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General
PARSEC is a multi-wavelength investigation of the central PARSEC of the nearest galaxies. We work on black-hole accretion and its most energetic manifestations: jets and hot spots, and on its circumnuclear environment conditions for star formation. We resort to the highest available angular resolution observations from gamma-rays to the centimetre, and pursue a physical interpretation in the context of computational astrophysics. We also work on development of Adaptive Optics instrumentation for large telescopes. PARSEC projects are:
PARSEC - Black-Hole activity: The galaxies under study span a wide range of nuclear activity, from quiesent to low luminosity active nuclei to the Seyfert and Qso phase. PARSEC investigates the origin and morphology of dust and gas in the central parsec of active and normal galaxies, those being the pre-conditions for the onset of Black-Hole activity. The spectral energy distribution of the central few parsecs is investigated as a function of nuclear activity and accretion disc efficency. The nature and shape of the ionizing continuum are traced with high ionization coronal lines.
PARSEC - Jets and Hot-Spots: PARSEC further studies the most energetic manisfestations of Black-Hole activity: jets and hot-spots, in the PAIS project.
PARSEC -Star-formation: Nuclear star formation spatially resolved at cluster level is uncovered in many of these near galaxies. PARSEC investigates the properties of nuclear dust filaments, lanes and molecular clouds as pre-sites for star formation.
PARSEC - Theory: A physical insight of many of the PARSEC results is done via close collaboration with the Computational Astrophysics group, CAST, of the Munchen University Sternwarte, using numerical and magnetic-hydrodynamic simulations developped by this group.
PARSEC - Instrumentation: PARSEC is also involved in the definition, development and construction of Adaptive Optics instrumentation for 8 -10 m telescopes. PARSEC instrumentation team is building the first Adpative Optics Integral Field Spectrograph and Imaging Camera, FRIDA, for GTC 10 m teelcope.
PARSEC - Outreach: PARSEC is involved in the science and outreach "Vanishing and Appearing Sources during a Century of Observations (VASCO)" project. VASCO searches for vanishing stars, unusual astrophysical transients and extra-terrestrial intelligence. As such, it is a platform for interacting with the general public. VASCO has strong visibility in the media outets via its associated citizen science project.
Members
Scientific activity
Related publications
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The Near-infrared Coronal Line Spectrum of 54 nearby Active Galactic NucleiThe relationship between the emission of coronal lines (CLs) and nuclear activity in 36 Type 1 and 18 Type 2 active galactic nuclei (AGNs) is analyzed, for the first time, based on near-infrared (0.8-2.4 μm) spectra. The eight CLs studied, of Si, S, Fe, Al, and Ca elements and corresponding to ionization potentials (IPs) in the range 125-450 eVRodríguez-Ardila, A. et al.
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122011 -
Radio structures of the nuclei of nearby Seyfert galaxies and the nature of the missing diffuse emissionWe present archival high-spatial-resolution VLA and VLBA data of the nuclei of seven of the nearest and brightest Seyfert galaxies in the Southern Hemisphere. At VLA resolution (~0.1arcsec), the nuclei of the Seyfert galaxies are unresolved, with the exception of MCG-5-23-16 and NGC7469, which show a core-jet structure. Three Seyfert nuclei areOrienti, M. et al.
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22010 -
Parsec-scale Dust Emission from the Polar Region in the Type 2 Nucleus of NGC 424Advancements in infrared (IR) interferometry open up the possibility to spatially resolve active galactic nuclei (AGNs) on the parsec-scale level and study the circumnuclear dust distribution, commonly referred to as the "dust torus," that is held responsible for the type 1/type 2 dichotomy of AGNs. We used the mid-IR beam combiner MIDI togetherHönig, S. F. et al.
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82012 -
Outflows from Active Galactic Nuclei: Kinematics of the Narrow-line and Coronal-line Regions in Seyfert GalaxiesAs part of an extensive study of the physical properties of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) we report high spatial resolution near-IR integral-field spectroscopy of the narrow-line region (NLR) and coronal-line region (CLR) of seven Seyfert galaxies. These measurements elucidate for the first time the two-dimensional spatial distribution andMüller-Sánchez, F. et al.
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102011 -
Near-infrared/optical counterparts of hotspots in radio galaxiesWe present new high spatial resolution Very Large Telescope (VLT) and Very Large Array (VLA) observations of a sample of nine low-power (P1.4GHzMack, K.-H. et al.
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12009 -
High-spatial resolution SED of NGC 1068 from near-IR to radio. Disentangling the thermal and non-thermal contributionsWe investigate the idea that a sizable fraction of the interferometrically unresolved infrared emission of the nucleus of NGC 1068 might originate from processes other than thermal dust emission from the torus. We examine the contribution of free-free or synchrotron emission to the central mid- and near-IR parsec-scale emitting region of NGC 1068Hönig, S. F. et al.
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72008 -
Complex particle acceleration processes in the hotspots of 3C 105 and 3C 445We investigate the nature of the broad-band emission associated with the low-power radio hotspots 3C 105 South and 3C 445 South. Both hotspot regions are resolved in multiple radio/optical components. High-sensitivity radio Very Large Array, near-infrared/optical Very Large Telescope and Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and X-ray Chandra data have beenOrienti, M. et al.
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12012 -
Starbursts and black hole masses in X-shaped radio galaxies: Signatures of a merger event?We present new spectroscopic identifications of 12 X-shaped radio galaxies and use the spectral data to derive starburst histories and masses of the nuclear supermassive black holes in these galaxies. The observations were done with the 2.1-m telescope of the Observatorio Astronómico Nacional at San Pedro Mártir, México. The new spectroscopicMezcua, M. et al.
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82012 -
Variability of the blazar 4C 38.41 (B3 1633+382) from GHz frequencies to GeV energiesContext. After years of modest optical activity, the quasar-type blazar 4C 38.41 (B3 1633+382) experienced a large outburst in 2011, which was detected throughout the entire electromagnetic spectrum, renewing interest in this source. Aims: We present the results of low-energy multifrequency monitoring by the GLAST-AGILE Support Program (GASP) ofRaiteri, C. M. et al.
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92012 -
Unveiling the Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 Nature of Markarian 573 Using Near-Infrared SpectroscopyIn this Letter we present clear evidence that Mrk 573 is an obscured narrow-line Seyfert 1 (NLSy1) galaxy and not an archetypal Seyfert 2, as it has been classified until now. Only three galaxies have been proposed as members of this class, prior to this work. Here we report near-infrared spectroscopic data taken with LIRIS on the 4.2 m WilliamRamos Almeida, C. et al.
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62008 -
The Structure of the Accretion Disk in the Lensed Quasar SBS 0909+532We derive the size and temperature profile of the accretion disk of the lensed quasar SBS 0909+532 by measuring the wavelength dependence (chromaticity) of the microlensing magnification produced by the stars in the lens galaxy. After correcting for extinction using the flux ratios of 14 emission lines, we observe a marked change in the B-A fluxMediavilla, E. et al.
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32011 -
The Stellar Kinematic Center and the True Galactic Nucleus of NGC 253We present the first sub-arcsecond resolution two-dimensional stellar kinematics and X-ray observations of the prototypical starburst galaxy NGC 253 which define the position and nature of the galactic nucleus. These observations comprise some of the best probes of the central 300 pc of NGC 253, the nearest massive galaxy undergoing a powerfulMüller-Sánchez, F. et al.
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62010 -
The starburst-active galactic nucleus connection in the merger galaxy Mrk 938: an infrared and X-ray viewMrk 938 is a luminous infrared (IR) 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-IREsquej, P. et al.
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62012 -
The Soft X-ray and Narrow-line Emission of Mrk 573 on Kiloparsec ScalesWe present a study of the circumnuclear region of the nearby Seyfert galaxy Mrk 573 using Chandra, XMM-Newton, and Hubble Space Telescope (HST) data. We have studied the morphology of the soft (Gonzalez-Martin, O. et al.
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112010 -
The redshift and broad-band spectral energy distribution of NRAO 150Context. NRAO 150 is one of the brightest radio and mm AGN sources in the northern sky, and is an interesting source to study extreme relativistic jet phenomena. However, its cosmological distance has not yet been calibrated, because of its optical faintness due to strong Galactic extinction. Aims: We measure the redshift of NRAO 150, to enable usAcosta-Pulido, J. A. et al.
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92010 -
The nucleus of NGC 253 and its massive stellar clusters at parsec scalesVery Large Telescope adaptive optics images of NGC 253 with resolutions down to 200mas resolve the central 300pc of this galaxy in ~37 infrared (IR) bright knots, a factor of 3 larger than previously reported and extended diffuse emission. The angular resolution, comparable to that of available Very Large Array 2cm maps, permits us a very accurateFernández-Ontiveros, J. A. et al.
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12009 -
Suzaku observation of the LINER NGC 4102Context. Low-ionisation, nuclear emission-line region (LINER) nuclei are said to be different from other active galactic nuclei (AGN) due to the presence of complex absorbing structures along the line-of-sight and/or an inefficient mode of accretion onto the supermassive black hole. However, this is still open. Aims: We investigate the broad band XGonzález-Martín, O. et al.
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32011 -
Resolving the nuclear dust distribution of the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 3081We report far-infrared (FIR) imaging of the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 3081 in the range 70-500 μm, 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 μm. We extracted IR (1.6-500 μm) nuclear fluxesRamos Almeida, C. et al.
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102011 -
Probing the nuclear and circumnuclear activity of NGC 1365 in the infraredWe present new far-infrared (70-500 μm) Herschel Photodetector Array Camera and Spectrometer (PACS) and Spectral and Photometric Imaging Receiver (SPIRE) imaging observations as well as new mid-IR Gemini/Thermal-Region Camera Spectrograph imaging (8.7 and 18.3 μm) and spectroscopy of the inner Lindblad resonance (ILR) region (R 2.5 kpc) of theAlonso-Herrero, A. et al.
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92012 -
Near-Infrared Spectroscopy of Seyfert Galaxies. Nuclear Activity and Stellar PopulationNear-infrared (near-IR) spectroscopic data for the five Seyfert galaxies with jet-gas interaction Mrk 348, Mrk 573, Mrk 1066, NGC 7212, and NGC 7465, taken with the Long-slit Intermediate Resolution Infrared Spectrograph near-IR camera/spectrometer at the William Herschel Telescope are reported. The long-slit spectra reveal the characteristicRamos Almeida, C. et al.
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42009
