2017MNRAS.464.4227R -
Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc., 464, 4227-4246 (2017/February-1)
Tracing the origin of the AGN fuelling reservoir in MCG-6-30-15.
RAIMUNDO S.I., DAVIES R.I., CANNING R.E.A., CELOTTI A., FABIAN A.C. and GANDHI P.
Abstract (from CDS):
The active galaxy MCG-6-30-15 has a 400 pc diameter stellar kinematically distinct core, counter-rotating with respect to the main body of the galaxy. Our previous high spatial resolution (0.1 arcsec) H-band observations of this galaxy mapped the stellar kinematics and [Fe II] 1.64 µm gas dynamics though mainly restricted to the spatial region of the counter-rotating core. In this work, we probe the stellar kinematics on a larger field of view and determine the ionized and molecular gas dynamics to study the formation of the counter-rotating core and the implications for active galactic nucleus (AGN) fuelling. We present integral field spectroscopy observations with SINFONI in the H and K bands in the central 1.2 kpc and with VIMOS HR-blue in the central 4 kpc of the galaxy. Ionized gas outflows of vout ∼ 100 km s–1 are traced by the [Ca VIII] 2.32 µm coronal line and extend out to at least a radius of r ∼ 140 pc. The molecular gas, traced by the H2 2.12 µm emission, is also counter-rotating with respect to the main body of the galaxy, indicating that the formation of the distinct core was associated with inflow of external gas into the centre of MCG-6-30-15. The molecular gas traces the available gas reservoir for AGN fuelling and is detected as close as r ∼ 50-100 pc. External gas accretion is able to significantly replenish the fuelling reservoir suggesting that the event which formed the counter-rotating core was also the main mechanism providing gas for AGN fuelling.
Abstract Copyright:
© 2016 The Authors Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society
Journal keyword(s):
galaxies: active - galaxies: individual: MCG-6-30-15 - galaxies: kinematics and dynamics - galaxies: nuclei - galaxies: Seyfert - galaxies: Seyfert
Simbad objects:
9
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