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The geometry of the infrared and X-ray obscurer in a dusty hyperluminous quasar

Farrah, Duncan; Baloković, Mislav; Stern, Daniel; Harris, Kathryn; Kunimoto, Michelle; Walton, Dominic J.; Alexander, David M.; Arévalo, Patricia; Ballantyne, David R.; Bauer, Franz E.; Boggs, Steven; Brandt, William N.; Brightman, Murray; Christensen, Finn; Clements, David L.; Craig, William; Fabian, Andrew; Hailey, Charles; Harrison, Fiona; Koss, Michael; Lansbury, George B.; Luo, Bin; Paine, Jennie; Petty, Sara; Pitchford, Kate; Ricci, Claudio; Zhang, William

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Authors

Duncan Farrah

Mislav Baloković

Daniel Stern

Kathryn Harris

Michelle Kunimoto

Dominic J. Walton

Patricia Arévalo

David R. Ballantyne

Franz E. Bauer

Steven Boggs

William N. Brandt

Murray Brightman

Finn Christensen

David L. Clements

William Craig

Andrew Fabian

Charles Hailey

Fiona Harrison

Michael Koss

George B. Lansbury

Bin Luo

Jennie Paine

Sara Petty

Kate Pitchford

Claudio Ricci

William Zhang



Abstract

We study the geometry of the active galactic nucleus (AGN) obscurer in IRAS 09104+4109, an IR-luminous, radio-intermediate FR-I source at z = 0.442, using infrared data from Spitzer and Herschel, X-ray data from NuSTAR, Swift, Suzaku, and Chandra, and an optical spectrum from Palomar. The infrared data imply a total rest-frame 1–1000 μm luminosity of 5.5 × 1046 erg s−1 and require both an AGN torus and a starburst model. The AGN torus has an anisotropy-corrected IR luminosity of 4.9 × 1046 erg s−1 and a viewing angle and half-opening angle both of approximately 36° from pole-on. The starburst has a star formation rate of (110 ± 34) M ⊙ yr−1 and an age of <50 Myr. These results are consistent with two epochs of luminous activity in IRAS 09104+4109: one approximately 150 Myr ago, and one ongoing. The X-ray data suggest a photon index of Γ sime 1.8 and a line-of-sight column density of N H sime 5 × 1023 cm−2. This argues against a reflection-dominated hard X-ray spectrum, which would have implied a much higher N H and luminosity. The X-ray and infrared data are consistent with a bolometric AGN luminosity of L bol ~ (0.5–2.5) × 1047 erg s−1. The X-ray and infrared data are further consistent with coaligned AGN obscurers in which the line of sight "skims" the torus. This is also consistent with the optical spectra, which show both coronal iron lines and broad lines in polarized but not direct light. Combining constraints from the X-ray, optical, and infrared data suggest that the AGN obscurer is within a vertical height of 20 pc, and a radius of 125 pc, of the nucleus.

Citation

Farrah, D., Baloković, M., Stern, D., Harris, K., Kunimoto, M., Walton, D. J., …Zhang, W. (2016). The geometry of the infrared and X-ray obscurer in a dusty hyperluminous quasar. Astrophysical Journal, 831(1), Article 76. https://doi.org/10.3847/0004-637x/831/1/76

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jun 14, 2016
Online Publication Date Oct 27, 2016
Publication Date Nov 1, 2016
Deposit Date Jun 21, 2017
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Astrophysical Journal
Print ISSN 0004-637X
Electronic ISSN 1538-4357
Publisher American Astronomical Society
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 831
Issue 1
Article Number 76
DOI https://doi.org/10.3847/0004-637x/831/1/76

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Copyright Statement
© 2016. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.





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