Galaxy-scale ionised winds driven by ultra-fast outflows in two nearby quasars

Journal
Date Issued
2020
Author(s)
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Amiri, A.
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Carniani, Stefano
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Brusa, Marcella
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di Serego Alighieri, Sperello
DOI
Abstract
We used MUSE adaptive optics data in narrow field mode to study the properties of the ionised gas in MR 2251-178 and PG 1126-041, two nearby (z ≃ 0.06) bright quasars (QSOs) hosting sub-pc scale ultra-fast outflows (UFOs) detected in the X-ray band. We decomposed the optical emission from diffuse gas into a low- and a high-velocity components. The former is characterised by a clean, regular velocity field and a low (∼80 km s-1) velocity dispersion. It traces regularly rotating gas in PG 1126-041, while in MR 2251-178 it is possibly associated with tidal debris from a recent merger or flyby. The other component is found to be extended up to a few kpc from the nuclei, and shows a high (∼800 km s-1) velocity dispersion and a blue-shifted mean velocity, as is expected from outflows driven by active galactic nuclei (AGN). We estimate mass outflow rates up to a few M⊙ yr-1 and kinetic efficiencies LKIN/LBOL between 1-4 × 10-4, in line with those of galaxies hosting AGN of similar luminosities. The momentum rates of these ionised outflows are comparable to those measured for the UFOs at sub-pc scales, which is consistent with a momentum-driven wind propagation. Pure energy-driven winds are excluded unless about 100× additional momentum is locked in massive molecular winds. In comparing the outflow properties of our sources with those of a small sample of well-studied QSOs hosting UFOs from the literature, we find that winds seem to systematically lie either in a momentum-driven or an energy-driven regime, indicating that these two theoretical models bracket the physics of AGN-driven winds very well.

The reduced datacubes are only available at the CDS via anonymous ftp to http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (ftp://130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/A+A/644/A15

Volume
644
Start page
A15
Uri
Url
Issn Identifier
0004-6361
Ads BibCode
2020A&A...644A..15M
Rights
open.access
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