2002/12/12 by James T. Radomski, Robert K. Pina, Christopher Packham +4 · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/367612
published as Astrophys.J. 587 (2003) 117-122 · accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal, 19 pages including 5 figures
arxiv created 2002/12/12 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01
We present subarcsecond resolution mid infrared images of NGC 4151 at 10.8 micron and 18.2 micron. These images were taken with the University of Florida mid-IR camera/spectrometer OSCIR at the Gemini North 8-m telescope. We resolve emission at both 10.8 micron and 18.2 micron extending ~ 3.5" across at a P.A. of ~ 60 degrees. This coincides with the the narrow line region of NGC 4151 as observed in [OIII] by the Hubble Space Telescope. The most likely explanation for this extended mid-IR emission is dust in the narrow line region heated by a central engine. We find no extended emission associated with the proposed torus and place an upper limit on its mid-IR size of less than or equal to ~ 35 pc.