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9.16. A sub-parsec accretion disk in NGC 4261

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 May 2016

D.L. Jones  and
A.E. Wehrle
D.L. Jones
Affiliation:
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Mail Code 238-332, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA
A.E. Wehrle
Affiliation:
Infrared Processing and Analysis Center, California Institute of Technology & Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Mail Code 100-22, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA

Abstract

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We observed the nuclear region of NGC 4261 (3C270) with the VLBA to determine the morphology of the central radio source on parsec scales. Our highest angular resolution image at 8.4 GHz shows a very narrow gap in emission just east of the radio core (on the counterjet side), which we interpret as an absorption feature caused by a small, dense inner accretion disk whose width is less than 0.1 parsec. If the inclination of this inner disk is close to that of the much larger-scale disk imaged by HST, it becomes optically thin to 8.4 GHz radiation at a deprojected radius of about 0.8 pc. September 1997 VLBA observations at higher frequencies should allow us to determine the radial electron density distribution of the inner disk.

Type
Part III. Black Holes and Central Activity
Information
Symposium - International Astronomical Union , Volume 184: The Central Regions of the Galaxy and Galaxies , 1998 , pp. 413 - 414
Copyright
Copyright © Kluwer 1998 

References

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