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The nature of the dense obscuring material in the nucleus of NGC 1068High spatial and spectral resolution observations of the distribution, physical parameters, and kinematics of the molecular interstellar medium toward the nucleus of the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 1068 are reported. The data consist of 2.4 by 3.4 arcseconds resolution interferometry of the 88.6 GHz HCN J = 1 towards 0 line at 17 km/s spectral resolution, single dish observations of several mm/submm isotopic lines of CO and HCN, and 0.85 arcseconds imaging spectroscopy of the 2.12 micron H2 S(1) line at a velocity resolution of 110 km/s. The central few hundred parsecs of NGC 1068 contain a system of dense (N(H2) approximately 10(exp 5) cm(exp -3)), warm (T greater than or equal to 70 K) molecular cloud cores. The low density molecular envelopes have probably been stripped by the nuclear wind and radiation. The molecular gas layer is located in the plane of NGC 1068's large scale disk (inclination approximately 35 deg) and orbits in elliptical streamlines in response to the central stellar bar. The spatial distribution of the 2 micron H2 emission suggests that gas is shocked at the leading edge of the bar, probably resulting in gas influx into the central 100 pc at a rate of a few solar mass per year. In addition to large scale streaming (with a solid body rotation curve), the HCN velocity field requires the presence of random motions of order 100 km/s. We interpret these large random motions as implying the nuclear gas disk to be very thick (scale height/radius approximately 1), probably as the result of the impact of nuclear radiation and wind on orbiting molecular clouds. Geometry and column density of the molecular cloud layer between approximately 30 pc to 300 pc from the nucleus can plausibly account for the nuclear obscuration and anisotropy of the radiation field in the visible and UV.
Document ID
19950019964
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Preprint (Draft being sent to journal)
Authors
Tacconi, L. J.
(Max-Planck-Inst. fuer Extraterrestrische Physik Garching, Germany)
Genzel, R.
(Max-Planck-Inst. fuer Extraterrestrische Physik Garching, Germany)
Blietz, M.
(Max-Planck-Inst. fuer Extraterrestrische Physik Garching, Germany)
Cameron, M.
(Max-Planck-Inst. fuer Extraterrestrische Physik Garching, Germany)
Harris, A. I.
(Max-Planck-Inst. fuer Extraterrestrische Physik Garching, Germany)
Madden, S.
(Max-Planck-Inst. fuer Extraterrestrische Physik Garching, Germany)
Date Acquired
August 16, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 1994
Subject Category
Astrophysics
Report/Patent Number
MPE-PREPRINT-282
NASA-TM-110548
NAS 1.15:110548
Accession Number
95N26384
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other
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