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Register a new userNew insights on the central stellar population and gas outflow in NGC 1068 from YJH spectroscopy with SPHERE/VLT
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Aims: We characterise the properties of stars, dust, and gas and their spatial distribution in the central region of the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC1068. Method: Our study is based on near-infrared (YJH, 0.95-1.650 um, R=350) long-slit spectroscopy observations of the central region of NGC 1068 with a 0.4 spatial resolution. We decomposed the observed continuum emission into three components: hot dust, stars, and scattered light from the central engine. We measured their contributions at various distances from the nucleus. We also measured fluxes and Doppler shifts for the emission lines in our spectrum to probe the physical conditions of the narrow line region. Results: Dust and stars are the main sources of continuum emission, but scattered light from the central engine has also been detected in the very central region. Together, these three components reproduce the observed continuum well. The dust emission is compatible with a 830~K blackbody. It has only been detected in the very central region and is not spatially resolved. The stellar content is ubiquitous. It harbours a 250 pc cusp centred around the nucleus, over-imposed on a young stellar background. The spectrum of the cusp is consistent with a 120 Myr old single stellar population. Finally, the emission lines exhibit a significant Doppler shift that is consistent with a radial outflow from the nucleus in a biconical structure. The $left[Fe IIright]$ behaviour strongly differs from other lines, indicating that it arises from a different structure.
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We present 1.4 pc resolution observations of 256 GHz nuclear radio continuum and HCN ($J=3 to 2$) in the molecular torus of NGC 1068. The integrated radio continuum emission has a flat spectrum consistent with free-free emission and resolves into an X-shaped structure resembling an edge-brightened bicone. HCN is detected in absorption against the continuum, and the absorption spectrum shows a pronounced blue wing that suggests a high-velocity molecular outflow with speeds reaching 450 km/s. Analysis of the off-nucleus emission line kinematics and morphology reveals two nested, rotating disk components. The inner disk, inside $rsim 1.2$ pc, has kinematics consistent with the nearly edge-on, geometrically thin water megamaser disk in Keplerian rotation around a central mass of $1.66times 10^7,mbox{M}_odot$. The outer disk, which extends to $sim 7$~pc radius, counter-rotates relative to the inner disk. The rotation curve of the outer disk is consistent with rotation around the same central mass as the megamaser disk but in the opposite sense. The morphology of the molecular gas is asymmetric around the nuclear continuum source. We speculate that the outer disk formed from more recently introduced molecular gas falling out of the host galaxy or from a captured dwarf satellite galaxy. In NGC 1068, we find direct evidence that the molecular torus consists of counter-rotating and misaligned disks on parsec scales.
We present a 190-307 GHz broadband spectrum obtained with Z-Spec of NGC 1068 with new measurements of molecular rotational transitions. After combining our measurements with those previously published and considering the specific geometry of this Seyfert 2 galaxy, we conduct a multi-species Bayesian likelihood analysis of the density, temperature, and relative molecular abundances of HCN, HNC, CS, and HCO+. We find that these molecules trace warm (T > 100 K) gas of H2 number densities 10^4.2 - 10^4.9 cm^-3. Our models also place strong constraints on the column densities and relative abundances of these molecules, as well as on the total mass in the circumnuclear disk. Using the uniform calibration afforded by the broad Z-Spec bandpass, we compare our line ratios to X-ray dominated region (XDR) and photon-dominated region models. The majority of our line ratios are consistent with the XDR models at the densities indicated by the likelihood analysis, lending substantial support to the emerging interpretation that the energetics in the circumnuclear disk of NGC 1068 are dominated by accretion onto an active galactic nucleus.
We present Sauron 2D spectrography of the central 1.5 kpc of the nearby Sey2 galaxy NGC1068, encompassing the well-known NIR inner bar. We have successively disentangled the respective contributions of the ionized gas and stars, thus deriving their 2D distribution and kinematics. The [OIII] and Hbeta emission lines exhibit very different spatial distribution and kinematics, the latter following inner spiral arms with clumps associated with star formation. Strong inwards streaming motions are observed in both the Hbeta and [OIII] kinematics. The stellar kinematics also exhibit clear signatures of a non-axisymmetric tumbling potential, with a twist in both the velocity and h3 fields. We re-examined the long-slit data of Shapiro et al (2003) using pPXF: a strong decoupling of h3 is revealed, and the central decrease in h4 hinted in the Sauron data is confirmed. These data also suggest that NGC1068 is a good candidate for a so-called sigma-drop. We confirm the possible presence of two pattern speeds. We also examine the stellar kinematics of bars formed in N-body+SPH simulations built from axisymmetric initial conditions. These successfully reproduce a number of properties observed in the 2D kinematics of NGC1068, and the long-slit data, showing that the kinematic signature of the NIR bar is imprinted in the stellar kinematics. The remaining differences between the models and the observed properties are mostly due to the exclusion of star formation and the lack of the primary large-scale oval/bar in the simulations. These models suggest that the inner bar could drive a significant amount of gas down to a scale of ~300 pc. This is consistent with the interpretation of the sigma-drop in NGC1068 being the result of central gas accretion followed by an episode of star formation.
Spectra of the archetypal Type II Seyfert galaxy NGC 1068 in a narrow wavelength interval near 3.7 microns have revealed a weak absorption feature due to two lines of the molecular ion H3+. The observed wavelength of the feature corresponds to velocity of -70 km/s relative to the systemic velocity of the galaxy, implying an outward flow from the nucleus along the line of sight. The absorption by H3+ along with the previously known broad hydrocarbon absorption at 3.4~microns probably are formed in diffuse gas that is in close proximity to the continuum source, i.e. within a few tens of parsecs of the central engine. Based on that conclusion and the measured H3+ absorption velocity and with the assumption of a spherically symmetric wind we estimate a rate of mass outflow from the AGN of ~1 Msun/yr.
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