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Lookup NU author(s): Aishwarya Girdhar, Dr Chris HarrisonORCiD, Dr Tiago Costa, Dr Ann Njeri
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal Astronomical Society. We present a study of molecular gas, traced via CO (3–2) from Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array data, of four z < 0.2, ‘radio quiet’, type 2 quasars (Lbol ∼ 1045.3–1046.2 erg s−1; L1.4 GHz ∼ 1023.7–1024.3 WHz−1). Targets were selected to have extended radio lobes (≥ 10 kpc), and compact, moderate-power jets (1–10 kpc; Pjet ∼ 1043.2–1043.7 erg s−1). All targets show evidence of central molecular outflows, or injected turbulence, within the gas discs (traced via high-velocity wing components in CO emission-line profiles). The inferred velocities (Vout = 250–440 km s−1) and spatial scales (0.6–1.6 kpc), are consistent with those of other samples of luminous low-redshift active galactic nuclei. In two targets, we observe extended molecular gas structures beyond the central discs, containing 9–53 per cent of the total molecular gas mass. These structures tend to be elongated, extending from the core, and wrap-around (or along) the radio lobes. Their properties are similar to the molecular gas filaments observed around radio lobes of, mostly ‘radio loud’, brightest cluster galaxies. They have the following: projected distances of 5–13 kpc; bulk velocities of 100–340 km s−1; velocity dispersion of 30–130 km s−1; inferred mass outflow rates of 4–20 M⊙ yr−1; and estimated kinetic powers of 1040.3–1041.7 erg s−1. Our observations are consistent with simulations that suggest moderate-power jets can have a direct (but modest) impact on molecular gas on small scales, through direct jet–cloud interactions. Then, on larger scales, jet-cocoons can push gas aside. Both processes could contribute to the long-term regulation of star formation.
Author(s): Girdhar A, Harrison CM, Mainieri V, Fernandez Aranda R, Alexander DM, Arrigoni Battaia F, Bianchin M, Calistro Rivera G, Circosta C, Costa T, Edge AC, Farina EP, Kakkad D, Kharb P, Molyneux SJ, Mukherjee D, Njeri A, Silpa S, Venturi G, Ward SR
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Year: 2024
Volume: 527
Issue: 3
Pages: 9322-9342
Print publication date: 01/01/2024
Online publication date: 09/11/2023
Acceptance date: 06/11/2023
Date deposited: 15/08/2024
ISSN (print): 0035-8711
ISSN (electronic): 1365-2966
Publisher: Oxford University Press
URL: https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stad3453
DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stad3453
Data Access Statement: The MUSE and ALMA data presented in this analysis were accessed from the ESO and ALMA archives under the proposal IDs, namely 0103.B-0071, 0102.B-107, and 0104.B-0476, for the MUSE data and ADS/JAO.ALMA#2016.1.01535.S and ADS/JAO.ALMA#2018.1.01767.S for the ALMA data. The VLA images used in this work are available at Newcastle University’s data repository (https://data.ncl.ac.uk) and can also be accessed through our Quasar Feedback Survey website (https://blogs.ncl.ac.uk/quasarfeedbacksurvey/data/).
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