paper

ALMA captures feeding and feedback from the active galactic nucleus in NGC613

arXiv:1905.01979 · doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201935845

Abstract

We report ALMA observations of CO(3-2) emission in the Seyfert galaxy NGC613, at a spatial resolution of 17pc, as part of our NUclei of GAlaxies sample. Our aim is to investigate the morphology and dynamics of the gas inside the central kpc, and to probe nuclear fueling and feedback phenomena. The morphology of CO(3-2) line emission reveals a 2-arm trailing nuclear spiral at 100pc and a circumnuclear ring at ~350pc radius, that is coincident with the star-forming ring seen in the optical images. The molecular gas in the galaxy disk is in a remarkably regular rotation, however, the kinematics in the nuclear region is very skewed. The nuclear spectrum of CO and dense gas tracers HCN(4-3), HCO+(4-3), and CS(7-6) show broad wings up to 300km/s, associated with a molecular outflow emanating from the nucleus (r~25pc). We derive a molecular outflow mass =2x10M and a mass outflow rate of 27. The molecular outflow energetics exceed the values predicted by AGN feedback models: the kinetic power of the outflow corresponds to 20%L_AGN and the momentum rate is . The outflow is mainly boosted by the AGN through entrainment by the radio jet, but given the weak nuclear activity of NGC613, we might be witnessing a fossil outflow, resulted from a strong past AGN that now has already faded. The nuclear trailing spiral observed in CO emission is inside the ILR ring of the bar. We compute the gravitational torques exerted in the gas to estimate the efficiency of the angular momentum exchange. The gravity torques are negative from 25 to 100pc and the gas loses its angular momentum in a rotation period, providing evidence of a highly efficient inflow towards the center. This phenomenon shows that the massive central black hole has a significant dynamical influence on the gas, triggering its fueling.

arXiv comment19 pages, 21 figures, submitted to A&A

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