Type of Document Dissertation Author Deo, Rajesh URN etd-08062007-160434 Title Dust Within the Central Regions of Seyfert Galaxies Degree Ph.D. Department Physics and Astronomy Advisory Committee
Advisor Name Title D. Michael Crenshaw Committee Chair Douglas R. Gies Committee Member H. Richard Miller Committee Member Paul J. Wiita Committee Member Steven B. Kraemer Committee Member William H. Nelson Committee Member Keywords
- Hubble Space Telescope.
- Spitzer Space Telescope
- narrow-line region
- nuclear spirals
- torus
- Seyfert galaxies
- active galaxies
- dust
- mid-infrared
- infrared
- spectroscopy
- galaxies
- astronomy
Date of Defense 2007-07-20 Availability unrestricted Abstract We present a detailed study of mid-infrared spectroscopy and optical imaging of Seyfert galaxies with the goal of understanding the properties of astronomical dust around the central supermassive black hole and the accretion disk.Specifically, we have studied Spitzer Space Telescope mid-infrared spectra of 12 Seyfert 1.8-1.9s and 58 Seyfert 1s and 2s available in the Spitzer public archive, and the nuclear dust morphology in the central 500 pc of 91 narrow
and broad-line Seyfert 1s using optical images from the Hubble Space Telescope. We have also developed visualization software to aid the understanding of the geometry of the central engine. Based on these studies, we conclude that the nuclear regions of Seyfert galaxies are fueled by dusty spirals driven by the large-scale stellar bars in the host galaxy. The accumulation of dusty
gas in the central kiloparsec leads to enhanced star formation. In this case, the circumnuclear starburst and the central engine compete for dominance in the heating of the circumnuclear dust. Emission from the heated dust is most clearly seen in the mid-infrared. We find that the spectra of Seyfert 2s show the most variety in the continuum shapes due to different starburst contributions. We find that the spectra of Seyfert 2s that are devoid of starburst contribution are dominated by a single thermal component at a temperature of T ~ 170 K. We also find that the mid-IR continua of Seyfert 1.8/1.9 galaxies are more like those of starburst-dominated Seyfert 2s than Seyfert 1s, contrary to expectations. We discuss the implications of these findings in the context of the Unified Model of AGN and the secular evolution of Seyfert nuclei.
Files
Filename Size Approximate Download Time (Hours:Minutes:Seconds)
28.8 Modem 56K Modem ISDN (64 Kb) ISDN (128 Kb) Higher-speed Access deo_rajesh_p_200708_phd.pdf 10.08 Mb 00:46:40 00:24:00 00:21:00 00:10:30 00:00:53