Crepuscular Rays from the Highly Inclined Active Galactic Nucleus in IC 5063*

Abstract

Abstract On Earth near sunset, the Sun may cast “crepuscular rays” such that clouds near the horizon obscure the origin of light scattered in bright rays. In principle, active galactic nuclei (AGN) should be able to produce similar effects. Using new Hubble Space Telescope (HST) near-infrared and optical observations, we show that the active galaxy IC 5063 contains broad radial rays extending to ≳11 kpc from the nucleus. We argue that the bright rays may arise from dusty scattering of continuum emission from the active nucleus, while the dark rays are due to shadowing near the nucleus, possibly by a warped torus. We also consider alternative AGN-related and stellar origins for the extended light.