CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 140Astrophysical Phenomena and ObservationsGalaxies: Formation, Evolution, PhenomenaAstrophysics and Star Formation Studies

Evidence for a Geometrically Thick Self‐Gravitating Accretion Disk in NGC 3079

Open access
Kondratko, Paul T., Greenhill, Lincoln J., Moran, James M.·2005·The Astrophysical Journal
DOI 10.1086/426101
Open this paper in CoChat — free accountOpen PDF

Abstract

We have mapped, for the first time, the full velocity extent of the water maser emission in NGC 3079. The largely north-south distribution of emission, aligned with a kiloparsec-scale molecular disk, and the segregation of blueshifted and redshifted emission on the sky are suggestive of a nearly edge-on molecular disk on parsec scales. Positions and line-of-sight velocities of blueshifted and redshifted maser emission are consistent with a central mass of ~2 × 10 6 M ☉ enclosed within a radius of ~0.4 pc. The corresponding mean mass density of 10 6.8 M ☉ pc -3 is suggestive of a central black hole, which is consistent with the detection of hard X-ray excess (20-100 keV) and an Fe Kα line from the nucleus. Because the rotation curve traced by the maser emission is flat, the mass of the parsec-scale disk is significant with respect to the central mass. Since the velocity dispersion of the maser features does not decrease with radius and constitutes a large fraction of the orbital velocity, the disk is probably thick and flared. The rotation curve and the physical conditions necessary to support maser emission imply a Toomre Q -parameter that is ≪1. Thus, the disk is most likely clumpy, and we argue that it is probably forming stars. Overall, the accretion disk in NGC 3079 stands in contrast to the compact, thin, warped, differentially rotating disk in the archetypal maser galaxy NGC 4258. We have also mapped radio continuum emission in the vicinity of the disk and identify a new, time-variable, nonthermal component (E) that is not collinear with the previously imaged putative jet. Based on the large luminosity and the unusually steep spectrum (α < -2.1), we exclude a radio supernova as the progenitor of E. However, because its spectrum is consistent with an aging electron energy distribution, E might be a rapidly cooling remnant, which may indicate that the jet axis wobbles. Alternatively, considering its location, the component might mark a shock in a wide-angle outflow that is interacting with a dense ambient medium. In this context, masers at high latitudes above the disk, mapped in this and previous studies, may be tracing an inward extension of the kiloparsec-scale bipolar wide-angle outflow previously observed along the galactic minor axis.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1086/426101

Cites

117 of 117 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 4

  1. Kohno, K., Matsushita, S., Vila-Vilaro ´, B., Okumura, S. K., Shibatsuka, T., Okiura, M., Ishizuki, S., & Kawabe, R. 2001, in ASP Conf. Ser. 249, The Central Kiloparsec of Starbursts and AGN: The La Palma Connection (San Francisco: ASP), 672
  2. Middelberg, E., Krichbaum, T. P., Roy, A. L., Witzel, A., & Zensus, J. A. 2003, preprint (astro-ph /0309382)
  3. Myers, P. C. 1985, in Protostars and Planets II, ed. D. C. Black & M. S. Matthews ( Tucson: Univ. Arizona Press), 81
  4. Wandel, A. 1999, in ASP Conf. Ser. 175, Structure and Kinematics of Quasar Broad Line Regions, ed. C. M. Gaskell et al. (San Francisco: ASP), 285

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Kondratko, P. T., Greenhill, L. J., & Moran, J. M.
Affiliations
Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian (US)
ORCID
Venue
The Astrophysical Journal
Publisher
American Astronomical Society
Published
2005-01-10
Volume
618
Issue
2
Pages
618-634
ISSN
  • 0004-637X (ISSN-L)
  • 1538-4357
DOI
10.1086/426101
OpenAlex
W2048587018
Cited by
140
References
117
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 14 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 10 · 2012: 10
FWCI
6.57
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • The Astrophysical Journal (publishedVersion)
  • arXiv (Cornell University) (submittedVersion)
  • Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard (DASH) (Harvard University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • CERN Document Server (European Organization for Nuclear Research) (submittedVersion)
  • arXiv (Cornell University)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies
Keywords
NGC 3079, water masers, self-gravitating disks, molecular disk, black hole mass, Toomre Q parameter, star formation, flat rotation curves, radio continuum emission, bipolar outflows, Fe Kα line, hard X-ray excess

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review