervelocity stars) suggest that some S-stars originate in the disk. In particular, the S-stars may be remnants of tidally disrupted disk binaries. However, there is an apparent inconsistency in this scenario: the disk contains massive O and Wolf–Rayet stars while the S-stars are lower mass, B stars. We explore two different explanations for this apparent discrepancy: (i) a built-in bias in binary disruptions, where the primary star remains closer in energy to the centre-of-mass orbit than the secondary and (ii) selective tidal disruption of massive stars within the S-star cluster. The first explanation is plausible. On the other hand, tidal disruptions have not strongly affected the mass distribution of the S-stars over the last several Myr.

Can supernova shells feed supermassive black holes in galactic nuclei?

Aims. We simulate shells created by supernovae expanding into the interstellar medium of the nuclear region of a galaxy, and analyze how the shell evolution is influenced by the supernova position relative to the galactic center, by the interstellar matter density, and by the combined gravitational pull of the nuclear star cluster and supermassive black hole (SMBH). Methods. We adopted simplified hydrodynamical simulations using the infinitesimally thin layer approximation in 3D (code RING) and determined whether and where the shell expansion may bring new gas into the inner parsec around the SMBH. Results. The simulations show that supernovae occurring within a conical region around the rotational axis of the galaxy can feed the central accretion disk surrounding the SMBH. For ambient densities between 103 and 105 cm−3, the average mass deposited into the central parsec by individual supernovae varies between 10 and 1000 solar masses depending on the ambient density and the spatial distribution of supernova events. Supernovae occurring in the aftermath of a starburst event near a galactic center can supply two to three orders of magnitude more mass into the central parsec, depending on the magnitude of the starburst. The deposited mass typically encounters and joins an accretion disk. The fate of that mass is then divided between the growth of the SMBH and an energetically driven outflow from the disk.

Inflowing gas in the central parsec of M81

Spectroscopic observations of the Seyfert 1/Liner nucleus of M81, obtained recently with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph aboard the Hubble Space Telescope(HST), have revealed an ultraviolet (UV)–visible spectrum rich with emission lines of a variety of widths, ionization potentials, and critical densities, including several in the UV that have not previously been reported. Even at the highest angular resolution currently achievable with HST, the broad-line region of M81 cannot be uniquely defined on the basis of commonly used observables such as the full width at half-maximum of the emission lines, or ratios of various emission lines. Numerous broad forbidden lines complicate interpretation of the spectra. At least three separate line-emitting components are inferred. Firstly, a large, highly ionized, low-density, low-metallicity H+ region producing the broad Balmer lines. Located within the H+ region are smaller condensations spanning a wide range in density, and the source of forbidden line emission through collisional excitation of the respective ions. Intermingled with the H+ region and the condensations is a curious extended source of time-variable C iv λ1548 emission. Collectively, these observations can be qualitatively understood in the context of a shock-excited jet cavity within a large H+ region that is photoionized by the central UV–X-ray source. The H+ region contains ∼500 M⊙ of low-metallicity gas that is dynamically unstable to inflow. At the current rate, the available H+ gas can sustain the advection-dominated accretion flow that powers the central UV–X-ray source for 105 yr.

High-spectral resolution M-band observations of CO Rot-Vib absorption lines towards the Galactic center

Context. In the near- to mid-infrared wavelength domain, bright continuum sources in the central parsec of the Galactic center (GC) are subject to foreground absorption. These sources therefore represent ideal probes of the intervening material that is responsible for the absorption along the line of sight. Aims. Our aim is to shed light on the location and physics of the absorbing clouds. We try to find out which of the gaseous absorbing materials is intimately associated with the GC and which one is associated with clouds at a much larger distance. Methods. We used the capabilities of CRIRES spectrograph located at ESO Very Large Telescope in Chile to obtain absorption spectra of individual lines at a high spectral resolution of R = 50 000, that is, 5 km s−1. We observed the 12CO R(0), P(1), P(2), P(3), P(4), P(5), P(6), P(7) and P(9) transition lines, applied standard data reduction, and compared the results with literature data. Results. We present the results of CRIRES observations of 13 infrared sources located in the central parsec of the Galaxy. The data provide direct evidence for a complex structure of the interstellar medium along the line of sight and in the close environment of the central sources. In particular we find four cold foreground clouds at radial velocities vLSR of the order of −145, −85, −60, and −40 ± 15 km s−1 that show absorption in the lower transition lines from R(0) to P(2) and in all the observed spectra. We also find in all sources an absorption in velocity range of 50–60 km s−1, possibly associated with the so-called 50 km s−1 cloud and suggesting an extension of this cloud in front of the GC. Finally, we detect individual absorption lines that are probably associated with material much closer to the center and with the sources themselves, suggesting the presence of cold gas in the local region.