No Arabic abstract
Observations of ionized and neutral gas outflows in radio-galaxies (RGs) suggest that AGN radio jet feedback has a galaxy-scale impact on the host ISM, but it is still unclear how the molecular gas is affected. We present deep Spitzer IRS spectroscopy of 8 RGs that show fast HI outflows. All of these HI-outflow RGs have bright H2 mid-IR lines that cannot be accounted for by UV or X-ray heating. This suggests that the radio jet, which drives the HI outflow, is also responsible for the shock-excitation of the warm H2 gas. In addition, the warm H2 gas does not share the kinematics of the ionized/neutral gas. The mid-IR ionized gas lines are systematically broader than the H2 lines, which are resolved by the IRS (with FWHM up to 900km/s) in 60% of the detected H2 lines. In 5 sources, the NeII line, and to a lesser extent the NeIII and NeV lines, exhibit blue-shifted wings (up to -900km/s with respect to the systemic velocity) that match the kinematics of the outflowing HI or ionized gas. The H2 lines do not show broad wings, except tentative detections in 3 sources. This shows that, contrary to the HI gas, the H2 gas is inefficiently coupled to the AGN jet-driven outflow of ionized gas. While the dissipation of a small fraction (<10%) of the jet kinetic power can explain the dynamical heating of the molecular gas, our data show that the bulk of the warm molecular gas is not expelled from these galaxies.
Fast outflows of gas, driven by the interaction between the radio-jets and ISM of the host galaxy, are being observed in an increasing number of galaxies. One such example is the nearby radio galaxy 3C293. In this paper we present Integral Field Unit (IFU) observations taken with OASIS on the William Herschel Telescope (WHT), enabling us to map the spatial extent of the ionised gas outflows across the central regions of the galaxy. The jet-driven outflow in 3C293 is detected along the inner radio lobes with a mass outflow rate ranging from $sim 0.05-0.17$ solar masses/yr (in ionised gas) and corresponding kinetic power of $sim 0.5-3.5times 10^{40}$ erg/s. Investigating the kinematics of the gas surrounding the radio jets (i.e. not directly associated with the outflow), we find line-widths broader than $300$ km/s up to 5 kpc in the radial direction from the nucleus (corresponding to 3.5 kpc in the direction perpendicular to the radio axis at maximum extent). Along the axis of the radio jet line-widths $>400$ km/s are detected out to 7 kpc from the nucleus and line-widths of $>500$ km/s at a distance of 12 kpc from the nucleus, indicating that the disturbed kinematics clearly extend well beyond the high surface brightness radio structures of the jets. This is suggestive of the cocoon structure seen in simulations of jet-ISM interaction and implies that the radio jets are capable of disturbing the gas throughout the central regions of the host galaxy in all directions.
Radio jets can play multiple roles in the feedback loop by regulating the accretion of the gas, by enhancing gas turbulence, and by driving gas outflows. Numerical simulations are beginning to make detailed predictions about these processes. Using high resolution VLBI observations we test these predictions by studying how radio jets of different power and in different phases of evolution affect the properties and kinematics of the surrounding HI gas. Consistent with predictions, we find that young (or recently restarted) radio jets have stronger impact as shown by the presence of HI outflows. The outflowing medium is clumpy {with clouds of with sizes up to a few tens of pc and mass ~10^4 m_sun) already in the region close to the nucleus ($< 100$ pc), making the jet interact strongly and shock the surrounding gas. We present a case of a low-power jet where, as suggested by the simulations, the injection of energy may produce an increase in the turbulence of the medium instead of an outflow.
Substantial evidence in the last few decades suggests that outflows from supermassive black holes (SMBH) may play a significant role in the evolution of galaxies.Large-scale outflows known as warm absorbers (WA) and fast disk winds known as ultra-fast outflows (UFO) are commonly found in the spectra of many Seyfert galaxies and quasars, and a correlation has been suggested between them. Recent detections of low ionization and low column density outflows, but with a high velocity comparable to UFOs, challenge such initial possible correlations. Observations of UFOs in AGN indicate that their energetics may be enough to have an impact on the interstellar medium (ISM). However, observational evidence of the interaction between the inner high-ionization outflow and the ISM is still missing. We present here the spectral analysis of 12 XMM-Newton/EPIC archival observations of the quasar PG 1114+445, aimed at studying the complex outflowing nature of its absorbers. Our analysis revealed the presence of three absorbing structures. We find a WA with velocity $vsim530$ km s$^{-1}$, ionization $logxi/text{erg cm s}^{-1}sim0.35,$ and column density $log N_text{H}/text{cm}^{-2}sim22$, and a UFO with $v_text{out}sim0.145c$, $logxi/text{erg cm s}^{-1}sim4$, and $log N_text{H}/text{cm}^{-2}sim23$. We also find an additional absorber in the soft X-rays ($E<2$ keV) with velocity comparable to that of the UFO ($v_text{out}sim0.120c$), but ionization ($logxi/text{erg cm s}^{-1}sim0.5$) and column density ($log N_text{H}/text{cm}^{-2}sim21.5$) comparable with those of the WA. The ionization, velocity, and variability of the three absorbers indicate an origin in a multiphase and multiscale outflow, consistent with entrainment of the clumpy ISM by an inner UFO moving at $sim15%$ the speed of light, producing an entrained ultra-fast outflow (E-UFO).
The nearby radio galaxy 3C293 is one of a small group of objects where extreme outflows of neutral hydrogen have been detected. However, due to the limited spatial resolution of previous observations, the exact location of the outflow was not able to be determined. In this letter, we present new higher resolution VLA observations of the central regions of this radio source and detect a fast outflow of HI with a FWZI velocity of Delta v~1200 km/s associated with the inner radio jet, approximately 0.5 kpc west of the central core. We investigate possible mechanisms which could produce the observed HI outflow and conclude that it is driven by the radio-jet. However, this outflow of neutral hydrogen is located on the opposite side of the nucleus to the outflow of ionised gas previously detected in this object. We calculate a mass outflow rate in the range of 8-50 solar masses/yr corresponding to a kinetic energy power injected back into the ISM of 1.38x10^{42} - 1.00x10^{43} erg/s or 0.01 - 0.08 percent of the Eddington luminosity. This places it just outside the range required by some galaxy evolution simulations for negative feedback from the AGN to be effective in halting star-formation within the galaxy.
Low excitation radio galaxies (LERGs) are weakly accreting active galactic nuclei (AGN) believed to be fuelled by radiatively inefficient accretion processes. Despite this, recent works have shown evidence for ionized and neutral hydrogen gas outflows in these galaxies. To investigate the potential drivers of such outflows we select a sample of 802 LERGs using the Best & Heckman (2012) catalogue of radio galaxies. By modelling the [O III] $lambda 5007$ profile in Sloan Digital Sky Survey spectra of a sample of 802 LERGs, we determine that the ionized outflows are present in $sim 1.5%$ of the population. Using $1.4~text{GHz}$ imaging from the Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty Centimeters survey we analyze the radio morphology of LERGs with outflows and find these to be consistent with the parent LERG population. However, we note that unlike the majority of the LERG population, those LERGs showing outflows have Eddington scaled accretion rates close to $1%$. This is indicative that ionized outflows in LERGs are driven by the radiation pressure from the accretion disk of the AGN rather than the radio jets. We report specific star formation rates in the range of $10^{-12} < text{sSFR} < 10^{-9}~text{yr}^{-1}$. Moreover, we observe higher mass outflow rates of $7-150~M_{odot}~text{yr}^{-1}$ for these LERGs than luminous quasars for a given bolometric luminosity, which could possibly be due to the radio source in LERGs boosting the mass-loading. This scenario could indicate that these outflows could potentially drive feedback in LERGs.