JWST/NIRSpec and MIRI observations of an expanding, jet-driven bubble of warm H${}_2$ in the radio galaxy 3C 326 N

Abstract

The physical link between AGN activity and the suppression of star formation in their host galaxies is one of the major open questions of AGN feedback. The Spitzer space mission revealed a subset of nearby radio galaxies with unusually bright line emission from warm ($T\ge 100$ K) H${}_2$, while typical star-formation tracers were exceptionally faint or undetected. We present JWST NIRSpec and MIRI IFU observations of 3C 326 N at z=0.09 and identify 19 ro-vibrational H${}_2$ emission lines that probe hot ($T\sim 1000$ K) gas as well as the rotational lines of H${}_2$ 0--0 S(3), S(5), and S(6) which probe most of the $2\times 10^9$ M${}_{\odot }$ of warm H${}_2$ in this galaxy. CO band heads show a stellar component consistent with a "slow-rotator", typical of a massive $3\times 10^{11}$ M${}_{\odot }$ galaxy, and provide us with a reliable redshift of $z=0.08979\pm 0.0003$. Extended line emission shows a bipolar bubble expanding through the molecular disk at velocities of up to 380 km s${}^{-1}$, delineated by several bright clumps along the Northern outer rim, potentially from gas fragmentation. Throughout the disk, the H${}_2$ is very broad, FWHM ~100-1300 km s${}^{-1}$, and shows dual-component Gaussian line profiles. [FeII]$\lambda$1.644 and Pa$\alpha$ follow the same morphology, however [NeIII]$\lambda$15.56 is more symmetric about the nucleus. We show that the gas, with the exception of [NeIII]$\lambda$15.56, is predominantly heated by shocks driven by the radio jet and that the accompanying line broadening is sufficient to suppress star formation. We also compare the rotational and ro-vibrational lines, finding that the latter can be a good proxy to the global morphology and kinematic properties of the former in strongly turbulent environments. This enables studies of turbulence in galaxies at intermediate and high redshifts while most rotational lines are redshifted out of the MIRI bandpass for $z$>1.5.

Accepted with comments by A&A, 14 Figures, 5 Tables

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Cited by in corpus (4)

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• Impact of AGN and nuclear star formation on the ISM turbulence of galaxies: Insights from JWST/MIRI spectroscopy
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