AGN & StarBursts
PI: Chris Packham (UF)
Co.: Alonso-Herrero, A. (CSIC, Madrid), Ramos-Almeida, C. (IAC), Aretxaga, I. (INAOE), Colina, L. (CSIC, Madrid), Diaz, T. (CSIC, Madrid), Elitzur, M. (U. Kentucky), Levenson, N. (U. Kentucky), Mason, R. (Gemini), Perlman, E. (U. Maryland), Radomski, J. (Gemini), Roche, P: (U. Oxford, UK), Rodriguez-Espinosa, J.M. (IAC), Schaefer, J. (UF), Young, S. (Hertfordshire, UK)
ABSTRACT
The exact properties of the torus in the cores of Active galactic Nuclei (AGNs) remain uncertain, and there are still several open questions:
- (a) What is the nature of the torus material and its connection with the ISM of the host galaxy
- (b) How do the properties, such as, geometry and optical depth, of the torus depend on the AGN luminosity and/or activity class
- (c) Do the dust properties change with the AGN luminosity/type
- (d) What is the role of nuclear (< 100 pc) starbursts in feeding and/or obscuring AGNs?
Observations at mid-IR (MIR, 7 − 26 μm) wavelengths are essential to these investigations as the torus intercepts and reradiates a substantial amount of flux from the central engine, peaking in the mid-IR. We therefore propose a mid-IR survey of low-z AGN covering a large range of AGN luminosity (L2−10keV ~ 3 x 1038 − 3 x 1045erg s−1), and activity class, and exploiting the unique combination of diffraction limited (0.3”) capabilities (imaging, spectroscopy and polarimetry) of the CanariCam/GTC system. The full dataset combined with new models of the torus to fully interpret the data, will offer unique insights into AGN in the local universe, crucial preparatory work for comprehension of the high-z universe.
TARGETS
Substellar Objects
PI: Rafael Rebolo (IAC)
Co.: Barrado-y-Navascues, D. (LAEFF), Bihain, G. (IAC), Caballero, J.A. (IAC), Ftaclas, C. (U. Hawaii), Huelamo, N. (LAEFF), Mazeh, T. (Tel Aviv), Moerchen, M. (UF), Osorio Zapatero, M.R. (IAC), Sánchez Bejar, V. (IAC), Telesco, C. (UF)
ABSTRACT
We plan to conduct a search with at 10 microns with CanariCam for substellar objects (brown dwarfs and massive giant planets) around the following targets in the northern hemisphere:
- a) the 40 nearest stars
- b) the 10 nearest T type dwarfs
- c) the 20 nearest young stars with probable age less than 1 Gyr
- d) 25 brown dwarfs in Taurus and Upper Scorpius with spectral type later than M6
- e) 10 proto-brown dwarf candidates selected in the nearest star forming regions based on available Spitzer data.
This mid-IR study will represent a major step forward in the exploration of these classes of sources, and will provide important constraints on the frequency and multiplicity of these objects as well as on their photospheric/atmospheric structure.
TARGETS
Disks Research
PI: Charles M. Telesco (UF)
Co.: Barrado-y-Navascues, D. (LAEFF), Bayo, A. (LAEFF), Ciardi, D. (JPL), De Buizer, J. (Gemini), Eiroa, C. (UAM), Fisher, S. (Gemini), Hayward, T. (Gemini), Hough, J. (Hertfordshire, UK), Huelamo, N. (LAEFF), Moerchen, M. (UF)
ABSTRACT
The planned CanariCam observations of circumstellar disks focus on objects spanning a very broad evolutionary range. The principle CanariCam modes to be used in these observations will be imaging and polarimetry to determine disk structure, magnetic field configurations, and the relationship of these disks to their immediate environments.
In the earliest phases, we will examine high-mass protostars (massive young-stellar objects) most of which have bipolar outflows. Study of these sources will provide insight into the formation processes of high-mass stars, and they will give insight into the possibility, by no means yet established, that high-mass stars have disks and therefore planetary systems associated with them. Similarly, with the challenging goal of establishing for the first time key characteristics of their magnetic field configurations and grain properties, we will also carry out deep imaging and polarimetry on:
- a) a modest sample of known-mid-IR-bright Herbig Ae/Be stars
- b) a handful of young, bright debris-disk archetypes
- c) several proto-planetary nebulae with collimated outflows
TARGETS
Last modified: 06 February 2018
