Detection of the Buried Active Galactic Nucleus in NGC 6240 with the Infrared Spectrograph on the Spitzer Space Telescope

International audience; We present mid-infrared spectra of the nearby ultraluminous infrared galaxy NGC 6240 taken with the Infrared Spectrograph (IRS) on the Spitzer Space Telescope. The spectrum of NGC 6240 is dominated by strong fine-structure lines, rotational H2 lines, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emission features. The H2 line fluxes suggest molecular gas at a variety of temperatures. A simple two-temperature fit to the S(0) through S(7) lines implies a mass of ~6.7×106 Msolar at T~957 K and ~1.6×109 Msolar at T~164 K, or about 15% of the total molecular gas mass in this system. Notably, we have detected the [Ne V] 14.3 mum emission line, with a flux of 5×10-14 ergs cm-2 s-1, providing the first direct detection of the buried active galactic nucleus (AGN) in the mid-infrared. Modeling of the total spectral energy distribution (SED) from near- to far-infrared wavelengths requires the presence of a hot dust (T~700 K) component, which we also associate with the buried AGN. The small [Ne V]/[Ne II] and [Ne V]/IR flux ratios, the relative fraction of hot dust emission, and the large 6.2 mum PAH equivalent width (EQW), are all consistent with an apparent AGN contribution of only 3%-5% to the bolometric luminosity. However, correcting the measured [Ne V] flux by the extinction implied by the silicate optical depth and our SED fitting suggests an intrinsic fractional AGN contribution to the bolometric luminosity of ~20%-24% in NGC 6240, which lies within the range implied by fits to the hard X-ray spectrum.