paper

MaNGA AGN dwarf galaxies (MAD) -- IV. Revealing hidden AGN in dwarf galaxies with radio observations

arXiv:2510.09754 · doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202556447

Abstract

Low-mass black holes hosted by dwarf galaxies offer valuable insights into galaxy formation and the growth of the massive black holes found in massive galaxies. Their detection as AGN is challenging due to their low luminosity and compact size. This can be circumvented employing multi-wavelength observational strategies, such as combining optical and radio observations, which enables the detection of AGN features that may be hidden in single-wavelength analyses We aim to detect any jet-like emission indicative of the presence of an AGN in a sample of four dwarf galaxies with AGN signatures based on spatially resolved emission line diagnostic diagrams with SDSS MaNGA. Confirming the presence of an AGN will prove IFU spectroscopy to be a resourceful tool for identifying hidden or switched-off AGN. Using VLA radio observations, we image the radio emission of the four dwarf galaxies and derive their integrated radio flux and luminosity. We compare these to that expected from star formation processes to determine the origin of the radio emission and probe if it is consistent with the results of the emission line diagnostic diagrams. We find that one out of the four galaxies shows AGN radio emission consistent with the analysis of the MaNGA IFU data. The kinetic jet power of this source is Qjet ~ 1e42 erg / s, indicating that dwarf galaxies can host radio jets as powerful as those of massive radio galaxies. This galaxy exhibits an AGN outflow able to escape the gravitational bound produced by the dark matter halo, along with a decrease in the star formation rate of the central region. This suggests the presence of negative feedback from the AGN, which could be suppressing star formation. The other three galaxies exhibit regions of radio emission consistent with a stellar origin and overlapping with the star-forming regions found in the IFU spectroscopy.

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