GATOS – XI. Excess dust heating in the narrow-line regions of nearby AGN revealed with <i>JWST</i> /MIRI

ABSTRACT We present James Webb Space Telescope/Mid-Infrared Instrument imaging of eight nearby active galactic nuclei (AGN) from the GATOS (Galactic Activity, Torus, and Outflow Survey) survey to investigate the physical conditions of extended dust in their narrow-line regions (NLRs). In four galaxies (ESO 428–G14, NGC 4388, NGC 3081, and NGC 5728), we detect spatially resolved dust structures extending ${\sim}$100–200 pc along the NLR. In these systems, we find a strong link between the morphology of the dust, the radio ejecta, and the coronal [Si vi] emission, implying that dust carries imprints of the processes shaping the NLR. Using spatially resolved spectral energy distributions, we show that dust in the NLR has systematically steeper slopes than star-forming clumps. This dust emits at temperatures in the range $150 \text{-} 220\, \rm K$, at a distance of $\sim$150 pc from the nucleus. Using simple models, we show that, even under optimistic assumptions of grain size and AGN luminosity, the excess mid-infrared emission cannot be explained by AGN illumination alone. We interpret this excess heating as in situ. We show that shocks with velocities $v_{\rm shock} \sim 200 \text{-} 400 \, \rm km \, s^{-1}$ in dense gas can close this gap, and in some cases even account for the total observed emission. This, combined with multiple lines of evidence for shocks in these regions, supports a scenario in which shocks not only coexist with dust but may be playing a key role in heating it. Our findings reveal shocks may be an important and previously overlooked driver of extended dust emission in the central hundreds of parsecs in AGN.

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Journal
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Published
2026-01-12
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stag069
Primary Topic
Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
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article
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article

GATOS – XI. Excess dust heating in the narrow-line regions of nearby AGN revealed with JWST /MIRI

H. Haidar, D. J. Rosario, C. M. Harrison, I. García-Bernete et al.
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
article

GATOS – XI. Excess dust heating in the narrow-line regions of nearby AGN revealed with JWST /MIRI

H. Haidar, D. J. Rosario, C. M. Harrison, I. García-Bernete, Steph Campbell, A. Alonso‐Herrero, Tiago Costa, Alvaro Labiano, M. Ward, E. K. S. Hicks, A. Audibert, S. García‐Burillo, Alberto Rodríguez Ardila, C. Ricci, David Delaney, Victoria A. Fawcett, Lulu Zhang, Peter Boorman, Federico Esposito, Enrique López-Rodríguez, M. F. Martin, R. A. Riffel, Marko Stalevski, E. Bellocchi, T. Díaz-Santos, John F. Schneider, Laura Hermosa Muñoz, Miguel Pereira-Santaella, N. A. Levenson, Gillian Leeds, Chris Packham, Omaira González-Martín, Cristina Ramos Almeida, Françoise Combes, Richard Davies, Sebastian F Hönig, Andrew J Bunker, T Taro Shimizu, Fergus R Donnan, Poshak Gandhi, Dimitra Rigopoulou
article en

Abstract

ABSTRACT We present James Webb Space Telescope/Mid-Infrared Instrument imaging of eight nearby active galactic nuclei (AGN) from the GATOS (Galactic Activity, Torus, and Outflow Survey) survey to investigate the physical conditions of extended dust in their narrow-line regions (NLRs). In four galaxies (ESO 428–G14, NGC 4388, NGC 3081, and NGC 5728), we detect spatially resolved dust structures extending ${\sim}$100–200 pc along the NLR. In these systems, we find a strong link between the morphology of the dust, the radio ejecta, and the coronal [Si vi] emission, implying that dust carries imprints of the processes shaping the NLR. Using spatially resolved spectral energy distributions, we show that dust in the NLR has systematically steeper slopes than star-forming clumps. This dust emits at temperatures in the range $150 \text{-} 220\, \rm K$, at a distance of $\sim$150 pc from the nucleus. Using simple models, we show that, even under optimistic assumptions of grain size and AGN luminosity, the excess mid-infrared emission cannot be explained by AGN illumination alone. We interpret this excess heating as in situ. We show that shocks with velocities $v_{\rm shock} \sim 200 \text{-} 400 \, \rm km \, s^{-1}$ in dense gas can close this gap, and in some cases even account for the total observed emission. This, combined with multiple lines of evidence for shocks in these regions, supports a scenario in which shocks not only coexist with dust but may be playing a key role in heating it. Our findings reveal shocks may be an important and previously overlooked driver of extended dust emission in the central hundreds of parsecs in AGN.

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical SocietyVol. 546(4)
University of Geneva (CH), Universidad Complutense de Madrid (ES), California Institute of Technology (US), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), Space Telescope Science Institute (US), University of Alaska Fairbanks (US), University of Alaska Anchorage (US), University of South Carolina (US), Universidad de La Laguna (ES), Durham University (GB), European University Cyprus (CY), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (FR), Observatoire de Paris (FR), Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (BR), University of California San Diego (US), Sorbonne Université (FR), University of Oxford (GB), Geneeskundige en Gezondheidsdienst (NL), Valongo Observatory (BR), Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (DE), European Space Astronomy Centre (ES), Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (US), Instituto de Física Fundamental (ES), Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté (FR), Centro de Astrobiología (ES), Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (ES), Spanish National Observatory (ES), Astronomical Observatory (RS), Laboratório Nacional de Astrofísica (BR), National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (JP), University of Southampton (GB), The University of Texas at San Antonio (US), Newcastle University (GB), Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas (GR), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (MX), Universidad Diego Portales (CL)
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