Allan Schnorr Müller

arXiv2017

Zooming into local active galactic nuclei: The power of combining SDSS-IV MaNGA with higher resolution integral field unit observations

Ionised gas outflows driven by active galactic nuclei (AGN) are ubiquitous in high luminosity AGN with outflow speeds apparently correlated with the total bolometric luminosity of the AGN. This empirical relation and theoretical work suggest that in the range L_bol ~ 10^43-45 erg/s there must exist a threshold luminosity above which the AGN becomes powerful enough to launch winds that will be able to escape the galaxy potential. In this paper, we present pilot observations of two AGN in this transitional range that were taken with the Gemini North Multi-Object Spectrograph Integral Field Unit (IFU). Both sources have also previously been observed within the Sloan Digital Sky Survey-IV (SDSS) Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA) survey. While the MaNGA IFU maps probe the gas fields on galaxy-wide scales and show that some regions are dominated by AGN ionization, the new Gemini IFU data zoom into the centre with four times better spatial resolution. In the object with the lower L_bol we find evidence of a young or stalled biconical AGN-driven outflow where none was obvious at the MaNGA resolution. In the object with the higher L_bol we trace the large-scale biconical outflow into the nuclear region and connect the outflow from small to large scales. These observations suggest that AGN luminosity and galaxy potential are crucial in shaping wind launching and propagation in low-luminosity AGN. The transition from small and young outflows to galaxy-wide feedback can only be understood by combining large-scale IFU data that trace the galaxy velocity field with higher resolution, small scale IFU maps.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2010

Gas Streaming Motions towards the Nucleus of M81

We present stellar and gaseous kinematics of the inner 120x250pc^2 of the Liner/Seyfert 1 galaxy M81, from optical spectra obtained with the GMOS integral field spectrograph on the Gemini North telescope at a spatial resolution of 10pc. The stellar velocity field shows circular rotation but deviations are observed close to the minor axis which can be attributed to stellar motions possibly associated to a nuclear bar. The stellar velocity dispersion of the bulge is 162km/s leading to a black hole mass of M_BH=5.5x10^7M_sun based on the M_BH-sigma relationship. The gas kinematics is dominated by non-circular motions and the subtraction of the stellar velocity field reveals blueshifts of ~-100km/s on the far side of the galaxy and a few redshifts on the near side. These characteristics can be interpreted in terms of streaming towards the center if the gas is in the plane. On the basis of the observed velocities and geometry of the flow, we estimate a mass inflow rate in ionized gas of ~4.0x10^-3M_sun/year, which is of the order of the accretion rate necessary to power the LINER nucleus of M81. We have also applied the technique of Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to our data, which reveals the presence of a rotating nuclear gas disk within ~50pc from the nucleus and a compact outflow, approximately perpendicular to the disk. The PCA combined with the observed gas velocity field shows that the nuclear disk is being fed by gas circulating in the galaxy plane. The presence of the outflow is supported by a compact jet seen in radio observations at a similar orientation, as well as by an enhancement of the [OI]\Halpha line ratio, probably resulting from shock excitation of the circumnuclear gas by the radio jet. With these observations we are thus resolving both the feeding -- via the nuclear disk and observed gas inflow, and the feedback -- via the outflow, around the nucleus of M81.

astro-ph.CO↗