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Investigation of the triggering mechanisms of radio AGN is important for improving our general understanding of galaxy evolution. In the first paper in this series, detailed morphological analysis of high-excitation radio galaxies (HERGs) with intermediate radio powers suggested that the importance of triggering via galaxy mergers and interactions increases strongly with AGN radio power and weakly with optical emission-line luminosity. Here, we use an online classification interface to expand our morphological analysis to a much larger sample of 155 active galaxies (3CR radio galaxies, radio-intermediate HERGs and Type 2 quasars) that covers a broad range in both 1.4 GHz radio power and [OIII]$\lambda$5007 emission-line luminosity. All active galaxy samples are found to exhibit excesses in their rates of morphological disturbance relative to 378 stellar-mass- and redshift-matched non-active control galaxies classified randomly and blindly alongside them. These excesses are highest for the 3CR HERGs (4.7$\sigma$) and Type 2 quasar hosts (3.7$\sigma$), supporting the idea that galaxy mergers provide the dominant triggering mechanism for these subgroups. When the full active galaxy sample is considered, there is clear evidence to suggest that the enhancement in the rate of disturbance relative to the controls increases strongly with [OIII]$\lambda$5007 emission-line luminosity but not with 1.4 GHz radio power. Evidence that the dominant AGN host types change from early-type galaxies at high radio powers to late-type galaxies at low radio powers is also found, suggesting that triggering by secular, disk-based processes holds more importance for lower-power radio AGN., Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. 21 pages, 11 figures. Supplementary information will be available online with the published journal article (also available from the corresponding author by request)

To study the nuclear (≲1 kpc) dust of nearby (z < 0.1) quasi-stellar objects (QSOs), we obtained new near-infrared (NIR) high angular resolution (∼0.″3) photometry in the H and Ks bands for 13 QSOs with available mid-infrared (MIR) high angular resolution spectroscopy (∼7.5-13.5 μm). We find that in most QSOs, the NIR emission is unresolved. We subtract the contribution from the accretion disk, which decreases from NIR (∼35%) to MIR (∼2.4%). We also estimate these percentages assuming a bluer accretion disk and find that the contribution in the MIR is nearly seven times larger. We find that the majority of objects (64%, 9/13) are better fitted by the disk+wind H17 model, while others can be fitted by the smooth F06 (14%, 2/13), clumpy N08 (7%, 1/13), clumpy H10 (7%, 1/13), and two-phase media S16 (7%, 1/13) models. However, if we assume the bluer accretion disk, the models fit only 2/13 objects. We measured two NIR-to-MIR spectral indexes, α NIR-MIR(1.6-8.7 μm) and α NIR-MIR(2.2-8.7 μm), and two MIR spectral indexes, α MIR(7.8-9.8 μm) and α MIR(9.8-11.7 μm), from models and observations. From observations, we find that the NIR-to-MIR spectral indexes are ∼-1.1, and the MIR spectral indexes are ∼-0.3. Comparing the synthetic and observed values, we find that none of the models simultaneously match the measured NIR-to-MIR and 7.8-9.8 μm slopes. However, we note that measuring α MIR(7.8-9.8 μm) on the starburst-subtracted Spitzer/IRS spectrum gives values of the slopes (∼-2) that are similar to the synthetic values obtained from the models. © 2021. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved., M.M.-P. acknowledges support from the KASI postdoctoral fellowships. O.G.-M. acknowledges support from the UNAM PAPIIT [IN105720]. I.G.B. acknowledges support from the STFC through grant ST/S000488/1. C.R.A. acknowledges financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (MCIU) under grant RYC-2014–15779, the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 860744 (BiD4BESt), and the State Research Agency (AEI-MCINN) of the Spanish MCIU under grants "Feeding and feedback in active galaxies" with reference PID2019–106027GB-C42 and "Quantifying the impact of quasar feedback on galaxy evolution (QSOFEED)" with reference EUR2020–112266. C.R.A. also acknowledges support from the Consejería de Economía, Conocimiento y Empleo del Gobierno de Canarias and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) under grant ProID2020010105 and from IAC project P/301404, financed by the Ministry of Science and Innovation through the State Budget and by the Canary Islands Department of Economy, Knowledge and Employment through the Regional Budget of the Autonomous Community. A.A.-H. acknowledges support from PGC2018-094671-B-I00 (MCIU/AEI/FEDER,UE). A.A.-H.'s work was done under project No. MDM-2017-0737 Unidad de Excelencia "María de Maeztu"- Centro de Astrobiología (INTA-CSIC). I.A. acknowledges support from project CB2016-281948. J.M. acknowledges financial support from the State Agency for Research of the Spanish MCIU through the "Center of Excellence Severo Ochoa" award to the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (SEV-2017-0709) and research projects AYA2016-76682-C3-1-P (AEI/FEDER, UE) and PID2019-106027GB-C41 (AEI/FEDER, UE).

Considerable uncertainties remain about the nature of warm, AGN-driven outflows and their impact on the evolution of galaxies. This is because the outflows are often unresolved in ground-based observations. As part of a project to study the AGN outflows in some of the most rapidly evolving galaxies in the local Universe, here we present HST/STIS observations of F14394+5332E that resolve the sub-kpc warm outflow for the first time in a ULIRG. The observations reveal a compact, high-ionization outflow region (r_max~0.9 kpc) set in a more extensive (r_max~1.4 kpc) halo that is kinematically quiescent and has a lower ionization state. A large line width (600 < FWHM < 1500 km/s) is measured throughout the outflow region, and the outflowing gas shows a steep velocity gradient with radius, with the magnitude of the blueshifted velocities increasing from ~500 to 1800 km/s from the inner to the outer part of the outflow. We interpret the observations in terms of the local acceleration, and hydrodynamic destruction, of dense clouds as they are swept up in a hot, low density wind driven by the AGN. We discuss the implications for measuring the mass outflow rates and kinetic powers for the AGN-driven outflows in such objects., 10 pages, 5 figures

Radio AGNs with intermediate radio powers are capable of driving multi-phase outflows in galaxy bulges, and are also more common than their high-radio-power counterparts. In-depth characterisation of the typical host galaxies and likely triggering mechanisms for this population is therefore required in order to better understand the role of radio AGN feedback in galaxy evolution. Here, we use deep optical imaging data to study the detailed host morphologies of a complete sample of 30 local radio AGNs with high-excitation optical emission (HERG) spectra and intermediate radio powers (z $$ 25.0 WHz$^{-1}$) with strong optical emission lines: 53 $\pm$ 9 per cent and 94 $\pm$ 4 per cent, respectively. In addition, the most radio-powerful half of the sample has a higher frequency of morphological disturbance than the least radio-powerful half (67 $\pm$ 12 per cent and 40 $\pm$ 13 per cent, respectively), including the eight most highly-disturbed galaxies. This suggests that the importance of triggering nuclear activity in HERGs through mergers and interactions reduces with radio power. Both visual inspection and detailed light profile modelling reveal a mixed population of early-type and late-type morphologies, contrary to the massive elliptical galaxy hosts of radio-powerful AGNs. The prevalence of late-type hosts could suggest that triggering via secular, disk-based processes has increased importance for HERGs with lower radio powers (e.g. disk instabilities, large scale bars)., Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. 20 pages, 8 figures

We present a pilot study aimed to identify large-scale galaxy properties that could play a role in activating a quiescent nucleus. To do so, we compare the properties of two isolated nearby active galaxies and their non-active twins selected from the Calar Alto Legacy Integral Field Area (CALIFA) survey. This pilot sample includes two barred and two unbarred galaxies. We characterize the stellar and ionized gas kinematics and also their stellar content. We obtain simple kinematic models by fitting the full stellar and ionized gas velocity fields and just the approaching or receding sides. We find that the analysed active galaxies present lopsided discs and higher values of the global stellar angular momentum (λR) than their non-active twins. This could be indicating that the stellar discs of the AGN gained angular momentum from the inflowing gas that triggered the nuclear activity. The inflow of gas could have been produced by a twisted disc instability in the case of the unbarred AGN, and by the bar in the case of the barred AGN. In addition, we find that the central regions of the studied active galaxies show older stellar populations than their non-active twins. The next step is to statistically explore these galaxy properties in a larger sample of twin galaxies. © 2019 The Author(s) Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society., This study uses data provided by the Calar Alto Legacy Integral Field Area (CALIFA) survey (http://califa.caha.es/).Based on observations collected at the Centro Astronomico Hispano Aleman (CAHA) at Calar Alto, operated jointly by the Max-Planck-Institut fur Astronomie and the Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia (CSIC). IMC acknowledges the support of the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias via an Astrophysicist Resident fellowship. BGL acknowledges support from the Spanish Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (MINECO) by the grant AYA2015-68217-P. CRA acknowledges the Ramon y Cajal Program of the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through project RYC-2014-15779 and the Spanish Plan Nacional de Astronomia y Astrofisica under grant AYA2016-76682-C3-2-P. TRL acknowledges support via grantsAYA2014-56795-P and AYA2016-77237-C3-1-P from the Spanish Government. JFB acknowledges support from the Spanish Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (MINECO) by the grant AYA2013-48226-C3-1P. SFS thanks the CONACyT programs CB-285080 and DGAPA IA101217 grants for their support. IMP and JM acknowledges support from the Spanish Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad(MINECO) by the grant AYA2016-76682-C3-1-P.

The most standard scenario for the evolution of massive galaxies across cosmic time assumes a correspondence based on the interplay between active galactic nuclei (AGN) feedback, which injects large amounts of energy into the host environment, and galaxy mergers, with their ability to trigger massive star formation events and accretion onto supermassive black holes. Interacting systems hosting AGN are useful laboratories for obtaining key insights into both phenomena. In this context, we present an analysis of the optical spectral properties of IRAS 20210+1121 (I20210), a merging system at z = 0.056. According to X-ray data, this object comprises two interacting galaxies, each hosting an obscured AGN. The optical spectra confirm the presence of AGN features in both galaxies. In particular, we are able to provide a Seyfert classification for I20210 North. The spectrum of I20120 South shows broad blueshifted components associated with the most intense emission lines that indicate the presence of an ionized outflow, for which we derive a maximum velocity of ∼2000 km s-1, an extension of ∼2 kpc, and a mass rate of ∼0.6 M⊙ yr-1. We also report the existence of an ionized nebular component with v ∼ 1000 km s-1 at ∼6.5 kpc southwards of I20210 South, which can be interpreted as disrupted gas ejected from the host galaxy by the action of the outflow. I20120 therefore exhibits a double obscured AGN, with one of them showing evidence of ongoing events for AGN-powered outflows. Future spatially resolved spectroscopy will allow for an accurate mapping of the gas kinematics in this AGN pair and evaluate the impact of the outflow on both the interstellar medium and the galaxy environment. © ESO 2021., GV, EP, CV, MB, CF and FF acknowledge support from PRIN MIUR project "Black Hole winds and the Baryon Life Cycle of Galaxies: the stone-guest at the galaxy evolution supper", contract #2017PH3WAT. GV also acknowledges financial support from Premiale 2015 MITic (PI: B. Garilli). CRA acknowledges financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (MCIU) under grant with reference RYC-2014-15779, from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Marie Skodowska-Curie grant agreement No 860744 (BiD4BESt), from the State Research Agency (AEI-MCINN) of the Spanish MCIU under grants "Feeding and feedback in active galaxies" with reference PID2019-106027GB-C42, "Feeding, feedback and obscuration in active galaxies" with reference AYA2016-76682-C3-2-P, and "Quantifying the impact of quasar feedback on galaxy evolution (QSOFEED)" with reference EUR2020-112266. CRA also acknowledges support from the Consejeria de Economia, Conocimiento y Empleo del Gobierno de Canarias and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) under grant with reference ProID2020010105 and from IAC project P/301404, financed by the Ministry of Science and Innovation, through the State Budget and by the Canary Islands Department of Economy, Knowledge and Employment, through the Regional Budget of the Autonomous Community. Based on observations made with the Italian Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (TNG) operated on the island of La Palma by the Fundacion Galileo Galilei of the INAF (Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica) at the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias. IRAF is distributed by the National Optical Astronomy Observatories, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. (AURA) under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation., With funding from the Spanish government through the Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence accreditation SEV-2017-0709.

AGN are a key ingredient for understanding galactic evolution. AGN-driven outflows are one of the manifestations of feedback. The AO mode for MUSE at the VLT permits to study the innermost tens of parsecs of nearby AGN in the optical. We present a detailed analysis of the ionised gas in the central regions of NGC 7130, an archetypical composite Seyfert and nuclear starburst galaxy. We achieve an angular resolution of 0.17$^{\prime\prime}$ (50 pc). We performed a multi-component analysis of the main ISM lines and identified nine kinematic components, six of which correspond to the outflow. The outflow is biconic and has velocities of a few $100\,{\rm km\,s^{-1}}$ with respect to the disc. We decompose the approaching side of the outflow into a broad and a narrow component with typical velocity dispersions below and above $\sim200\,{\rm km\,s^{-1}}$, respectively. The blueshifted narrow component has substructure, in particular a collimated plume aligned with the radio jet, indicating that it may be jet-powered. The redshifted lobe is composed of two Narrow Components and a Broad Component. An additional redshifted component is seen outside the main outflow axis. Line ratio diagnostics indicate that the outflow gas in the main axis is AGN-powered whereas the off-axis component has LINER properties. The ionised gas mass outflow rate is $\dot{M}=1.2\pm0.7\,M_{\odot}\,{\rm yr^{-1}}$ and the kinetic power is $\dot{E}_{\rm kin}=(2.7\pm2.0)\times10^{41}\,{\rm erg\,s^{-1}}$, which corresponds to $F_{\rm kin}=0.12\pm0.09\%$ of the bolometric AGN power. The combination of high angular resolution integral field spectroscopy and a careful multi-component decomposition allows a uniquely detailed view of the outflow in NGC 7130, illustrating that AGN kinematics are more complex than traditionally derived from less sophisticated data and analyses. (abridged), Published in A&A. This version of the preprint has been corrected with the modifications appearing in the A&A corrigendum

We present the first results of the Galaxy Activity, Torus and Outflow Survey (GATOS), a project aimed at understanding the properties of the dusty molecular tori and their connection to the host galaxy in nearby Seyfert galaxies. Our project expands the range of AGN luminosities and Eddington ratios covered by previous surveys of Seyferts conducted by ALMA and allows us to study the gas feeding and feedback cycle in a combined sample of 19 Seyferts. We used ALMA to obtain new images of the emission of molecular gas and dust using the CO(3-2) and HCO+(4-3) lines as well as their underlying continuum emission at 870 microns with high spatial resolutions (0.1'' ~ 7 - 13 pc) in the CND of 10 nearby (D < 28 Mpc) Seyfert galaxies. Our new ALMA observations detect 870 micron continuum and CO line emission from spatially resolved disks located around the AGN in all the sources. The bulk of the continuum flux can be accounted for by thermal emission from dust in the majority of the targets. For most of the sources the disks show a preponderant orientation perpendicular to the AGN wind axes, as expected for dusty molecular tori. The median diameters and molecular gas masses of the tori are ~ 42 pc, and ~ 6 x 10**5 Msun, respectively. We find a positive correlation between the line-of-sight gas column densities responsible for the absorption of X-rays and the molecular gas column densities derived from CO towards the AGN in our sources. The radial distributions of molecular gas in the CND of our combined sample show signs of nuclear-scale molecular gas deficits. We also detect molecular outflows in the sources that show the most extreme nuclear-scale gas deficits in our sample. These observations find for the first time supporting evidence that the imprint of AGN feedback is more extreme in higher luminosity and/or higher Eddington ratio Seyfert galaxies., 41 pages, new version revised and accepted by A&A on the 22nd of June 2021

GATOS (GTC Astrophysical Transient Octuple-channel imaging Spectrograph) is a multi-channel imager and spectrograph capable of simultaneously obtaining images of the same field in 8 optical and near-infrared bands or alternatively performing spectroscopy covering the range between 3500 and 23500 Angstrom in a single shot at a resolving power of R ∼ 4000. State-of-the-art detectors envisioned for this instrument will have negligible readout times and be able to perform high-time-resolution observations. An integral-field mode covering the same range simultaneously will be a crucial element of the design. In its current design, the integral-field unit covers a field of 12" × 8" with 0.6" slitlets. Finally, we aim to include a unique spectropolarimetry unit that will give GTC the first broad-band spectropolarimeter on a 10 m class telescope. The design is an evolution of the OCTOCAM concept that was selected to be built at Gemini, and is now known as SCORPIO.

We present a comparison of the spin parameter λR, measured in a region dominated by the galaxy disc, between 20 pairs of nearby (0.005 < z < 0.03) seemingly isolated twin galaxies differing in nuclear activity. We find that 80-82% of the active galaxies show higher values of λR than their corresponding non-active twin(s), indicating larger rotational support in the active galactic nuclei (AGN) discs. This result is driven by the 11 pairs of unbarred galaxies, for which 100% of the AGN show larger λR than their twins. These results can be explained by a more efficient angular momentum transfer from the inflowing gas to the disc baryonic matter in the case of the active galaxies. This gas inflow could have been induced by disc or bar instabilities, although we cannot rule out minor mergers if these are prevalent in our active galaxies. This result represents the first evidence of galaxy-scale differences between the dynamics of active and non-active isolated spiral galaxies of intermediate stellar masses (1010 < M∗ < 1011 M? ) in the Universe. © ESO 2020., This study uses data provided by the Calar Alto Legacy Integral Field Area (CALIFA) survey (http://califa.caha.es/).Based on observations collected at the Centro Astronomico Hispano Aleman (CAHA) at Calar Alto, operated jointly by the MPIA and the IAA-CSIC. IMC acknowledges the support of the IAC. BGL, CRA, TRL, PSB, IM and JM acknowledge support from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (MCIU), the Agencia Estatal de Investigacion (AEI) and the Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (EU FEDER) under projects with references PID2019-107010GB-I00, PID2019-106027GB-C42, AYA2015-68217-P, AYA2016-76682-C3-2-P, AYA2017-89076-P, AYA2016-77237-C31-P, AYA2015-63810-P and AYA2016-76682-C3-1-P. CRA and TRL also acknowledge support from the MCIU under grants with reference RYC-2014-15779 and FJCI-2016-30342, respectively. IMC, BGL, CRA, TRL, IM and JM acknowledge financial support from the State Agency for Research of the Spanish MCIU through the "Center of Excellence Severo Ochoa" award to the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (SEV-2015-0548) and to the Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia (SEV-2017-0709). SFS thanks CONACYT CB-285080 and FC-2016-01-1916, and PAPIIT-IN100519 projects for their support.

AGN-driven outflows are believed to play an important role in regulating the growth of galaxies mostly via negative feedback. However, their effects on their hosts are far from clear, especially for low and moderate luminosity Seyferts. To investigate this issue, we have obtained cold molecular gas observations, traced by the CO(2-1) transition, using the NOEMA interferometer of five nearby (distances between 19 and 58 Mpc) Seyfert galaxies. The resolution of approx. 0.3-0.8 arcsec (approx. 30-100 pc) and field of view of NOEMA allowed us to study the CO(2-1) morphology and kinematics in the nuclear regions (approx. 100 pc) and up to radial distances of approx. 900 pc. We have detected CO(2-1) emission in all five galaxies with disky or circumnuclear ring like morphologies. We derived cold molecular gas masses on nuclear (approx. 100 pc) and circumnuclear (approx. 650 pc) scales in the range from $10^6$ to $10^7$M$_{\odot}$ and from $10^7$ to $10^8$ $M_{\odot}$, respectively. In all of our galaxies the bulk of this gas is rotating in the plane of the galaxy. However, non-circular motions are also present. In NGC 4253, NGC 4388 and NGC 7465, we can ascribe the streaming motions to the presence of a large-scale bar. In Mrk 1066 and NGC 4388, the non-circular motions in the nuclear regions are explained as outflowing material due to the interaction of the AGN wind with molecular gas in the galaxy disk. We conclude that for an unambiguous and precise interpretation of the kinematics of the cold molecular gas we need a detailed knowledge of the host galaxy (i.e., presence of bars, interactions, etc) as well as of the ionized gas kinematics and the ionization cone geometry., Accepted for publication in A&A, 23 pages, 17 figures

The true importance of the warm, AGN-driven outflows for the evolution of galaxies remains uncertain. Measurements of the radial extents of the outflows are key for quantifying their masses and kinetic powers, and also establishing whether the AGN outflows are galaxy-wide. Therefore, as part of a larger project to investigate the significance of warm, AGN-driven outflows in the most rapidly evolving galaxies in the local universe, here we present deep Hubble Space Telescope ( HST) narrow-band [OIII]$��$5007 observations of a complete sample of 8 nearby ULIRGs with optical AGN nuclei. Combined with the complementary information provided by our ground-based spectroscopy, the HST images show that the warm gas outflows are relatively compact for most of the objects in the sample: in three objects the outflow regions are barely resolved at the resolution of HST ($0.065 < R_{[OIII]} < 0.12$ kpc); in a further four cases the outflows are spatially resolved but with flux weighted mean radii in the range $0.65 < R_{[OIII]} < 1.2$ kpc; and in only one object (Mrk273) is there clear evidence for a more extended outflow, with a maximum extent of $R_{[OIII]}\sim5$ kpc. Overall, our observations show little evidence for the galaxy-wide outflows predicted by some models of AGN feedback., 14 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

We compare mid-IR and ALMA far-IR images of 12 nearby Seyferts selected from GATOS. The mid-IR unresolved emission contributes more than 60% of the nuclear emission in most galaxies. By contrast, the ALMA 870micron continuum emission is mostly resolved and typically along the torus equatorial direction (Paper I, Garcia-Burillo et al. 2021). The Eddington ratios and nuclear hydrogen column densities NH of half the sample are favorable to launching polar and/or equatorial dusty winds, according to simulations. Six show mid-IR extended emission in the polar direction as traced by the NLR and perpendicular to the ALMA emission. In a few, the nuclear NH might be too high to uplift large quantities of dusty material along the polar direction. Five galaxies have low NH and/or Eddington ratios and thus polar dusty winds are not likely. We generate new CAT3D-WIND disk-wind model images. At low wind-to-disk cloud ratios the far-IR model images have disk- and ring-like morphologies. The X-shape associated with dusty winds is seen better in the far-IR at intermediate-high inclinations for the extended-wind configurations. In most models, the mid-IR emission comes from the inner part of the disk/cone. Extended bi-conical and one-sided polar mid-IR emission is seen in extended-wind configurations and high wind-to-disk cloud ratios. When convolved to our resolution, the model images reproduce qualitative aspects of the observed morphologies. Low-intermediate wind-to-disk ratios are required to account for the large fractions of unresolved mid-IR emission. This work and Paper I provide observational support for the torus+wind scenario. The wind component is more relevant at high Eddington ratios and/or AGN luminosities, and polar dust emission is predicted at NH of up to $10^{24}$cm$^{-2}$. The torus/disk component, on the other hand, prevails at low luminosities and/or Eddington ratios. (Abridged), 27 pages, 27 figures. Accepted for publication in A&A

We use new X-ray data obtained with the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR), near-infrared (NIR) fluxes, and mid-infrared (MIR) spectra of a sample of 24 unobscured type 1 active galactic nuclei (AGN) to study the correlation between various hard X-ray bands between 3 and 80 keV and the infrared (IR) emission. The IR to X-ray correlation spectrum (IRXCS) shows a maximum at ~15-20 micron, coincident with the peak of the AGN contribution to the MIR spectra of the majority of the sample. There is also a NIR correlation peak at ~2 micron, which we associate with the NIR bump observed in some type 1 AGN at ~1-5 micron and is likely produced by nuclear hot dust emission. The IRXCS shows practically the same behaviour in all the X-ray bands considered, indicating a common origin for all of them. We finally evaluated correlations between the X-ray luminosities and various MIR emission lines. All the lines show a good correlation with the hard X-rays (rho>0.7), but we do not find the expected correlation between their ionization potentials and the strength of the IRXCS., 20 pages, 6 figures, accepted by MNRAS

The discovery of $\gamma$-ray emission from radio-loud narrow-line Seyfert 1 (NLSy1) galaxies has questioned the need for large black hole masses (> 10$^8$ M$_{\odot}$) to launch relativistic jets. We present near-infrared data of the $\gamma$-ray-emitting NLSy1 FBQS J1644+2619 that were collected using the camera CIRCE (Canarias InfraRed Camera Experiment) at the 10.4-m Gran Telescopio Canarias to investigate the structural properties of its host galaxy and to infer the black hole mass. The 2D surface brightness profile is modelled by the combination of a nuclear and a bulge component with a S\'ersic profile with index $n$ = 3.7, indicative of an elliptical galaxy. The structural parameters of the host are consistent with the correlations of effective radius and surface brightness against absolute magnitude measured for elliptical galaxies. From the bulge luminosity, we estimated a black hole mass of (2.1$\pm$0.2) $\times$10$^8$ M$_{\odot}$, consistent with the values characterizing radio-loud active galactic nuclei., Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, 1 table. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Letter, Vol. 469, L11-L15

We measure the 10 and $18\mu$m silicate features in a sample of 67 local ($z0.28$, 10 objects). We carry out a detailed modeling of the IRS/{\it Spitzer} spectra by comparing several models that assume different geometries and dust composition: a smooth torus model, two clumpy torus models, a two-phase medium torus model, and a disk+outflow clumpy model. We find that the silicate features are well modeled by the clumpy model of Nenkova et al. 2008, and among all models those including outflows and complex dust composition are the best (Hoenig et al. 2017). We note that even in AGN-dominated galaxies it is usually necessary to add stellar contributions to reproduce the emission at the shortest wavelengths., Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ

arXiv:2009.12385v1 [astro-ph.GA], We study the multiphase feedback processes in the central ∼3 kpc of the barred Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 5643. We used observations of the cold molecular gas (ALMA CO(2−1) transition) and ionized gas (MUSE IFU optical emission lines). We studied different regions along the outflow zone, which extends out to ∼2.3 kpc in the same direction (east-west) as the radio jet, as well as nuclear and circumnuclear regions in the host galaxy disk. The CO(2−1) line profiles of regions in the outflow and spiral arms show two or more different velocity components: one associated with the host galaxy rotation, and the others with out- or inflowing material. In the outflow region, the [O III]λ5007 Å emission lines have two or more components: the narrow component traces rotation of the gas in the disk, and the others are related to the ionized outflow. The deprojected outflowing velocities of the cold molecular gas (median Vcentral ∼ 189 km s−1) are generally lower than those of the outflowing ionized gas, which reach deprojected velocities of up to 750 km s−1 close to the active galactic nucleus (AGN), and their spatial profiles follow those of the ionized phase. This suggests that the outflowing molecular gas in the galaxy disk is being entrained by the AGN wind. We derive molecular and ionized outflow masses of ∼5.2 × 107 M⊙ (αCOGalactic) and 8.5 × 104 M⊙ and molecular and ionized outflow mass rates of ∼51 M⊙ yr−1 (αCOGalactic) and 0.14 M⊙ yr−1, respectively. This means that the molecular phase dominates the outflow mass and outflow mass rate, while the kinetic power and momentum of the outflow are similar in both phases. However, the wind momentum loads (Ṗout/ṖAGN) for the molecular and ionized outflow phases are ∼27−5 (αCOGalactic and αCOULIRGs) and < 1, which suggests that the molecular phase is not momentum conserving, but the ionized phase most certainly is. The molecular gas content (Meast ∼ 1.5 × 107 M⊙; αCOGalactic) of the eastern spiral arm is approximately 50−70% of the content of the western one. We interpret this as destruction or clearing of the molecular gas produced by the AGN wind impacting in the eastern side of the host galaxy (negative feedback process). The increase in molecular phase momentum implies that part of the kinetic energy from the AGN wind is transmitted to the molecular outflow. This suggests that in Seyfert-like AGN such as NGC 5643, the radiative or quasar and the kinetic or radio AGN feedback modes coexist and may shape the host galaxies even at kiloparsec scales through both positive and (mild) negative feedback., IGB, AAH and FJC acknowledge financial support through grant PN AYA2015-64346-C2-1-P (MINECO/FEDER), funded by the Agencia Estatal de Investigación, Unidad de Excelencia María de Maeztu. IGB and DR also acknowledge support from STFC through grant ST/S000488/1. DR acknowledges support from the University of Oxford John Fell Fund. AAH, SGB and MVM also acknowledge support through grant PGC2018-094671-BI00 (MCIU/AEI/FEDER,UE). AAH, MPS, MVM and AL work was done under project No. MDM-2017-0737 Unidad de Excelencia “María de Maeztu” - Centro de Astrobiología (INTA-CSIC). MPS acknowledges support from the Comunidad de Madrid, Spain, through Atracción de Talento Investigador Grant 2018- T1/TIC-11035 and PID2019-105423GA-I00 (MCIU/AEI/FEDER,UE). BG-L acknowledges support from the State Research Agency (AEI) of the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (MCIU) and the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER) under grant with reference AYA2015- 68217-P. FJC and SM acknowledge financial support from the Spanish Ministry MCIU under project RTI2018-096686-B-C21 (MCIU/AEI/FEDER/UE), cofunded by FEDER funds and from the Agencia Estatal de Investigación, Unidad de Excelencia María de Maeztu, ref. MDM-2017-0765. CRA acknowledges support from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (MCIU), the Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI) and the Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (EU FEDER) under project AYA2016-76682-C3-2-P and PID2019-106027GB-C42. CRA also acknowledges support from the MCIU under grant RYC-2014-15779. AL acknowledges the support from Comunidad de Madrid through the Atracción de Talento grant 2017-T1/TIC-5213. CR acknowledges support from the Fondecyt Iniciacion grant 11190831.

We investigate the relation between the detection of the 11.3 μm polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) feature in the nuclear (∼24-230 pc) regions of 22 nearby Seyfert galaxies and the properties of the cold molecular gas. For the former we use ground-based (0.3-0.6″ resolution) mid-infrared (mid-IR) spectroscopy. The cold molecular gas is traced by ALMA and NOEMA high (0.2-1.1″) angular resolution observations of the CO(2-1) transition. Galaxies with a nuclear detection of the 11.3 μm PAH feature contain more cold molecular gas (median 1.6 × 107 MO ) and have higher column densities (N(H2) = 2 × 1023 cm-2) over the regions sampled by the mid-IR slits than those without a detection. This suggests that molecular gas plays a role in shielding the PAH molecules in the harsh environments of Seyfert nuclei. Choosing the PAH molecule naphthalene as an illustration, we compute its half-life in the nuclear regions of our sample when exposed to 2.5 keV hard X-ray photons. We estimate shorter half-lives for naphthalene in nuclei without a 11.3 μm PAH detection than in those with a detection. The Spitzer/IRS PAH ratios on circumnuclear scales (∼4″ ∼ 0.25-1.3 kpc) are in between model predictions for neutral and partly ionized PAHs. However, Seyfert galaxies in our sample with the highest nuclear H2 column densities are not generally closer to the neutral PAH tracks. This is because in the majority of our sample galaxies, the CO(2-1) emission in the inner ∼4″ is not centrally peaked and in some galaxies traces circumnuclear sites of strong star formation activity. Spatially resolved observations with the MIRI medium-resolution spectrograph on the James Webb Space Telescope will be able to distinguish the effects of an active galactic nucleus (AGN) and star formation on the PAH emission in nearby AGN., With funding from the Spanish government through the "María de Maeztu Unit of Excellence" accreditation (MDM-2017-0737)

We present subarcsecond 7.5-13 μm imaging- and spectro-polarimetric observations of NGC 1068 using CanariCam on the 10.4-m Gran Telescopio CANARIAS. At all wavelengths, we find: (1) A 90 × 60 pc extended polarized feature in the northern ionization cone, with a uniform ~44° polarization angle. Its polarization arises from dust and gas emission in the ionization cone, heated by the active nucleus and jet, and further extinguished by aligned dust grains in the host galaxy. The polarization spectrum of the jet-molecular cloud interaction at ~24 pc from the core is highly polarized, and does not show a silicate feature, suggesting that the dust grains are different from those in the interstellar medium. (2) A southern polarized feature at ~9.6 pc from the core. Its polarization arises from a dust emission component extinguished by a large concentration of dust in the galaxy disc. We cannot distinguish between dust emission from magnetically aligned dust grains directly heated by the jet close to the core, and aligned dust grains in the dusty obscuring material surrounding the central engine. Silicate-like grains reproduce the polarized dust emission in this feature, suggesting different dust compositions in both ionization cones. (3) An upper limit of polarization degree of 0.3 per cent in the core. Based on our polarization model, the expected polarization of the obscuring dusty material is ≲ 0.1 per cent in the 8-13 μm wavelength range. This low polarization may be arising from the passage of radiation through aligned dust grains in the shielded edges of the clumps., AA-H acknowledges financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) under the 2011 Severo Ochoa Program MINECO SEV-2011- 0187. AA-H acknowledges financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through grant AYA2012-31447, which is partly funded by the FEDER program, PE from grant AYA2012-31277, and LC from grant AYA2012-32295. RN acknowledges support by FONDECYT grant no. 3140436. CRA is supported by a Marie Curie Intra European Fellowship within the 7th European Community Framework Programme (PIEF-GA-2012-327934). EP acknowledges support from NSF grant AST-0904896.

If the disappearance of the broad emission lines observed in changing-look quasars originates from the obscuration of the quasar core by dusty clouds moving in the torus, high linear optical polarization would be expected in those objects. We then measured the rest-frame UV-blue linear polarization of a sample of 13 changing-look quasars, 7 of them being in a type 1.9-2 state. For all quasars but one the polarization degree is lower than 1%. This suggests that the disappearance of the broad emission lines cannot be attributed to dust obscuration, and supports the scenario in which changes of look are caused by a change in the rate of accretion onto the supermassive black hole. Such low polarization degrees also indicate that these quasars are seen under inclinations close to the system axis. One type 1.9-2 quasar in our sample shows a high polarization degree of 6.8%. While this polarization could be ascribed to obscuration by a moving dusty cloud, we argue that this is unlikely given the very long time needed for a cloud from the torus to eclipse the broad emission line region of that object. We propose that the high polarization is due to the echo of a past bright phase seen in polar-scattered light. This interpretation raises the possibility that broad emission lines observed in the polarized light of some type 2 active galactic nuclei can be echoes of past type 1 phases and not evidence of hidden broad emission line regions., Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics

We characterize for the first time the torus properties of an ultra-hard X-ray (14-195 keV) volume-limited (DL < 40 Mpc) sample of 24 Seyfert (Sy) galaxies (BCS sample). The sample was selected from the Swift/BAT nine-month catalogue.We use high angular resolution nuclear infrared (IR) photometry and N-band spectroscopy, the CLUMPY torus models and a Bayesian tool to characterize the properties of the nuclear dust. In the case of the Sy1s, we estimate the accretion disc contribution to the subarcsecond resolution nuclear IR SEDs (~0.4 arcsec) which is, on average, 46 ± 28, 23 ± 13, and 11 ± 5 per cent in the J, H, and K bands, respectively. This indicates that the accretion disc templates that assume a steep fall for longer wavelengths than 1 μm might underestimate its contribution to the near-IR emission. Using both optical (broad versus narrow lines) and X-ray (unabsorbed versus absorbed) classifications, we compare the global posterior distribution of the torus model parameters. We confirm that Sy2s have larger values of the torus covering factor (CT ~ 0.95) than Sy1s (CT ~ 0.65) in our volume-limited Seyfert sample. These findings are independent of whether we use an optical or X-ray classification.We find that the torus covering factor remains essentially constant within the errors in our luminosity range and there is no clear dependence with the Eddington ratio. Finally, we find tentative evidence that even an ultra-hard X-ray selection is missing a significant fraction of highly absorbed type 2 sources with very high covering factor tori.© 2019 The Author(s) Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society., IGB acknowledges financial support from the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias through Fundacion La Caixa. IGB also acknowledges Oxford University and Durham University for their hospitality during his stays in 2017 August when this project was started and 2018 May, respectively. IGB also acknowledges Cardiff University for their hospitality from 2018 May to August. CRA and IGB acknowledge financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICINN) through project AYA2016-76682-C3-2-P. IGB, AAH, and FJC also acknowledge financial support through grant PN AYA2015-64346-C2-1-P (MINECO/FEDER). Funded by the Agencia Estatal de Investigacion, Unidad de Excelencia Maria de Maeztu. CRA also acknowledges the Ramon y Cajal Program of the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness. MPS acknowledges support from STFC through grant ST/N000919/1. OGM thanks to the PAPIIT UNAM project IA103118. SM acknowledges financial support through grant AYA2016-76730-P (MINECO/FEDER). IM and JM acknowledge financial support from the research project AYA2016-76682-C3-1-P (AEI/FEDER, UE). LF and CP acknowledge support from the NSF- grant number 1616828.

We present Gemini/GNIRS spectroscopy of the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 4388, with simultaneous coverage from 0.85 - 2.5 $\mu$m. Several spatially-extended emission lines are detected for the first time, both in the obscured and unobscured portion of the optical narrow line region (NLR), allowing us to assess the combined effects of the central continuum source, outflowing gas and shocks generated by the radio jet on the central 280 pc gas. The HI and [FeII] lines allow us to map the extinction affecting the NLR. We found that the nuclear region is heavily obscured, with E(B-V) ~1.9 mag. To the NE of the nucleus and up to ~150 pc, the extinction remains large, ~1 mag or larger, consistent with the system of dust lanes seen in optical imaging. We derived position-velocity diagrams for the most prominent lines as well as for the stellar component. Only the molecular gas and the stellar component display a well-organized pattern consistent with disk rotation. Other emission lines are kinematically perturbed or show little evidence of rotation. Extended high-ionization emission of sulfur, silicon and calcium is observed to distances of at least 200 pc both NE and SW of the nucleus. We compared flux ratios between these lines with photoionization models and conclude that radiation from the central source alone cannot explain the observed high-ionization spectrum. Shocks between the radio-jet and the ambient gas are very likely an additional source of excitation. We conclude that NGC 4388 is a prime laboratory to study the interplay between all these mechanisms., Comment: 21 pages, 14 figures, 9 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

We investigate the presence of extended ionized outflows in 18 luminous type 2 AGNs (11 quasars and 7 high luminosity Seyfert 2s) at 0.3=severalx100 pc and upper limits R~1-2 kpc., Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS (35 pages, 23 figures)

At distances from the active galaxy nucleus where the ambient temperature falls below ∼1500-1800 K, dust is able to survive. It is thus possible to have a large dusty structure present that surrounds the active galaxy nucleus. This is the first of two papers aiming at comparing six dusty torus models with available spectral energy distributions, namely, Fritz et al., Nenkova et al., Hönig & Kishimoto, Siebenmorgen et al., Stalevski et al., and Hönig & Kishimoto. In this first paper we use synthetic spectra to explore the discrimination between these models and under which circumstances they allow us to restrict the torus parameters, while our second paper analyzes the best model to describe the mid-infrared spectroscopic data. We have produced synthetic spectra from current instruments GTC/CanariCam and Spitzer/IRS and future James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)/MIRI and JWST/NIRSpec instruments. We find that for a reasonable brightness (F > 100 mJy) we can actually distinguish among models except for the two pairs of parent models. We show that these models can be distinguished based on the continuum slopes and the strength of the silicate features. Moreover, their parameters can be constrained within 15% of error, irrespective of the instrument used, for all the models except Hönig & Kishimoto. However, the parameter estimates are ruined when more than 50% of circumnuclear contributors are included. Therefore, future high spatial resolution spectra such as those expected from JWST will provide enough coverage and spatial resolution to tackle this topic.© 2019 The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved., This research is mainly funded by the UNAM PAPIIT project IA103118 (PI OG-M). M.M.-P. acknowledges support by KASI postdoctoral fellowships. I.M. and J.M. acknowledge financial support from the research project AYA2016-76682-C3-1-P (AEI/FEDER, UE). J.M.R.-E. acknowledges support from the Spanish Ministry of Science under grants AYA2015-70498-C2-1 and AYA2017-84061-P. I.G.-B. acknowledges financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICINN) through projects PN AYA2015-64346-C2-1-P and AYA2016-76682-C3-2-P. I.M. and J.M. acknowledge financial support from the State Agency for Research of the Spanish MCIU through the >Center of Excellence Severo Ochoa> award for the Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia (SEV-2017-0709). D.E.-A. acknowledges support from a CONACYT scholarship. D.-D. acknowledges PAPIIT UNAM support from grant IN113719.

We combine new (NGC 1275, NGC 4151, and NGC 5506) and previously published (Cygnus A, Mrk 231, and NGC 1068) sub-arcsecond resolution mid-infrared (MIR; 8-13 $��$m) imaging- and spectro-polarimetric observations of six Seyfert galaxies using CanariCam on the 10.4-m Gran Telescopio CANARIAS. These observations reveal a diverse set of physical processes responsible for the nuclear polarization, and permit characterization of the origin of the MIR nuclear polarimetric signature of active galactic nuclei (AGN). For all radio quiet objects, we found that the nuclear polarization is low (, 9 pages, 4 figures. Accepted to MNRAS

et al., We present J′ and K′ imaging linear polarimetric adaptive optics observations of NGC 1068 using MMT-Pol on the 6.5-m MMT. These observations allow us to study the torus from a magnetohydrodynamical (MHD) framework. In a 0.5 arcsec (30 pc) aperture at K′, we find that polarization arising from the passage of radiation from the inner edge of the torus through magnetically aligned dust grains in the clumps is the dominant polarization mechanism, with an intrinsic polarization of 7.0 ± 2.2 per cent. This result yields a torus magnetic field strength in the range of 4–82 mG through paramagnetic alignment, and 139+11−20−20+11 mG through the Chandrasekhar–Fermi method. The measured position angle (P.A.) of polarization at K′ is found to be similar to the P.A. of the obscuring dusty component at few parsec scales using infrared interferometric techniques. We show that the constant component of the magnetic field is responsible for the alignment of the dust grains, and aligned with the torus axis on to the plane of the sky. Adopting this magnetic field configuration and the physical conditions of the clumps in the MHD outflow wind model, we estimate a mass outflow rate ≤0.17 M⊙ yr−1 at 0.4 pc from the central engine for those clumps showing near-infrared dichroism. The models used were able to create the torus in a time-scale of ≥105 yr with a rotational velocity of ≤1228 km s−1 at 0.4 pc. We conclude that the evolution, morphology and kinematics of the torus in NGC 1068 can be explained within a MHD framework., ELR and CP acknowledge support from the University of Texas at San Antonio. CP acknowledges support from NSF-0904421 grant. CP and TJJ acknowledge support from NSF-0704095 grant. AA-H acknowledges financial support from the Spanish Plan Nacional de Astronomía y Astrofisíca under grant AYA2012-31447. RN acknowledges support by FONDECYT grant No. 3140436. CRA is supported by a Marie Curie Intra European Fellowship within the 7th European Community Framework Programme (PIEF-GA-2012-327934).

We present subarcsecond resolution infrared (IR) imaging and mid-IR (MIR) spectroscopic observations of the Seyfert 1.9 galaxy NGC 2992, obtained with the Gemini North Telescope and the Gran Telescopio CANARIAS (GTC). The N-band image reveals faint extended emission out to ∼3 kpc, and the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon features detected in the GTC/CanariCam 7.5–13 μm spectrum indicate that the bulk of this extended emission is dust heated by star formation. We also report arcsecond resolution MIR and far-IR imaging of the interacting system Arp 245, taken with the Spitzer Space Telescope and the Herschel Space Observatory. Using these data, we obtain nuclear fluxes using different methods and find that we can only recover the nuclear fluxes obtained from the subarcsecond data at 20–25 μm, where the active galactic nuclei (AGN) emission dominates. We fitted the nuclear IR spectral energy distribution of NGC 2992, including the GTC/CanariCam nuclear spectrum (∼50 pc), with clumpy torus models. We then used the best-fitting torus model to decompose the Spitzer/IRS 5–30 μm spectrum (∼630 pc) in AGN and starburst components, using different starburst templates. We find that, whereas at shorter MIR wavelengths the starburst component dominates (64 per cent at 6 μm), the AGN component reaches 90 per cent at 20 μm. We finally obtained dust masses, temperatures and star formation rates for the different components of the Arp 245 system and find similar values for NGC 2992 and NGC 2993. These measurements are within those reported for other interacting systems in the first stages of the interaction., IGB acknowledges financial support from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias through Fundacion La Caixa. This research was partly supported by a Marie Curie Intra European Fellowship within the 7th European Community Framework Programme (PIEF-GA-2012-327934). CRA and IGB acknowledge financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICINN) through project PN AYA2013-47742-C4-2-P. AAH acknowledges funding from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness under grant AYA2012-31447, which is party funded by the FEDER program. PE acknowledges support from the Spanish Plan Nacional de Astronomía y Astrofísica under grant AYA2012-31277. OGM acknowledges support from grant AYA2012-39168-C03-01. TDS was supported by ALMA-CONICYT grant number 31130005.

A suite of 432 collisionless simulations of bound pairs of spiral galaxies with mass ratios 1:1 and 3:1, and global properties consistent with the ΛCDM paradigm, is used to test the conjecture that major mergers fuel the dual AGN (DAGN) of the local volume. Our analysis was based on the premise that the essential aspects of this scenario can be captured by replacing the physics of the central black holes with restrictions on their relative separation in phase space. We introduce several estimates of the DAGN fraction and infer predictions for the activity levels and resolution limits usually involved in surveys of these systems, assessing their dependence on the parameters controlling the length of both mergers and nuclear activity. Given a set of constraints, we find that the values adopted for some of the latter factors often condition the outcomes from individual experiments. Still, the results do not, in general, reveal very tight correlations, the clearest effect being the tendency of the frequencies normalized to the merger time to anticorrelate with the orbital circularity. In agreement with other theoretical studies, our simulations predict intrinsic DAGN abundances that range from ∼ a few to 15% depending on the maximum level of nuclear activity achieved, the higher the bolometric luminosity, the lower the fraction. At the same time, we show that these probabilities are reduced by about an order of magnitude when they are filtered with the typical constraints applied by observational studies of the DAGN fraction at low redshift. Seen as a whole, our results prove that consideration of the most common limitations involved in the detection of close active pairs at optical wavelengths is sufficient alone to reconcile the intrinsic frequencies envisaged in a hierarchical universe with the small fractions of double-peaked narrow-line systems which are often reported at kpc-scales.© ESO 2019., The authors acknowledge financial support from the Spanish AEI and European FEDER funds through the coordinated research project AYA2016-76682-C. J.M.S. and J.D.P., as well as I.M., extend their gratitude to the Program for Promotion of High-Level Scientific and Technical Research of Spain under contracts AYA2013-40609-P and AYA2013-42227-P, respectively. C.R.A. acknowledges the Ramon y Cajal Program of the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through project RYC-2014-1577. Additional funding has been provided by the State Agency for Research of the Spanish MCIU through >Center of Excellence Severo Ochoa> awards for the Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia and for the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, and through a >Center of Excellence Maria de Maeztu> award to the Institut de Ciencies del Cosmos.

We present ALMA Band 6 $^{12}$CO(2--1) line and rest-frame 232GHz continuum observations of the nearby Compton-thick Seyfert galaxy NGC5643 with angular resolutions 0.11-0.26arcsec (9-21pc). The CO(2--1) integrated line map reveals emission from the nuclear and circumnuclear region with a two-arm nuclear spiral extending 10arcsec on each side. The circumnuclear CO(2--1) kinematics can be fitted with a rotating disk, although there are regions with large residual velocities and/or velocity dispersions. The CO(2--1) line profiles of these regions show two different velocity components. One is ascribed to the circular component and the other to the interaction of the AGN outflow, as traced by the [O III]5007AA emission, with molecular gas in the disk a few hundred parsecs from the AGN. On nuclear scales, we detected an inclined CO(2--1) disk (diameter 26 pc, FWHM) oriented almost in a north-south direction. The CO(2--1) nuclear kinematics can be fitted with a rotating disk which appears to be tilted with respect to the large scale disk. There are strong non-circular motions in the central 0.2-0.3 arcsec with velocities of up to 110km/s. In the absence of a nuclear bar, these motions could be explained as radial outflows in the nuclear disk. We estimate a total molecular gas mass for the nuclear disk of $M({\rm H}_2)=1.1\times 10^7\,M_\odot$ and an H$_2$ column density toward the location of the AGN of $N({\rm H}_2)\sim 5 \times 10^{23}\,{\rm cm}^{-2}$, for a standard CO-to-H$_2$ conversion factor. We interpret this nuclear molecular gas disk as the obscuring torus of NGC5643 as well as the collimating structure of the ionization cone., 16 papes, 9 figures. Accepted to ApJ. Updated Fig.4

The detection of gamma-ray emission from narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies (NLSy1) has challenged the idea that large black hole (BH) masses ($\ge$10$^8$ M$_{\odot}$) are needed to launch relativistic jets. We present near-infrared imaging data of the gamma-ray-emitting NLSy1 PKS 1502+036 obtained with the Very Large Telescope. Its surface brightness profile, extending to $\sim$ 20 kpc, is well described by the combination of a nuclear component and a bulge with a Sersic index $n$ = 3.5, which is indicative of an elliptical galaxy. A circumnuclear structure observed near PKS 1502+036 may be the result of galaxy interactions. A BH mass of about $\sim 7 \times 10^{8}$ M$_{\odot}$ has been estimated by the bulge luminosity. The presence of an additional faint disc component cannot be ruled out with the present data, but this would reduce the BH mass estimate by only $\sim$ 30%. These results, together with analogous findings obtained for FBQS J1644+2619, indicate that the relativistic jets in gamma-ray-emitting NLSy1 are likely produced by massive black holes at the center of elliptical galaxies., Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, 1 table, and 2 supplementary figures. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Letters, Volume 478, Issue 1, L66-L71

We report the discovery of a ~100 kpc ionized nebula associated with the radio quiet type 2 quasar (QSO2) nicknamed the "Teacup" (z=0.085). The giant nebula is among the largest known around active galaxies at any z. We propose that it is part of the circumgalactic medium (CGM) of the QSO2 host, which has been populated with tidal debris by galactic interactions. This rich gaseous medium has been rendered visible due to the illumination by the powerful active nucleus (AGN). Subsolar abundances (~0.5Z(sun)) are tentatively favored by AGN photoionization models. We also report the detection of coronal emission (Fe+6) from the NE bubble, at ~9 kpc from the AGN. The detection of coronal lines at such large distances from the AGN and the [NII]/Halpha, [SII]/Halpha, [OI]/Halpha optical emission line ratios of the giant nebula are consistent with the fading quasar scenario proposed by Gagne et al. (2014). The fading rate appears to have been faster in the last ~46,000 yr. Deep wide field integral field spectroscopy of giant nebulae around powerful AGN such as the "Teacup's" with instruments such as MUSE on VLT opens up a way to detect and study the elusive material from the CGM around massive active galaxies thanks to the illumination by the luminous AGN., 12 pages, 6 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

We present new calculations of the Clumpy AGN Tori in a 3D geometry (CAT3D) clumpytorus models, which now include a more physical dust sublimation model as well as activegalactic nucleus (AGN) anisotropic emission. These new models allow graphite grains topersist at temperatures higher than the silicate dust sublimation temperature. This producesstronger near-infrared emission and bluer mid-infrared (MIR) spectral slopes. We make astatistical comparison of the CAT3D model MIR predictions with a compilation of subarcsecondresolution ground-based MIR spectroscopy of 52 nearby Seyfert galaxies (mediandistance of 36 Mpc) and 10 quasars. We focus on the AGN MIR spectral index aMIR andthe strength of the 9.7 μm silicate feature S. As with other clumpy torus models, the newCAT3Dmodels do not reproduce the Seyfert galaxies with deep silicate absorption (S, We acknowledge financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through the Plan Nacional de Astronomía y Astrofísica under grant AYA2015-64346-C2-1-P (JG-G and AA-H), which was partly funded by the FEDER programme. AH-C acknowledges funding by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness under grant AYA2015-63650-P. JG-G acknowledges financial support from the Universidad de Cantabria through the Programa de Personal Investigador en Formacion Predoctoral de la Universidad de Cantabria. AA-H is also partly funded by CSIC/PIE grant 201650E036. SFH acknowledges support from the Marie Curie International Incoming Fellowship within the Seventh European Community Framework Programme (PIIF-GA-2013-623804) and the European Research Council under Horizon 2020 grant ERC-2015-StG-677117. CRA acknowledges the Ramon y Cajal Program of the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through project RYC-2014-15779 and the Spanish Plan Nacional de Astronomía y Astrofisíica under grant AYA2016-76682-C3-2-P. OG-M acknowledges support from PAPIIT IA100516. CP acknowledges support from the NSF grant number 1616828. MK acknowledges support from JSPS under grant 16H05731.

We present mid-infrared (MIR) imaging and spectroscopic data of the Seyfert 2 galaxy Mrk 1066 obtained with CanariCam (CC) on the 10.4 m Gran Telescopio CANARIAS (GTC). The galaxy was observed in imaging mode with an angular resolution of 0.24 arcsec (54 pc) in the Si-2 filter (8.7 micron). The image reveals a series of star-forming knots within the central ~400 pc, after subtracting the dominant active galactic nucleus (AGN) component. We also subtracted this AGN unresolved component from the 8-13 micron spectra of the knots and the nucleus, and measured equivalent widths (EWs) of the 11.3 micron Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) feature which are typical of pure starburst galaxies. This EW is larger in the nucleus than in the knots, confirming that, at least in the case of Mrk 1066, the AGN dilutes, rather than destroys, the molecules responsible for the 11.3 micron PAH emission. By comparing the nuclear GTC/CC spectrum with the Spitzer/IRS spectrum of the galaxy, we find that the AGN component that dominates the continuum emission at wavelengths below 15 micron on scales of ~60 pc (90-100%) decreases to 35-50% when the emission of the central ~830 pc is considered. On the other hand, the AGN contribution dominates the 15-25 micron emission (75%) on the scales probed by Spitzer/IRS. We find a good match between the MIR morphology of Mrk 1066 and the extended Pab, Brg and [O III] emission. This coincidence implies that the 8.7 micron emission is probing star formation, dust in the narrow-line region, and the oval structure previously detected in the near-infrared. On the other hand, the Chandra soft X-ray morphology does not match any of the previous, contrary to what it is generally assumed for Seyfert galaxies., Comment: 16 pages including appendix, accepted for publication in MNRAS

If the disappearance of the broad emission lines observed in changing-look quasars were caused by the obscuration of the quasar core through moving dust clouds in the torus, high linear polarization typical of type 2 quasars would be expected. We measured the polarization of the changing-look quasar J1011+5442 in which the broad emission lines have disappeared between 2003 and 2015. We found a polarization degree compatible with null polarization. This measurement suggests that the observed change of look is not due to a change of obscuration hiding the continuum source and the broad line region, and that the quasar is seen close to the system axis. Our results thus support the idea that the vanishing of the broad emission lines in J1011+5442 is due to an intrinsic dimming of the ionizing continuum source that is most likely caused by a rapid decrease in the rate of accretion onto the supermassive black hole., Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics Letters

Dedicated searches generally find a decreasing fraction of obscured active galactic nuclei (AGN) with increasing AGN luminosity. This has often been interpreted as evidence for a decrease of the covering factor of the AGN torus with increasing luminosity, the so-called receding torus models. Using a complete flux-limited X-ray selected sample of 199 AGN, from the Bright Ultra-hard XMM-Newton Survey, we determine the intrinsic fraction of optical type-2 AGN at 0.05 ≤ z ≤ 1 as a function of rest-frame 2-10 keV X-ray luminosity from 10 to 10 erg s. We use the distributions of covering factors of AGN tori derived from CLUMPY torus models. Since these distributions combined over the total AGN population need to match the intrinsic type-2 AGN fraction, we reveal a population of X-ray undetected objects with high-covering factor tori, which are increasingly numerous at higher AGN luminosities. When these >missing> objects are included, we find that Compton-thick AGN account at most for 37 % of the total population. The intrinsic type-2 AGN fraction is 58±4% and has a weak, nonsignificant (less than 2δ) luminosity dependence. This contradicts the results generally reported by AGN surveys and the expectations from receding torus models. Our findings imply that the majority of luminous rapidly accreting supermassive black holes at z ≤ 1 reside in highly obscured nuclear environments, but most of them are so deeply embedded that they have so far escaped detection in X-rays in, S.M. acknowledges financial support through grant AYA2016-76730-P. (MINECO/FEDER). F.J.C., X.B., and A.A.-H. acknowledge financial support through grant AYA2015-64346-C2-1-P (MINECO/FEDER). A.H.-C. acknowledges financial support through grants AYA2015- 70815-ERC and AYA2012-31277. C.R.A. acknowledges financial support through grant AYA2016-76682-C3-2-P and the Ramón y Cajal Program through project RYC-2014-15779 (MINECO). T.M. is supported by CONACyT Grants 179662, 252531 and UNAM-DGAPA PAPIIT IN104216.

We present near-infrared integral field spectroscopy data obtained with VLT/SINFONI of "the Teacup galaxy". The nuclear K-band (1.95-2.45 micron) spectrum of this radio-quiet type-2 quasar reveals a blueshifted broad component of FWHM~1600-1800 km/s in the hydrogen recombination lines (Pa$\alpha$, Br$\delta$, and Br$\gamma$) and also in the coronal line [Si VI]$\lambda$1.963 micron. Thus the data confirm the presence of the nuclear ionized outflow previously detected in the optical and reveal its coronal counterpart. Both the ionized and coronal nuclear outflows are resolved, with seeing-deconvolved full widths at half maximum of 1.1$\pm$0.1 and 0.9$\pm$0.1 kpc along PA$\sim$72-74 deg. This orientation is almost coincident with the radio axis (PA=77 deg), suggesting that the radio jet could have triggered the nuclear outflow. In the case of the H$_2$ lines we do not require a broad component to reproduce the profiles, but the narrow lines are blueshifted by ~50 km/s on average from the galaxy systemic velocity. This could be an indication of the presence of a nuclear molecular outflow, although the bulk of the H$_2$ emission in the inner ~2 arcsec (~3 kpc) of the galaxy follows a rotation pattern. We find evidence for kinematically disrupted gas (FWHM>250 km/s) at up to 5.6 kpc from the AGN, which can be naturally explained by the action of the outflow. The narrow component of [Si VI] is redshifted with respect to the systemic velocity, unlike any other emission line in the K-band spectrum. This indicates that the region where the coronal lines are produced is not co-spatial with the narrow line region., Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

We present mid-infrared (MIR, 7.5-13.5 $��$m) imaging and spectroscopy observations obtained with the CanariCam (CC) instrument on the 10.4m Gran Telescopio CANARIAS for a sample of 20 nearby, MIR bright and X-ray luminous QSOs. We find that for the majority of QSOs the MIR emission is unresolved at angular scales nearly 0.3 arcsec, corresponding to physical scales $ 2$ per cent) and low geometrical covering factors ($f_{2}, Accepted for publication in MNRAS

We report the discovery of a radio quiet type 2 quasar (SDSS J165315.06+234943.0 nicknamed the "Beetle" at z=0.103) with unambiguous evidence for active galactic nucleus (AGN) radio induced feedback acting across a total extension of ~46 kpc and up to ~26 kpc from the AGN. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first radio quiet system where radio induced feedback has been securely identified at >>several kpc from the AGN. Turbulent gas is also found far from the radio axis, ~25 kpc in the perpendicular direction. We propose a scenario in which the radio structures have perforated the interstellar medium of the galaxy and escaped into the circumgalactic medium. While advancing, they have interacted with in-situ gas modifying its properties. Our results show that jets of modest power can be the dominant feedback mechanism acting across huge volumes in radio quiet systems, including highly accreting luminous AGN, where radiative mode feedback may be expected., 20 pages, 13 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

Despite the emerging morphological evidence that luminous quasar-like AGN are triggered in galaxy mergers, the natures of the triggering mergers and the order of events in the triggering sequence remain uncertain. In this work, we present a detailed study of the stellar populations of the host galaxies of 21 type II quasars, with the aim of understanding the sequence of events between the onset of the merger, the triggering of the associated starburst and the initiation of the quasar activity. To this end, we model high quality, wide spectral coverage, intermediate resolution optical spectra of the type II quasars. We find that of the 21 objects, the higher-order Balmer absorption lines, characteristic of young stellar populations (YSP) , are directly detected in ~62% of the sample. We also fit these spectra using a number of combinations of stellar and/or power-law components, representative of viable formation histories, as well as including the possibility of scattered AGN light. We find that 90 % of the type II quasar host galaxies require the inclusion of a YSP to adequately model their spectra, whilst 71 % of the sample require the inclusion of a YSP with age < 100 Myr. Since the ages of the YSP in most type II quasar host galaxies are comparable with the expected lifetimes of the AGN activity, these results provide strong evidence that the quasars are triggered close to the peaks of the merger-induced starbursts., Accepted for publication in MNRAS, 22 pages with an additional 11 page appendix, 31 Figures

We investigate the evolutionary connection between local IR-bright galaxies ($\log L_{\rm IR}\ge 11.4\,L_\odot$) and quasars. We use high angular resolution ($\sim$ 0.3-0.4 arcsec $\sim$ few hundred parsecs) $8-13\,\mu$m ground-based spectroscopy to disentangle the AGN mid-IR properties from those of star formation. The comparison between the nuclear $11.3\,\mu$m PAH feature emission and that measured with Spitzer/IRS indicates that the star formation is extended over a few kpc in the IR-bright galaxies. The AGN contribution to the total IR luminosity of IR-bright galaxies is lower than in quasars. Although the dust distribution is predicted to change as IR-bright galaxies evolve to IR-bright quasars and then to optical quasars, we show that the AGN mid-IR emission of all the quasars in our sample is not significantly different. In contrast, the nuclear emission of IR-bright galaxies with low AGN contributions appears more heavily embedded in dust although there is no clear trend with the interaction stage or projected nuclear separation. This suggests that the changes in the distribution of the nuclear obscuring material may be taking place rapidly and at different interaction stages washing out the evidence of an evolutionary path. When compared to normal AGN, the nuclear star formation activity of quasars appears to be dimming whereas it is enhanced in some IR-bright nuclei, suggesting that the latter are in an earlier star-formation dominated phase., Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS

We present high-resolution mid-infrared (MIR) imaging, nuclear spectral energy distributions (SEDs), and archival Spitzer spectra for 22 low-luminosity active galactic nuclei (LLAGNs; L bol ≲ 10 42 erg s -1). Infrared (IR) observations may advance our understanding of the accretion flows in LLAGNs, the fate of the obscuring torus at low accretion rates, and, perhaps, the star formation histories of these objects. However, while comprehensively studied in higher-luminosity Seyferts and quasars, the nuclear IR properties of LLAGNs have not yet been well determined. We separate the present LLAGN sample into three categories depending on their Eddington ratio and radio emission, finding different IR characteristics for each class. (1) At the low-luminosity, low-Eddington-ratio (log L bol/L Edd < -4.6) end of the sample, we identify >host- dominated> galaxies with strong polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon bands that may indicate active (circum-)nuclear star formation. (2) Some very radio-loud objects are also present at these low Eddington ratios. The IR emission in these nuclei is dominated by synchrotron radiation, and some are likely to be unobscured type 2 AGNs that genuinely lack a broad-line region. (3) At higher Eddington ratios, strong, compact nuclear sources are visible in the MIR images. The nuclear SEDs of these galaxies are diverse; some resemble typical Seyfert nuclei, while others lack a well-defined MIR >dust bump.> Strong silicate emission is present in many of these objects. We speculate that this, together with high ratios of silicate strength to hydrogen column density, could suggest optically thin dust and low dust-to-gas ratios, in accordance with model predictions that LLAGNs do not host a Seyfert-like obscuring torus. We anticipate that detailed modeling of the new data and SEDs in terms of accretion disk, jet, radiatively inefficient accretion flow, and torus components will provide further insights into the nuclear structures and processes of LLAGNs. © © 2012. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.., A.A.-H. and L.C. acknowledge support from the Spanish Plan Nacional de Astronomía y Astrofísica under grants AYA2009-05705-E and AYA2010-21161-C02-1. C.R.A. acknowledges the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICINN) through project Consolider Ingenio 2010 Program grant CSD2006-00070

The origin of the unification model for Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) was the detection of broad hydrogen recombination lines in the optical polarized spectrum of the Seyfert 2 galaxy (Sy2) NGC 1068. Since then, a search for the hidden broad-line region (HBLR) of nearby Sy2s started, but polarized broad lines have only been detected in 30-40% of the nearby Sy2s observed to date. Here we present new VLT/FORS2 optical spectropolarimetry of a sample of 15 Sy2s, including Compton-thin and Compton-thick sources. The sample includes six galaxies without previously published spectropolarimetry, some of them normally treated as non-hidden BLR (NHBLR) objects in the literature, four classified as NHBLR, and five as HBLR based on previous data. We report >=4{\sigma} detections of a HBLR in 11 of these galaxies (73% of the sample) and a tentative detection in NGC 5793, which is Compton-thick according to the analysis of X-ray data performed here. Our results confirm that at least some NHBLRs are misclassified, bringing previous publications reporting differences between HBLR and NHBLR objects into question. We detect broad H{\alpha} and H{\beta} components in polarized light for 10 targets, and just broad H{\alpha} for NGC 5793 and NGC 6300, with line widths ranging between 2100 and 9600 km/s. High bolometric luminosities and low column densities are associated with higher polarization degrees, but not necessarily with the detection of the scattered broad components., Comment: 18 pages, 19 figures (including appendices). Accepted in MNRAS

Garcia-Burillo, S. et. al., We used the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) to map the emission of the CO(6-5) molecular line and the 432 μm continuum emission from the 300 pc sized circumnuclear disk (CND) of the nearby Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 1068 with a spatial resolution of ∼4 pc. These observations spatially resolve the CND and, for the first time, image the dust emission, the molecular gas distribution, and the kinematics from a 7-10 pc diameter disk that represents the submillimeter counterpart of the putative torus of NGC 1068. We fitted the nuclear spectral energy distribution of the torus using ALMA and near- and mid-infrared (NIR/MIR) data with CLUMPY torus models. The mass and radius of the best-fit solution for the torus are both consistent with the values derived from the ALMA data alone: and R torus = 3.5 ± 0.5 pc. The dynamics of the molecular gas in the torus show strong non-circular motions and enhanced turbulence superposed on a surprisingly slow rotation pattern of the disk. By contrast with the nearly edge-on orientation of the H2O megamaser disk, we found evidence suggesting that the molecular torus is less inclined (i = 34°-66°) at larger radii. The lopsided morphology and complex kinematics of the torus could be the signature of the Papaloizou-Pringle instability, long predicted to likely drive the dynamical evolution of active galactic nuclei tori. © 2016. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved., S.G.B., A.U., L.C., I.M., and A.F. acknowledge support from Spanish grants AYA2012-32295 and AYA2013-42227-P

We present optical, infrared (IR) and radio observations of the powerful Fanaroff-Riley type II (FR II) radio source PKS 0347+05 (z = 0.3390), and demonstrate that it is a rare example of a radio-loud/radio-quiet double active galactic nucleus (AGN) system, comprising a weak-line radio galaxy (WLRG) separated by 25 kpc (in projection) from a Seyfert 1 nucleus at the same redshift. Our deep Gemini optical images show a highly disturbed morphology, with a warped dust lane crossing through the halo and nuclear regions of the radio galaxy host, tidal tails and a bridge connecting the radio galaxy to the Seyfert 1 nucleus. Spectral synthesis modelling of our Gemini optical spectrum of the radio galaxy shows evidence for a reddened young stellar population of age ≤100 Myr. Further evidence for recent star formation activity in this source is provided by the detection of strong polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon features in mid-IR Spitzer/IRS spectra. Together, these observations support a model in which both AGN have been triggered simultaneously in a major galaxy merger. However, despite the presence of a powerful FR II radio source, and the apparently plentiful supply of fuel provided by the merger, the nucleus of the radio galaxy shows only weak, low-ionization emission-line activity. We speculate that the fuel supply to nuclear regions of the radio galaxy has recently switched off (within the last ˜106 yr), but the information about the resulting decrease in nuclear AGN activity has yet to reach the extended lobes and hotspots of the FR II radio source. Based on this scenario, we derive a lower limit on the typical lifetimes of powerful, intermediate-redshift FR II radio sources of τ FR II ≳5×106 yr. Overall, our observations emphasize that the fuelling of AGN activity in major galaxy mergers is likely to be highly intermittent.

We present deep Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph-South optical broad-band images for a complete sample of 20 Sloan Digital Sky Survey selected type II quasars taken from Zakamska et al., with redshifts in the range 0.3 < z < 0.41 and [O iii]λ5007 emission-line luminosities . The images were taken with the aim of investigating the interaction status of the quasar host galaxies, in order to determine the significance of galaxy interactions in triggering nuclear activity. We find that 15 of our sample of 20 (75 per cent) show evidence for interaction in the form of tails, shells, fans, irregular features, amorphous haloes and double nuclei. The median surface brightness of the features is and the range is . We find a similar rate of interaction signatures in the type II quasars as in a comparison sample of quiescent early-type galaxies at similar redshift (67 per cent) taken from Ramos Almeida et al. (RA11). However the surface brightness of the detected features is up to 2 mag brighter for the type II quasars than for the quiescent early types, which have surface brightnesses in the range and a median surface brightness . Despite the relatively small sample size, this may indicate that the mergers witnessed in the comparison sample galaxies could have different progenitors, or we may be viewing the interactions at different stages. We also compare our results with those of Ramos Almeida et al. (RA12) who made a similar analysis using a complete sample of radio-loud active galactic nuclei (AGN). They find a higher rate of interaction signatures in the radio-loud AGN (95 per cent) than the type II quasars, but a very similar range of surface brightnesses for the morphological features , possibly indicating a similarity in the types of triggering interactions. The wide range of features detected in the type II quasar sample suggests that AGN activity can be triggered before, during or after the coalescence of the black holes, with six of the 20 objects (30 per cent) having double nuclei. Overall, the results presented here are consistent with the idea that galaxy interaction plays an important role in the triggering of quasar activity. We also use time-scale arguments to show that it is unlikely that most radio-quiet quasars cycle through a radio-loud phase as part of a single quasar triggering event.

Mrk938 is a luminous infrared galaxy in the local Universe believed to be the remnant of a galaxy merger. It shows a Seyfert 2 nucleus and intense star formation according to optical spectroscopic observations. We have studied this galaxy using new Herschel far-IR imaging data in addition to archival X-ray, UV, optical, near-IR and mid-IR data. Mid- and far-IR data are crucial to characterise the starburst contribution, allowing us to shed new light on its nature and to study the coexistence of AGN and starburst activity in the local Universe. The decomposition of the mid-IR Spitzer spectrum shows that the AGN bolometric contribution to the mid-IR and total infrared luminosity is small (Lbol(AGN)/LIR~0.02), which agrees with previous estimations. We have characterised the physical nature of its strong infrared emission and constrained it to a relatively compact emitting region of

We present the results of a comparison between the optical morphologies of a complete sample of 46 southern 2Jy radio galaxies at intermediate redshifts (0.05

We report far-infrared (FIR) imaging of the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 3081 in the range 70-500 micron, obtained with an unprecedented angular resolution, using the Herschel Space Observatory instruments PACS and SPIRE. The 11 kpc (~70 arcsec) diameter star-forming ring of the galaxy appears resolved up to 250 micron. We extracted infrared (1.6-500 micron) nuclear fluxes, that is active nucleus-dominated fluxes, and fitted them with clumpy torus models, which successfully reproduce the FIR emission with small torus sizes. Adding the FIR data to the near- and mid-infrared spectral energy distribution (SED) results in a torus radial extent of Ro=4(+2/-1) pc, as well as in a flat radial distribution of the clouds (i.e. the q parameter). At wavelengths beyond 200 micron, cold dust emission at T=28+/-1 K from the circumnuclear star-forming ring of 2.3 kpc (~15 arcsec) in diameter starts making a contribution to the nuclear emission. The dust in the outer parts of the galaxy is heated by the interstellar radiation field (19+/-3 K).

We present spectroscopic observations of the type 2 quasar SDSS J11311.05+162739.5 (z = 0.1732), which has the richest spectrum of forbidden high-ionization lines (FHILs, e.g. [Fe vn], [Fe x], [Fe xi] and [Ne v]) yet reported for an active galactic nucleus (AGN), as well as unusually strong [O III] λ4363 emission. The study of this object provides a rare opportunity to investigate the physical conditions and kinematics of the region(s) emitting the FHILs. By comparison with photoionization model results, we find that the FHIL region has high densities (10 5.5 10 9 cm ―3 ) and narrow-line regions (n H < 10 6 cm ―3 ) of AGNs, and we demonstrate that the FHIL regions must be situated relatively close to the illuminating AGN (0.32 < r FHIL < 50 pc). We suggest that the inner torus wall is the most likely location for the FHIL region, and that the unusual strength of the FHILs in this object is due to a specific viewing angle of the far wall of the torus, coupled with a lack of dust on larger scales that might otherwise obscure our view of the torus.