1 research outputs found
Gemini NIFS survey of feeding and feedback in nearbyActive Galaxies - III. Ionized versus warm molecular gasmasses and distributions
We have used the Gemini Near-Infrared Integral Field Spectrograph (NIFS) in
the J and K bands to map the distribution, excitation and kinematics of the
ionized HII and warm molecular gas H, in the inner few 100 pc of 6 nearby
active galaxies: NGC 788, Mrk 607, NGC 3227, NGC 3516, NGC 5506, NGC 5899. {For
most galaxies, this is the first time that such maps have been obtained}. The
ionized and H gas show distinct kinematics: while the H gas is mostly
rotating in the galaxy plane with low velocity dispersion (), the
ionized gas usually shows signatures of outflows associated with higher
values, most clearly seen in the [FeII] emission line. These two gas
species also present distinct flux distributions: the H is more uniformly
spread over the whole galaxy plane, while the ionized gas is more concentrated
around the nucleus and/or collimated along the ionization axis of its Active
Galactic Nucleus (AGN), presenting a steeper gradient in the average surface
mass density profile than the H gas. The total HII masses cover the range
M, with surface mass densities in the range
3-150 M pc, while for the warm H the values are 10
times lower. We estimate that the available gas reservoir is at least
100 times more massive than needed to power the AGN. If this gas form new stars
the star-formation rates, obtained from the Kennicutt-schmidt scalling
relation, are in the range 1-260 10 M yr. But
the gas will also - at least in part - be ejected in the form of the observed
otflows