CHEERS Results from NGC 3393, II: Investigating the Extended Narrow Line Region using Deep Chandra Observations and Hubble Narrow Line Imaging


Abstract in English

The CHandra Extended Emission Line Region Survey (CHEERS) is an X-ray study of nearby active galactic nuclei (AGN) designed to take full advantage of Chandras unique angular resolution by spatially resolving feedback signatures and effects. In the second paper of a series on CHEERS target NGC 3393, we examine deep high-resolution Chandra images and compare them with Hubble narrow line images of [O III], [S II] and H$alpha$, as well as previously-unpublished mid-ultraviolet (MUV) images. The X-rays provide unprecedented evidence that the S-shaped arms which envelope the nuclear radio outflows extend only $lesssim$0.2 ($lesssim50 pc$) across. The high-resolution multiwavelength data suggest that the ENLR is a complex multi-phase structure in the circumnuclear ISM. Its ionization structure is highly stratified with respect to outflow-driven bubbles in the bicone and varies dramatically on scales of ~10 pc. Multiple findings show likely contributions from shocks to the feedback in regions where radio outflows from the AGN most directly influence the ISM. These findings include H$alpha$ evidence for gas compression and extended MUV emission, and are in agreement with existing STIS kinematics. Extended filamentary structure in the X-rays and optical suggests the presence of an undetected plasma component, whose existence could be tested with deeper radio observations.

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