AGN simulations with the old simulator (by Leo, Nov 2017)
We processed the hydro/radiative transfer AGN simulations by Schartmann et al. 2014 through various versions of the METIS simulator in the month of November 2017. The model was intended to show the circum-nuclear material on parsec scale (for comparisons with VLTI observations) and the original pixel scale was increased 10x so that a pixel corresponded to 2 milli-arcseconds. This is astronomically “allowed” as the total extent of the AGN-heated dust is much larger than what is seen by VLTI and is expected to look similarly filamentary on larger scales. This is what the model image looks like (left: log scaled; right: sqrt scaled, FoV: 0.6“ x 0.6”):
When processed through the simulator, essentially only a PSF was retrieved (left: log scaled; right: sqrt scaled; FoV ca. 4“ x 4”):
The contrast between the central pixel (the hot AGN disk shining through) and the surrounding material that should be resolved by METIS is ca. 1000:1, but the input image is too small and/or the central pixel is too bright so that nothing can be resolved. A deconvolution was not attempted.
