paper

Gemini NIFS survey of feeding and feedback in nearbyActive Galaxies - III. Ionized versus warm molecular gasmasses and distributions

arXiv:1902.06790 · doi:10.1093/mnras/stz523

Abstract

We have used the Gemini Near-Infrared Integral Field Spectrograph (NIFS) in the J and K bands to map the distribution, excitation and kinematics of the ionized HII and warm molecular gas H, in the inner few 100 pc of 6 nearby active galaxies: NGC 788, Mrk 607, NGC 3227, NGC 3516, NGC 5506, NGC 5899. {For most galaxies, this is the first time that such maps have been obtained}. The ionized and H gas show distinct kinematics: while the H gas is mostly rotating in the galaxy plane with low velocity dispersion (), the ionized gas usually shows signatures of outflows associated with higher values, most clearly seen in the [FeII] emission line. These two gas species also present distinct flux distributions: the H is more uniformly spread over the whole galaxy plane, while the ionized gas is more concentrated around the nucleus and/or collimated along the ionization axis of its Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN), presenting a steeper gradient in the average surface mass density profile than the H gas. The total HII masses cover the range M, with surface mass densities in the range 3-150 M pc, while for the warm H the values are 10 times lower. We estimate that the available gas reservoir is at least 100 times more massive than needed to power the AGN. If this gas form new stars the star-formation rates, obtained from the Kennicutt-schmidt scalling relation, are in the range 1-260 10 M yr. But the gas will also - at least in part - be ejected in the form of the observed otflows.

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