Larger ${\lambda }_R$ in the disc of isolated active spiral galaxies than in their non-active twins

Abstract

We present a comparison of the spin parameter ${\lambda }_R$, measured in a region dominated by the galaxy disc, between 20 pairs of nearby (0.005$<$z$<$0.03) seemingly isolated twin galaxies differing in nuclear activity. We find that 80--82% of the active galaxies show higher values of ${\lambda }_R$ than their corresponding non-active twin(s), indicating larger rotational support in the AGN discs. This result is driven by the 11 pairs of unbarred galaxies, for which 100% of the AGN show larger ${\lambda }_R$ than their twins. These results can be explained by a more efficient angular momentum transfer from the inflowing gas to the disc baryonic matter in the case of the active galaxies. This gas inflow could have been induced by disc or bar instabilities, although we cannot rule out minor mergers if these are prevalent in our active galaxies. This result represents the first evidence of galaxy-scale differences between the dynamics of active and non-active isolated spiral galaxies of intermediate stellar masses (10${}^{10}<M_{\ast }<10^{11}$ M${}_{\odot }$) in the Local Universe.

11 pages, 7 figures. Accepted for publication in A&A Letters

References in corpus (21)

• Overview of the SDSS-IV MaNGA Survey: Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory
• Improving the full spectrum fitting method: accurate convolution with Gauss-Hermite functions
• The SAURON project -- IX. A kinematic classification for early-type galaxies
• Galaxy Merger Morphologies and Time-Scales from Simulations of Equal-Mass Gas-Rich Disc Mergers
• CALIFA: a diameter-selected sample for an integral field spectroscopy galaxy survey
• The SAURON project - VII. Integral-field absorption and emission-line kinematics of 24 spiral galaxy bulges
• CALIFA, the Calar Alto Legacy Integral Field Area survey. III. Second public data release
• The MASSIVE Survey - I. A Volume-Limited Integral-Field Spectroscopic Study of the Most Massive Early-Type Galaxies within 108 Mpc
• The SAMI Galaxy Survey: the link between angular momentum and optical morphology
• Observational Constraints on the Feeding of Supermassive Black Holes
• Stellar kinematics across the Hubble sequence in the CALIFA survey: General properties and aperture corrections
• Two-dimensional multi-component photometric decomposition of CALIFA galaxies
• Galaxies hosting an AGN: a view from the CALIFA survey
• Kinematic alignment of non-interacting CALIFA galaxies: Quantifying the impact of bars on stellar and ionised gas velocity field orientations
• The CALIFA view on stellar angular momentum across the Hubble sequence
• The first 62 AGN observed with SDSS-IV MaNGA - I: their characterization and definition of a control sample
• The dust masses of powerful radio galaxies: clues to the triggering of their activity
• The first 62 AGN observed with SDSS-IV MaNGA -- III: stellar and gas kinematics
• Seyfert galaxies that are undergoing merging but appear non-interacting
• Angular momentum transport and evolution of lopsided galaxies
• Spotting the differences between active and non-active twin galaxies on kpc-scales. A pilot study

Cited by in corpus (5)

• The SAMI Galaxy Survey: The internal orbital structure and mass distribution of passive galaxies from triaxial orbit-superposition Schwarzschild models
• The SAMI Galaxy Survey: Mass and Environment as Independent Drivers of Galaxy Dynamics
• A SAMI and MaNGA view on the stellar kinematics of galaxies on the star-forming main sequence
• The SAMI Galaxy Survey: Physical drivers of stellar-gas kinematic misalignments in the nearby Universe
• The physical connection between central stellar surface density and stellar spin in SAMI and MaNGA nearby galaxies