Abstract
We investigate dusty molecular clouds on the inner edge of the torus which are exposed to the strong ionizing continuum of the active nucleus. The incident ionizing flux pressurizes the cloud and evaporates its outer layers in a wind. The dust grains are sputtered in this hot ( T ≥ 10 6 K) wind. We show that the cloud evaporation time is comparable to the radial drift time of clouds in the torus, but longer than the orbital time. The clouds produce line emission typical of highly ionized gas. Dust opacity prevents the torus line emission from overpowering the broad and narrow line regions, however the torus may be the source of the coronal lines seen in some AGN.
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