VLTI/GRAVITY interferometric measurements of the innermost dust structure sizes around active galactic nuclei
We present new Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI)/GRAVITY near-infrared interferometric measurements of the angular size of the innermost hot dust continuum for 14 type 1 active galactic nuclei (AGNs). The angular sizes are resolved on scales of ∼0.7 mas and the inferred ring radii range from 0.028 to 1.33 pc, comparable to those reported previously and a factor of 10−20 smaller than the mid-infrared sizes in the literature. Combining our new data with previously published values, we compiled a sample of 25 AGNs with bolometric luminosity ranging from 10 42 to 10 47 erg s −1 , with which we studied the radius-luminosity ( R − L ) relation for the hot dust structure. Our interferometric measurements of radius are offset by a factor of 2 from the equivalent relation derived through reverberation mapping. Using a simple model to explore the dust structure’s geometry, we conclude that this offset can be explained if the 2 μm emitting surface has a concave shape. Our data show that the slope of the relation is in line with the canonical R ∝ L 0.5 when using an appropriately non-linear correction for bolometric luminosity. In contrast, using optical luminosity or applying a constant bolometric correction to it results in a significant deviation in the slope, suggesting a potential luminosity dependence on the spectral energy distribution. Over four orders of magnitude in luminosity, the intrinsic scatter around the R − L relation is 0.2 dex, suggesting a tight correlation between the innermost hot dust structure size and the AGN luminosity.
Authors
- D. Santos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5687-0609)
- E. Sturm
- C. Straubmeier (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0671-9302)
- S. Lacour (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6948-0263)
- K. Perraut (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3099-757X)
- M. Prieto (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3585-2639)
- A. Drescher (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4494-5503)
- Damien Gratadour (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2080-7189)
- F. Widmann
- J. Shangguan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4569-9009)
- Pierre-Olivier Petrucci (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6061-3480)
- R. Davies (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4949-7217)
- K. R. W. Tristram (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8281-5059)
- B. M. Peterson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6481-5397)
- G. Perrin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0680-0167)
- Maximilian Fabricius (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7025-6058)
- D. Lutz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0291-9582)
- Julien M. Woillez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2958-4738)
- Thomas Shimizu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2125-4670)
- A. Amorim (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0638-2321)
- P. T. de Zeeuw
- H. Feuchtgruber
- F. Millour (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9765-7783)
- S. Gillessen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5708-0481)
- Guillaume Bourdarot (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6777-6386)
- D. Rouan
- Makoto Kishimoto (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2216-3252)
- S. Rabien
- W. Brandner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1939-6351)
- H. Netzer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6766-0260)
- P. García (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1678-3535)
- L. J. Tacconi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1485-9401)
- N. M. Förster Schreiber (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4264-3381)
- A. Sternberg
- J. Dexter
- Yixian Cao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5301-1326)
- F. Eisenhauer
- S. F. Hönig
- R. Genzel
- T. Ott
- Yann Clénet
- O. Pfuhl
- A. Eckart
Institutions
- Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble (FR)
- Laboratoire d’études spatiales et d’instrumentation en astrophysique (FR)
- Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur (FR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Astronomy and Astrophysics
- Published
- 2024-08-05
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202450746
- Citations
- 13
- Primary Topic
- Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 4.31
Funders
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- California Institute of Technology
- European Southern Observatory