Ghost in the Shell: Evidence for Past Active Galactic Nucleus Activities in NGC 5195 from a Newly Discovered Large-scale Ionized Structure
The early-type galaxy NGC 5195 (alternatively known as M51b) possesses extended gas features detected in the multiwavelength, postulated to be associated with previous activities of the central supermassive black hole. Using integral field spectroscopic observations from the Canada–France–Hawaii Tel...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2023-01-01
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| Series: | The Astrophysical Journal |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acac82 |
| _version_ | 1797702090121805824 |
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| author | Xiaoyu Xu Junfeng Wang |
| author_facet | Xiaoyu Xu Junfeng Wang |
| author_sort | Xiaoyu Xu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The early-type galaxy NGC 5195 (alternatively known as M51b) possesses extended gas features detected in the multiwavelength, postulated to be associated with previous activities of the central supermassive black hole. Using integral field spectroscopic observations from the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope/SITELLE, we report on the discovery of a new large-scale ionized gas structure traced by [O iii ], [N ii ], and H α line emission, extending to ∼10 kpc from the nucleus of NGC 5195. Its bipolar morphology, emission-line ratio diagnostics, and comparison with the X-ray image from Chandra and low-frequency radio data from LOFAR all indicate that it is likely an outflow inflated by a past episode of elevated active galactic nucleus (AGN) activity. Assuming the ionized gas is outflowing from the central region of NGC 5195, the estimated mass and energy outflow rates are ${\dot{M}}_{\mathrm{out}}=3.5$ –27.9 M _☉ yr ^−1 and ${\dot{E}}_{\mathrm{out}}=0.98$ –7.9 × 10 ^40 erg s ^−1 , respectively, which cannot be provided by current star formation and the low-luminosity nucleus. Alternatively, considering the history of gravitational interaction between the M51 pair and the presence of the H i tidal tail, the northern large-scale ionized gas could very likely be associated with tidally stripped material illuminated by a luminous AGN in the past. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T04:45:09Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8a02108603214de7a61097f9862d8b53 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1538-4357 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T04:45:09Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
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| series | The Astrophysical Journal |
| spelling | doaj.art-8a02108603214de7a61097f9862d8b532023-09-03T09:29:27ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal1538-43572023-01-0194312810.3847/1538-4357/acac82Ghost in the Shell: Evidence for Past Active Galactic Nucleus Activities in NGC 5195 from a Newly Discovered Large-scale Ionized StructureXiaoyu Xu0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0970-535XJunfeng Wang1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4874-0369Department of Astronomy, Xiamen University , Xiamen, Fujian 361005, People's Republic of China ; jfwang@xmu.edu.cnDepartment of Astronomy, Xiamen University , Xiamen, Fujian 361005, People's Republic of China ; jfwang@xmu.edu.cnThe early-type galaxy NGC 5195 (alternatively known as M51b) possesses extended gas features detected in the multiwavelength, postulated to be associated with previous activities of the central supermassive black hole. Using integral field spectroscopic observations from the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope/SITELLE, we report on the discovery of a new large-scale ionized gas structure traced by [O iii ], [N ii ], and H α line emission, extending to ∼10 kpc from the nucleus of NGC 5195. Its bipolar morphology, emission-line ratio diagnostics, and comparison with the X-ray image from Chandra and low-frequency radio data from LOFAR all indicate that it is likely an outflow inflated by a past episode of elevated active galactic nucleus (AGN) activity. Assuming the ionized gas is outflowing from the central region of NGC 5195, the estimated mass and energy outflow rates are ${\dot{M}}_{\mathrm{out}}=3.5$ –27.9 M _☉ yr ^−1 and ${\dot{E}}_{\mathrm{out}}=0.98$ –7.9 × 10 ^40 erg s ^−1 , respectively, which cannot be provided by current star formation and the low-luminosity nucleus. Alternatively, considering the history of gravitational interaction between the M51 pair and the presence of the H i tidal tail, the northern large-scale ionized gas could very likely be associated with tidally stripped material illuminated by a luminous AGN in the past.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acac82Interstellar mediumLINER galaxiesInteracting galaxiesLow-luminosity active galactic nuclei |
| spellingShingle | Xiaoyu Xu Junfeng Wang Ghost in the Shell: Evidence for Past Active Galactic Nucleus Activities in NGC 5195 from a Newly Discovered Large-scale Ionized Structure The Astrophysical Journal Interstellar medium LINER galaxies Interacting galaxies Low-luminosity active galactic nuclei |
| title | Ghost in the Shell: Evidence for Past Active Galactic Nucleus Activities in NGC 5195 from a Newly Discovered Large-scale Ionized Structure |
| title_full | Ghost in the Shell: Evidence for Past Active Galactic Nucleus Activities in NGC 5195 from a Newly Discovered Large-scale Ionized Structure |
| title_fullStr | Ghost in the Shell: Evidence for Past Active Galactic Nucleus Activities in NGC 5195 from a Newly Discovered Large-scale Ionized Structure |
| title_full_unstemmed | Ghost in the Shell: Evidence for Past Active Galactic Nucleus Activities in NGC 5195 from a Newly Discovered Large-scale Ionized Structure |
| title_short | Ghost in the Shell: Evidence for Past Active Galactic Nucleus Activities in NGC 5195 from a Newly Discovered Large-scale Ionized Structure |
| title_sort | ghost in the shell evidence for past active galactic nucleus activities in ngc 5195 from a newly discovered large scale ionized structure |
| topic | Interstellar medium LINER galaxies Interacting galaxies Low-luminosity active galactic nuclei |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acac82 |
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