Unveiling the Hearts of (U)LIRGs

with Laser Guide Star

Adaptive Optics

Anne Medling

UC Santa Cruz

with Claire Max (UCSC) & Vivian U (UH) Image Credit: J. Stein

Mrk 273

Unveiling the Hearts of (U)LIRGs

with Laser Guide Star

Adaptive Optics

Anne Medling

UC Santa Cruz

with Claire Max (UCSC) & Vivian U (UH) Image Credit: J. Stein

http://arxiv.org/abs/1203.6708v1

Looking for Dual AGN in (U)LIRGs:

High Spatial Res is Key!

•! Dusty move to NIR

•! Small spatial scales AO FWHM~0.05”

Hubble Heritage Image ACS I-band Keck K-band w/LGS AO

NGC 6240

!"#$%&'()"*+,(-."/%0'1234"

!"#$%&'()%'*#

+,#

+,#

+,#-./#

+)0#

+,#

123#405#

+,#

-.6#

!%0#

NGC 2623

Observing Program

•! 5/676/"8"*0'9":;/"!5"

–!<&=>"?%(@()"20?A)3@A-"6BC"?%0'12A?'A%$"

–! DE+FG")(10+?1(=0"402=02?"H2A4";5!:/"

•! /10))(2"I"=(?"9&-04(@'?"

–!J3')0(2".&?9?K"A3L)AM?"

•! /B"&-.&'(1A2?"

–! /10))(2"%A%N"?$-1>0?&?"AH"')3?102?"

•! !;J"&-.&'(1A2?"

–!<&=>+0O'&1(@A-")&-0?"

–!P$-(4&'()",)('9">A)0"4(??0?"

"

67DEFEG"*"

67FGQED"<"

J;RFSFQ"*"

J;RSFTG"*"C;REDGD"*"

C;RUGEU"*"

C;RUSVS"<"

WR;8GU+DD+GGF"*"

R;R;TQS+GFG"*"

Mrk 273

Meurer (NUV I H)

6M(?(M("01"()N"FGDD"

<3,,)0"<02&1(=0"

<3,,)0"6K<"M&1>"2(.&A"

'A-1A32?"

Mrk 273

•! log (LIR/Lsun) = 12.1

•! 150 Mpc, z ~ 0.038

•! 3 nuclear components: N, SE, SW –!SW: AGN from hard X-rays

–!SE: seen only in radio, may be affiliated with star cluster in ACS

–!N: may be a pile of RSNe (Bondi+05) or a Compton-thick AGN (Iwasawa+11)

6M(?(M("01"()N"FGDD"

R>(-.2("X+2($"

<3,,)0"6K<"M&1>"2(.&A"

'A-1A32?"

0.25” ~ 200pc U, Medling+ in prep

Observed wavelength (µm)

+,#

+,# +,#

+,#

+,#

+,#

+,#

+,#+,#+,#

-./#-.6#

+)#0#

123#405#

Mrk 273 from

the OSIRIS IFU

Mrk 273 Line Maps H2 2.12 µm flux [Si VI] flux Br ! flux

[Fe II] flux

White contours = NIR continuum

•! SE component bright in emission lines but not continuum

•! Connected to N by a bridge? U, Medling+ in prep

Mrk 273 Line Velocity Maps

U, Medling+ in prep

H2 2.12 µm [Fe II]

-300 0 km/s 300

0.25” ~ 200pc

Mrk 273 Line Velocity Maps

•! Strong rotation in N component

U, Medling+ in prep

Black contours = NIR continuum

H2 2.12 µm [Fe II]

-300 0 km/s 300

0.25” ~ 200pc

Mrk 273 Line Velocity Maps

•! Strong rotation in N component

•! Negative vel in H2 along ‘bridge’ U, Medling+ in prep

White contours = line flux, black contours = NIR continuum

H2 2.12 µm [Fe II]

-300 0 km/s 300

What’s in the N disk?

•! Chandra data suggests Compton-thick AGN (Iwasawa+11)

•! VLBI data suggests a superposition of radio supernovae (Bondi+05)

[Fe II] flux map and red contours; continuum contours in white

•! [Fe II] ~ SNe present •! But something else at the

center produces continuum but no [Fe II] – the buried AGN?

Measuring MBH from [Fe II] Velocities

This black hole

is quiescent or

buried!

U, Medling+ in prep

WA.0)Y"

" WZ<"["UNQ"\"DNQ"]"DGU"W

! v =

�GMencl(r)

r

Mencl(r) = MBH + ρ0rγ

5,?02^0."^0)A'&1$"4(%" WA.0)"^0)A'&1$"4(%"

788#9:#

See AMM+11 for MBH from stellar velocities in NGC6240

Conclusions / Future Plans

•! AO is a powerful tool for studying

the starburst and AGN activity in

late-stage (U)LIRG mergers

•! Mrk 273: two nuclei revealed

•! Stay tuned for more population-

wide studies!

Image Credit: D. Beales

Mrk 273 in B I K ACS B-band ACS I-band

OSIRIS K-band

NGC 6240

•! X-ray confirmed dual AGN (Komossa+03)

•! 2 nuclei ~ 700pc apart

Hubble Heritage Image ACS I-band Keck K-band w/LGS AO

_!W"WA.0)&-="AH"" WZ<"["FNG"\"GNF"]"DGV"W

!

`3%%02")&4&1a""

J;RSFTG"

J;R"SFTGb?"?A31>",)('9">A)0"

vrms =�

v2 + σ2

See AMM+11

/10))(2"^0)A'&@0?"

H2A4"5/676/"&-"F+."

20=&A-"(2A3-."Z<"

5,?02^0."^0)A'&1$"4(%" WA.0)"^0)A'&1$"4(%"

WA.0)Y"

"

"

WZ<"["UNc"\"NQ"]"DGU"W

!

`)AM02")&4&1a"

788#9:#

v =

�GMencl(r)

r

Mencl(r) = MBH + ρ0rγ

J;RSFTG"

J;R"SFTGb?"?A31>",)('9">A)0"

See AMM+11