Uncovering the deeply embedded AGN activity in the nuclear regions of
  the interacting galaxy Arp299
  We present mid-infrared (MIR) 8-13micron spectroscopy of the nuclear regions
of the interacting galaxy Arp299 (IC694+NGC3690) obtained with CanariCam (CC)
on the 10.4m Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC). The high angular resolution
(~0.3-0.6arcsec) of the data allows us to probe nuclear physical scales between
60 and 120pc, which is a factor of 10 improvement over previous MIR
spectroscopic observations of this system. The GTC/CC spectroscopy displays
evidence of deeply embedded Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN) activity in both
nuclei. The GTC/CC nuclear spectrum of NGC3690/Arp299-B1 can be explained as
emission from AGN-heated dust in a clumpy torus with both a high covering
factor and high extinction along the line of sight. The estimated bolometric
luminosity of the AGN in NGC3690 is 3.2(+/-0.6)x10^44 erg/s. The nuclear GTC/CC
spectrum of IC694/Arp299-A shows 11.3micron polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon
(PAH) emission stemming from a deeply embedded (A_V~24mag) region of less than
120pc in size. There is also a continuum-emitting dust component. If associated
with th putative AGN in IC694, we estimate that it would be approximately 5
times less luminous than the AGN in NGC3690. The presence of dual AGN activity
makes Arp299 a good example to study such phenomenon in the early coalescence
phase of interacting galaxies.
