We study the ionization and excitation structure of the interstellar medium in the late-stage gas-rich galaxy merger NGC 6240 using a suite of emission-line maps at ∼25 pc resolution from the Hubble Space Telescope, Keck/NIRC2 with Adaptive Optics, and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). NGC 6240 hosts a superwind driven by intense star formation and/or one or both of two active nuclei; the outflows produce bubbles and filaments seen in shock tracers from warm molecular gas (H22.12
- Award ID(s):
- 2006433
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10282644
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Volume:
- 494
- Issue:
- 1
- ISSN:
- 0035-8711
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 1 to 9
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
-
more » « less
Abstract μ m) to optical ionized gas ([Oiii ], [Nii ], [Sii ], and [Oi ]) and hot plasma (FeXXV ). In the most distinct bubble, we see a clear shock front traced by high [Oiii ]/Hβ and [Oiii ]/[Oi ]. Cool molecular gas (CO(2−1)) is only present near the base of the bubble, toward the nuclei launching the outflow. We interpret the lack of molecular gas outside the bubble to mean that the shock front is not responsible for dissociating molecular gas, and conclude that the molecular clouds are partly shielded and either entrained briefly in the outflow, or left undisturbed while the hot wind flows around them. Elsewhere in the galaxy, shock-excited H2extends at least ∼4 kpc from the nuclei, tracing molecular gas even warmer than that between the nuclei, where the two galaxies’ interstellar media are colliding. A ridgeline of high [Oiii ]/Hβ emission along the eastern arm aligns with the southern nucleus’ stellar disk minor axis; optical integral field spectroscopy from WiFeS suggests this highly ionized gas is centered at systemic velocity and likely photoionized by direct line of sight to the southern active galactic nucleus. -
Abstract We present the ALMA detection of molecular outflowing gas in the central regions of NGC 4945, one of the nearest starbursts and also one of the nearest hosts of an active galactic nucleus (AGN). We detect four outflow plumes in CO J = 3 − 2 at ∼0.″3 resolution that appear to correspond to molecular gas located near the edges of the known ionized outflow cone and its (unobserved) counterpart behind the disk. The fastest and brightest of these plumes has emission reaching observed line-of-sight projected velocities of over 450 km s −1 beyond systemic, equivalent to an estimated physical outflow velocity v ≳ 600 km s −1 for the fastest emission. Most of these plumes have corresponding emission in HCN or HCO + J = 4 − 3. We discuss a kinematic model for the outflow emission where the molecular gas has the geometry of the ionized gas cone and shares the rotation velocity of the galaxy when ejected. We use this model to explain the velocities we observe, constrain the physical speed of the ejected material, and account for the fraction of outflowing gas that is not detected due to confusion with the galaxy disk. We estimate a total molecular mass outflow rate M ̇ mol ∼ 20 M ⊙ yr −1 flowing through a surface within 100 pc of the disk midplane, likely driven by a combination of the central starburst and AGN.more » « less
-
more » « less
Abstract The nearby, luminous infrared galaxy NGC 7469 hosts a Seyfert nucleus with a circumnuclear star-forming ring and is thus the ideal local laboratory for investigating the starburst–AGN (active galactic nucleus) connection in detail. We present integral-field observations of the central 1.3 kpc region in NGC 7469 obtained with the JWST Mid-InfraRed Instrument. Molecular and ionized gas distributions and kinematics at a resolution of ∼100 pc over the 4.9–7.6
μ m region are examined to study the gas dynamics influenced by the central AGN. The low-ionization [Feii ]λ 5.34μ m and [Arii ]λ 6.99μ m lines are bright on the nucleus and in the starburst ring, as opposed to H2S(5)λ 6.91μ m, which is strongly peaked at the center and surrounding ISM. The high-ionization [Mgv ] line is resolved and shows a broad, blueshifted component associated with the outflow. It has a nearly face-on geometry that is strongly peaked on the nucleus, where it reaches a maximum velocity of −650 km s−1, and extends about 400 pc to the east. Regions of enhanced velocity dispersion in H2and [Feii ] ∼ 180 pc from the AGN that also show highL (H2)/L (PAH) andL ([Feii ])/L (Pfα ) ratios to the W and N of the nucleus pinpoint regions where the ionized outflow is depositing energy, via shocks, into the dense interstellar medium between the nucleus and the starburst ring. These resolved mid-infrared observations of the nuclear gas dynamics demonstrate the power of JWST and its high-sensitivity integral-field spectroscopic capability to resolve feedback processes around supermassive black holes in the dusty cores of nearby luminous infrared galaxies. -
more » « less
We present Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) sub-kiloparsec- to kiloparsec-scale resolution observations of the [C
II ], CO (9–8), and OH+(11–01) lines along with their dust continuum emission toward the far-infrared (FIR) luminous quasar SDSS J231038.88+185519.7 atz = 6.0031, to study the interstellar medium distribution, the gas kinematics, and the quasar-host system dynamics. We decompose the intensity maps of the [CII ] and CO (9–8) lines and the dust continuum with two-dimensional elliptical Sérsic models. The [CII ] brightness follows a flat distribution with a Sérsic index of 0.59. The CO (9–8) line and the dust continuum can be fit with an unresolved nuclear component and an extended Sérsic component with a Sérsic index of ∼1, which may correspond to the emission from an active galactic nucleus dusty molecular torus and a quasar host galaxy, respectively. The different [CII ] spatial distribution may be due to the effect of the high dust opacity, which increases the FIR background radiation on the [CII ] line, especially in the galaxy center, significantly suppressing the [CII ] emission profile. The dust temperature drops with distance from the center. The effective radius of the dust continuum is smaller than that of the line emission and the dust mass surface density, but is consistent with that of the star formation rate surface density. This may indicate that the dust emission is a less robust tracer of the dust and gas distribution but is a decent tracer of the obscured star formation activity. The OH+(11–01) line shows a P-Cygni profile with an absorption at ∼–400 km s−1, which may indicate an outflow with a neutral gas mass of (6.2 ± 1.2)×108M ⊙along the line of sight. We employed a three-dimensional tilted ring model to fit the [CII ] and CO (9–8) data cubes. The two lines are both rotation dominated and trace identical disk geometries and gas motions. This suggest that the [CII ] and CO (9–8) gas are coplanar and corotating in this quasar host galaxy. The consistent circular velocities measured with [CII ] and CO (9–8) lines indicate that these two lines trace a similar gravitational potential. We decompose the circular rotation curve measured from the kinematic model fit to the [CII ] line into four matter components (black hole, stars, gas, and dark matter). The quasar-starburst system is dominated by baryonic matter inside the central few kiloparsecs. We constrain the black hole mass to be 2.97+0.51-0.77 × 109M ⊙; this is the first time that the dynamical mass of a black hole has been measured atz ∼ 6. This mass is consistent with that determined using the scaling relations from quasar emission lines. A massive stellar component (on the order of 109M ⊙) may have already existed when the Universe was only ∼0.93 Gyr old. The relations between the black hole mass and the baryonic mass of this quasar indicate that the central supermassive black hole may have formed before its host galaxy. -
Abstract We report the detection of 23 OH + 1 → 0 absorption, emission, or P-Cygni-shaped lines and CO( J = 9→8) emission lines in 18 Herschel-selected z = 2–6 starburst galaxies with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array and the NOrthern Extended Millimeter Array, taken as part of the Gas And Dust Over cosmic Time Galaxy Survey. We find that the CO( J = 9→8) luminosity is higher than expected based on the far-infrared luminosity when compared to nearby star-forming galaxies. Together with the strength of the OH + emission components, this may suggest that shock excitation of warm, dense molecular gas is more prevalent in distant massive dusty starbursts than in nearby star-forming galaxies on average, perhaps due to an impact of galactic winds on the gas. OH + absorption is found to be ubiquitous in massive high-redshift starbursts, and is detected toward 89% of the sample. The majority of the sample shows evidence for outflows or inflows based on the velocity shifts of the OH + absorption/emission, with a comparable occurrence rate of both at the resolution of our observations. A small subsample appears to show outflow velocities in excess of their escape velocities. Thus, starburst-driven feedback appears to be important in the evolution of massive galaxies in their most active phases. We find a correlation between the OH + absorption optical depth and the dust temperature, which may suggest that warmer starbursts are more compact and have higher cosmic-ray energy densities, leading to more efficient OH + ion production. This is in agreement with a picture in which these high-redshift galaxies are “scaled-up” versions of the most intense nearby starbursts.more » « less
- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
-
Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/staa660
