Proyecto de Investigación: UNA VISION MULTI-ESCALA DE GALAXIAS ACTIVAS: DEL TORO AL MEDIO CIRCUNGALACTICO
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PID2021-124665NB-I00
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A radio-jet driven outflow in the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 2110?
(EDP Sciences, 2023-05-10) Peralta de Arriba, L.; Alonso-Herrero, Almudena; García Burillo, S.; García Bernete, I.; Villar Martín, M.; García Lorenzo, B.; Davies, R. I.; Rosario, D.; Hönig, S. F.; Levenson, N. A.; Packham, C.; Ramos Almeida, C.; Pereira Santaella, Miguel; Audibert, A.; Bellocchi, Enrica; Hicks, E. K. S.; Labiano, Alvaro; Ricci, C.; Rigopoulou, Dimitra; European Commission (EC); Gobierno de Canarias; University of Oxford; Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Científico y Tecnológico (FONDECYT); Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN); Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC); Centros de Excelencia Severo Ochoa, CENTRO NACIONAL DE BIOTECNOLOGIA (CNB), SEV-2017-0712
We present a spatially-resolved study of the ionised gas in the central 2 kpc of the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 2110 and investigate the role of its moderate luminosity radio jet (kinetic radio power of $P_\mathrm{jet} = 2.3 \times 10^{43}\mathrm{erg\ s^{-1}}$). We use new optical integral-field observations taken with the MEGARA spectrograph at GTC. We fit the emission lines with a maximum of two Gaussian components, except at the AGN position where we used three. Aided by existing stellar kinematics, we use the observed velocity and velocity dispersion of the emission lines to classify the different kinematic components. The disc component is characterised by lines with $\sigma \sim 60-200\ \mathrm{km\ s^{-1}}$. The outflow component has typical values of $\sigma \sim 700\ \mathrm{km\ s^{-1}}$ and is confined to the central 400 pc, which is coincident with linear part of the radio jet detected in NGC 2110. At the AGN position, the [O III]$\lambda$5007 line shows high velocity components reaching at least $1000\ \mathrm{km\ s^{-1}}$. This and the high velocity dispersions indicate the presence of outflowing gas outside the galaxy plane. Spatially-resolved diagnostic diagrams reveal mostly LI(N)ER-like excitation in the outflow and some regions in the disc, which could be due to the presence of shocks. However, there is also Seyfert-like excitation beyond the bending of the radio jet, probably tracing the edge of the ionisation cone that intercepts with the disc of the galaxy. NGC 2110 follows well the observational trends between the outflow properties and the jet radio power found for a few nearby Seyfert galaxies. All these pieces of information suggest that part of observed ionised outflow in NGC 2110 might be driven by the radio jet. However, the radio jet was bent at radial distances of 200 pc (in projection) from the AGN, and beyond there, most of the gas in the galaxy disc is rotating.
AGN feedback in the Local Universe: Multiphase outflow of the Seyfert galaxy NGC 5506
(EDP Sciences, 2024-06-01) Esposito, Federico; Alonso-Herrero, Almudena; García-Burillo, Santiago; Casasola, Viviana; Combes, Françoise; Dallacasa, Daniele; Davies, Richard; García-Bernete, Ismael; García-Lorenzo, Begoña; Hermosa Muñoz, Laura; Peralta de Arriba, L.; Pereira Santaella, Miguel; Pozzi, Francesca; Ramos Almeida, Cristina; Shimizu, Thomas Taro; Vallini, Livia; Bellocchi, Enrica ; González-Martín, Omaira; Hicks, Erin K.S.; Hönig, Sebastian; Labiano, Alvaro; Levenson, Nancy A.; Ricci, Claudio; Rosario, David J.; Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN); Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM); Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC); Ministero dell\u2019Istruzione, dell\u2019Università e della Ricerca (MIUR); European Commission (EC); Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Científico y Tecnológico (FONDECYT); Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF); National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
We present new optical GTC/MEGARA seeing-limited (0.9″) integral-field observations of NGC 5506, together with ALMA observations of the CO(3 - 2) transition at a 0.2″ ( ~25 pc) resolution. NGC 5506 is a luminous (bolometric luminosity of ~1044 erg s-1) nearby (26 Mpc) Seyfert galaxy, part of the Galaxy Activity, Torus, and Outflow Survey (GATOS). We modelled the CO(3 - 2) kinematics with 3DBAROLO, revealing a rotating and outflowing cold gas ring within the central 1.2 kpc. We derived an integrated cold molecular gas mass outflow rate for the ring of ~8 M⊙ yr-1. We fitted the optical emission lines with a maximum of two Gaussian components to separate rotation from non-circular motions. We detected high [OIII]λ5007 projected velocities (up to ~1000 km s-1) at the active galactic nucleus (AGN) position, decreasing with radius to an average ~330 km s-1 around ~350 pc. We also modelled the [OIII] gas kinematics with a non-parametric method, estimating the ionisation parameter and electron density in every spaxel, from which we derived an ionised mass outflow rate of 0.076 M⊙ yr-1 within the central 1.2 kpc. Regions of high CO(3 - 2) velocity dispersion, extending to projected distances of ~350 pc from the AGN, appear to be the result from the interaction of the AGN wind with molecular gas in the galaxy's disc. Additionally, we find the ionised outflow to spatially correlate with radio and soft X-ray emission in the central kiloparsec. We conclude that the effects of AGN feedback in NGC 5506 manifest as a large-scale ionised wind interacting with the molecular disc, resulting in outflows extending to radial distances of 610 pc.
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon emission in galaxies as seen with JWST
(Royal Astronomical Society, 2024-08-01) Rigopoulou, Dimitra; Donnan, Fergus; García-Bernete, I.; Pereira Santaella, Miguel; Alonso-Herrero, Almudena; Davies, R.; Hunt, L. K.; Roche, P. F.; Shimizu, T.; Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN); Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC)
We present a systematic study of mid-infrared spectra of galaxies including star-forming galaxies and active galactic nuclei observed with JWST MIRI-MRS and NIRSpec-IFU. We focus on the relative variations of the 3.3, 6.2, 7.7, 11.3, 12.7, and 17 m polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) features within spatially resolved regions of galaxies including NGC 3256, NGC 7469, VV 114, II Zw96, and NGC 5728. Using theoretical PAH models and extending our earlier work, we introduce a new PAH diagnostic involving the 17 m PAH feature. To determine the drivers of PAH band variations in galaxies, we compare observed PAH spectral bands to predictions from theoretical PAH models. We consider extinction, dehydrogenation, and PAH size and charge as possible drivers of PAH band variations. We find a surprising uniformity in PAH size distribution among the spatially resolved regions of the galaxies studied here, with no evidence for preferential destruction of the smallest grains, contrary to earlier findings. Neither extinction nor dehydrogenation play a crucial role in setting the observed PAH bands. Instead, we find that PAH charge plays a significant role in PAH inter-band variations. We find a tight relation between PAH charge and the intensity of the radiation field as traced by the [Ne iii][Ne ii] maps. In agreement with recent JWST results, we find a predominance of neutral PAH molecules in the nuclei of active galaxies and their outflows. Ionized PAHs are the dominant population in star-forming galaxies. We discuss the implications of our findings for the use of PAHs as ISM tracers in high redshift galaxies.
The Galaxy Activity, Torus, and Outflow Survey (GATOS) V. Unveiling PAH survival and resilience in the circumnuclear regions of AGNs with JWST
(EDP Sciences, 2024-09-09) García-Bernete, Ismael; Rigopoulou, Dimitra; Donnan, Fergus; Alonso-Herrero, Almudena; Pereira Santaella, Miguel; Shimizu, T. Taro; Davies, Richard; Roche, P. F.; García-Burillo, Santiago; Labiano, Alvaro; Hermosa Muñoz, Laura; Zhang, Lulu; Audibert, A.; Bellocchi, Enrica; Bunker, A.; Combes, Francoise; Delaney, D.; Esparza-Arredondo, D.; Gandhi, P.; González-Martín, O.; Hönig, Sebastian; Imanishi, Masatoshi; Hicks, Erin K. S.; Fuller, L.; Leist, Mason Tanner; Levenson, N. A.; López-Rodríguez, E.; Packham, Christopher; Ramos Almeida, Cristina; Ricci, C.; Stalevski, Marko; Villar Martín, M.; Ward, M. J.; Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC); Comunidad de Madrid; European Commission (EC); European Space Agency (ESA); Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Científico y Tecnológico (FONDECYT); Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN); National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI); Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)
This study analyses JWST MIRI/MRS observations of the infrared (IR) polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) bands in the nuclear (∼0.4″ at 11 μm; ∼75 pc) and circumnuclear regions (inner ∼kpc) of local active galactic nuclei (AGNs) from the Galactic Activity, Torus, and Outflow Survey (GATOS). We examine the PAH properties in the circumnuclear regions of AGNs and the projected direction of AGN-outflows and compare them to those in star-forming regions and the innermost regions of AGNs. This study employs 4.9–28.1 μm sub-arcsecond angular resolution data to investigate the properties of PAHs in three nearby sources (DL ∼ 30 − 40 Mpc). Our findings are aligned with previous JWST studies, demonstrating that the central regions of AGNs display a larger fraction of neutral PAH molecules (i.e. elevated 11.3/6.2 and 11.3/7.7 μm PAH ratios) in comparison to star-forming galaxies. We find that AGNs might affect not only the PAH population in the innermost region, but also in the extended regions up to ∼kpc scales. By comparing our observations to PAH diagnostic diagrams, we find that, in general, regions located in the projected direction of the AGN-outflow occupy similar positions on the PAH diagnostic diagrams as those of the innermost regions of AGNs. Star-forming regions that are not affected by the AGNs in these galaxies share the same part of the diagram as star-forming galaxies. We also examined the potential of the PAH-H2 diagram to disentangle AGN-versus-star-forming activity. Our results suggest that in Seyfert-like AGNs, the illumination and feedback from the AGN might affect the PAH population at nuclear and kpc scales, particularly with respect to the ionisation state of the PAH grains. However, PAH molecular sizes are rather similar. The carriers of the ionised PAH bands (6.2 and 7.7 μm) are less resilient than those of neutral PAH bands (11.3 μm), which might be particularly important for strongly AGN-host coupled systems. Therefore, caution must be applied when using PAH bands as star-formation rate indicators in these systems even at kpc scales, with the effects of the AGN being more important for ionised ones.
The PAH 3.4 micron feature as a tracer of shielding in the Orion Bar and NGC 6240
(Royal Astronomical Society, 2025-11-18) Thatte, Niranjan; Rigopoulou, Dimitra; Donnan, Fergus; García-Bernete, I.; Pereira Santaella, Miguel; Draine, B.; Veenema, Oscar; Kerkeni, Boutheïna; Alonso-Herrero, Almudena; Hermosa Muñoz, Laura; Speranza, G.; Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC); Comunidad de Madrid; University of Oxford; Agencia Estatal de Investigación (España)
We have carried out a detailed analysis of the 3.4 μm spectral feature arising from Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH), using James Webb Space Telescope archival data. For the first time in an external galaxy (NGC 6240), we have identified two distinct spectral components of the PAH 3.4 μm feature: a shorter wavelength component at 3.395 μm, which we attribute to short aliphatic chains tightly attached to the aromatic rings of the PAH molecules; and a longer wavelength feature at 3.405 μm that arises from longer, more fragile, aliphatic chains that are weakly attached to the parent PAH molecule. These longer chains are more easily destroyed by far-ultraviolet photons (>5 eV) and PAH thermal emission only occurs where PAH molecules are shielded from more energetic photons by dense molecular gas. We see a very strong correlation in the morphology of the PAH 3.395 μm feature with the PAH 3.3 μm emission, the latter arising from robust aromatic PAH molecules. We also see an equally strong correlation between the PAH 3.405 μm morphology and the warm molecular gas, as traced by H2 vibrational lines. We show that the flux ratio PAH 3.395/PAH 3.405 < 0.3 corresponds strongly to regions where the PAH molecules are shielded by dense molecular gas, so that only modestly energetic UV photons penetrate to excite the PAHs. Our work shows that PAH 3.405 μm and PAH 3.395 μm emission features can provide robust diagnostics of the physical conditions of the interstellar medium in external galaxies, and can be used to quantify the energies of the photon field penetrating molecular clouds.
