ALMA resolves the remarkable molecular jet and rotating wind in the extremely radio-quiet galaxy NGC 1377

Abstract

Submillimetre and millimetre observations are important in probing the properties of the molecular gas and dust around obscured active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and their feedback. With very high-resolution (0."02x0."03 (2x3 pc)) ALMA 345 GHz observations of CO 3-2, HCO${}^{+}$ 4-3, HCN 4-3 ${\nu }_2$=1$f$, and continuum we have studied the molecular outflow and nucleus of the extremely radio-quiet lenticular galaxy NGC1377. The outflow is resolved, revealing a 150 pc long, clumpy, high-velocity, collimated molecular jet. The molecular emission is emerging from the spine of the jet with an average diameter of 3-7 pc. A narrow-angle, rotating molecular wind surrounds the jet and is enveloped by a larger-scale, slower CO-emitting structure. The jet and narrow wind are turbulent ($\sigma >$40 kms${}^{-1}$) and have steep radial gas excitation gradients. The jet shows velocity reversals that we propose are caused by precession, or episodic directional changes. We suggest that an important process powering the outflow is magneto-centrifugal driving. In contrast, the large-scale CO-envelope may be a slow wind, or cocoon that stems from jet-wind interactions. An asymmetric, nuclear r$\sim$2 pc and hot (>180 K) dust structure with a high molecular column density, N(H${}_2$)$\sim 1.8\times 10^{24}$ cm${}^{-2}$, is detected in continuum and vibrationally excited HCN. Its luminosity is likely powered by a buried AGN. The mass of the supermassive black hole (SMBH) is estimated to $\sim 9\times 10^6$ M${}_{\odot }$ and the SMBH of NGC1377 appears to be at the end of an intense phase of accretion. The nuclear growth may be fuelled by low-angular momentum gas inflowing from gas ejected in the molecular jet and wind. Such a feedback-loop of cyclic accretion and outflows would be an effective process in growing the nuclear SMBH. This result invites new questions as to SMBH growth processes in obscured, dusty galaxies.

16 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics. Updated affiliations, added reference

References in corpus (26)

• The Co-Evolution of Galaxies and Supermassive Black Holes: Insights from Surveys of the Contemporary Universe
• Molecular line emission in NGC1068 imaged with ALMA. I An AGN-driven outflow in the dense molecular gas
• Mid-IR Galaxy Classification Based on Silicate Obscuration and PAH Equivalent Width
• Which jet launching mechanism(s) in TTauri stars?
• The close environments of accreting massive black holes are shaped by radiative feedback
• Star formation in a galactic outflow
• Resolved images of a protostellar outflow launched by an extended disk wind
• ALMA images the many faces of the NGC1068 torus and its surroundings
• Disk-Driven Rotating Bipolar Outflow in Orion Source I
• Vibrationally Excited HCN in the Luminous Infrared Galaxy NGC 4418
• High-Velocity Bipolar Molecular Emission from an AGN Torus
• High resolution observations of HCN and HCO+ J=3-2 in the disk and outflow of Mrk231 -Detection of vibrationally excited HCN in the warped nucleus
• The opaque nascent starburst in NGC 1377: Spitzer SINGS observations
• A Substellar-Mass Protostar and its Outflow of IRAS 15398-3359 Revealed by Subarcsecond-Resolution Observations of H${}_2$CO and CCH
• Nobeyama Millimeter Interferometric HCN(1-0) and HCO+(1-0) Observations of Further Luminous Infrared Galaxies
• The hidden heart of the luminous infrared galaxy IC 860 I. A molecular inflow feeding opaque, extreme nuclear activity
• Infrared 3-4 Micron Spectroscopy of Infrared Luminous Galaxies with Possible Signatures of Obscured Active Galactic Nuclei
• Hidden or missing outflows in highly obscured galaxy nuclei?
• Anatomy of the internal bow shocks in the IRAS 04166+2706 protostellar jet
• A CO molecular gas wind 340 pc away from the Seyfert 2 nucleus in ESO 420-G13 probes an elusive radio jet
• The reverberation signatures of rotating disc winds in active galactic nuclei
• Gas dynamics in the inner few AU around the Herbig B[e] star MWC297: Indications of a disk wind from kinematic modeling and velocity-resolved interferometric imaging
• A hidden molecular outflow in the LIRG Zw 049.057
• Parsec-scale magnetic fields in Arp 220
• Breaking the Radio - Gamma-Ray Connection in Arp 220
• Radio continuum and X-ray emission from the most extreme FIR-excess galaxy NGC 1377: An extremely obscured AGN revealed

Cited by in corpus (8)

• Snapshot of a magnetohydrodynamic disk wind traced by water maser observations
• Hypercubes of AGN Tori (HYPERCAT) -- I. Models and Image Morphology
• The IBISCO survey: I. Multiphase discs and winds in the Seyfert galaxy Markarian 509
• FERIA: Flat Envelope Model with Rotation and Infall under Angular Momentum Conservation
• Connecting Galactic and extragalactic outflows: From the Cygnus-X cluster to active galaxies
• APEX and NOEMA observations of H${}_2$S in nearby luminous galaxies and the ULIRG Mrk~231 -- Is there a relation between dense gas properties and molecular outflows?
• A plausible link between dynamically unsettled molecular gas and the radio jet in NGC 6328
• An Infrared view of the obscured AGN environment in NGC 4945