2003/09/02 by Moshe Elitzur, Maia Nenkova, Elitzur, Moshe +4
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysics (astro-ph) #FOS: Physical sciences #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.astro-ph/0309040
Invited review at "The Neutral ISM in Starburst Galaxies", Marstrand, Sweden, June 2003
arxiv created 2003/09/02 · openalex publication_date 2003/09/02 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Unified schemes of active galactic nuclei (AGN) require an obscuring dusty torus around the central engine. Torus sizes of hundreds of parsecs were deduced from early theoretical modeling efforts, but high-resolution IR observations now show that the torus size is no more than a few parsecs. This conflict is resolved when the clumpy nature of the torus is taken into account. The compact torus may be best understood when identified with the dusty, optically thick region of the wind coming off the central accretion disk.