Investigating the Narrow-line Region Dynamics in Nearby Active Galaxies
We present dynamical models of the narrow-line region (NLR) outflows in the nearby Seyfert galaxies Mrk 3, Mrk 78, NGC 1068, and NGC 4151 using observations from the Hubble Space Telescope and Apache Point Observatory. We employ long-slit spectroscopy to map the spatially resolved outflow and rotati...
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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/aca75f |
| _version_ | 1797701281191559168 |
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| author | Beena Meena D. Michael Crenshaw Henrique R. Schmitt Mitchell Revalski Zo Chapman Travis C. Fischer Steven B. Kraemer Justin H. Robinson Julia Falcone Garrett E. Polack |
| author_facet | Beena Meena D. Michael Crenshaw Henrique R. Schmitt Mitchell Revalski Zo Chapman Travis C. Fischer Steven B. Kraemer Justin H. Robinson Julia Falcone Garrett E. Polack |
| author_sort | Beena Meena |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | We present dynamical models of the narrow-line region (NLR) outflows in the nearby Seyfert galaxies Mrk 3, Mrk 78, NGC 1068, and NGC 4151 using observations from the Hubble Space Telescope and Apache Point Observatory. We employ long-slit spectroscopy to map the spatially resolved outflow and rotational velocities of the ionized gas. We also perform surface brightness decompositions of host galaxy images to constrain the enclosed stellar mass distributions as functions of distance from the supermassive black holes (SMBHs). Assuming that the NLR gas is accelerated by active galactic nuclei (AGN) radiation pressure, and subsequently decelerated by the host galaxy and SMBH gravitational potentials, we derive outflow velocity profiles where the gas is launched in situ at multiple distances from the SMBH. We find a strong correlation between the turnover (from acceleration to deceleration) radii from our models, with the turnovers seen in the observed velocities and spatially resolved mass outflow rates for the AGN with bolometric luminosities > 10 ^44 erg s ^−1 . This consistency indicates that radiation pressure is the dominant driving mechanism behind the NLR outflows in these moderate-luminosity AGNs, with a force multiplier ∼500 yielding the best agreement between the modeled and observed turnover radii. However, in Meena et al. we found that this trend may not hold at lower luminosities, where our modeled turnover distance for NGC 4051 is much smaller than in the observed kinematics. This result may indicate that either additional force(s) are responsible for accelerating the NLR outflows in low-luminosity AGNs, or higher spatial resolution observations are required to quantify their turnover radii. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T04:34:10Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c1dd05c108fb48e394f145f3d4277b5f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1538-4357 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T04:34:10Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Astrophysical Journal |
| spelling | doaj.art-c1dd05c108fb48e394f145f3d4277b5f2023-09-03T09:58:12ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal1538-43572023-01-0194329810.3847/1538-4357/aca75fInvestigating the Narrow-line Region Dynamics in Nearby Active GalaxiesBeena Meena0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8658-2723D. Michael Crenshaw1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6465-3639Henrique R. Schmitt2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2450-3246Mitchell Revalski3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4917-7873Zo Chapman4https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3401-3590Travis C. Fischer5https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3365-8875Steven B. Kraemer6https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6928-9848Justin H. Robinson7https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4262-4845Julia Falcone8https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7238-7062Garrett E. Polack9https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5862-2150Department of Physics and Astronomy, Georgia State University , 25 Park Place, Suite 605, Atlanta, GA 30303, USA ; bmeena@stsci.edu; Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USADepartment of Physics and Astronomy, Georgia State University , 25 Park Place, Suite 605, Atlanta, GA 30303, USA ; bmeena@stsci.eduNaval Research Laboratory , Washington, DC 20375, USASpace Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USADepartment of Physics and Astronomy, Georgia State University , 25 Park Place, Suite 605, Atlanta, GA 30303, USA ; bmeena@stsci.eduAURA for ESA, Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USAInstitute for Astrophysics and Computational Sciences, Department of Physics, The Catholic University of America , Washington, DC 20064, USADepartment of Chemistry and Physics, Troy University , Troy, AL 36081, USADepartment of Physics and Astronomy, Georgia State University , 25 Park Place, Suite 605, Atlanta, GA 30303, USA ; bmeena@stsci.eduDepartment of Physics and Astronomy, Georgia State University , 25 Park Place, Suite 605, Atlanta, GA 30303, USA ; bmeena@stsci.eduWe present dynamical models of the narrow-line region (NLR) outflows in the nearby Seyfert galaxies Mrk 3, Mrk 78, NGC 1068, and NGC 4151 using observations from the Hubble Space Telescope and Apache Point Observatory. We employ long-slit spectroscopy to map the spatially resolved outflow and rotational velocities of the ionized gas. We also perform surface brightness decompositions of host galaxy images to constrain the enclosed stellar mass distributions as functions of distance from the supermassive black holes (SMBHs). Assuming that the NLR gas is accelerated by active galactic nuclei (AGN) radiation pressure, and subsequently decelerated by the host galaxy and SMBH gravitational potentials, we derive outflow velocity profiles where the gas is launched in situ at multiple distances from the SMBH. We find a strong correlation between the turnover (from acceleration to deceleration) radii from our models, with the turnovers seen in the observed velocities and spatially resolved mass outflow rates for the AGN with bolometric luminosities > 10 ^44 erg s ^−1 . This consistency indicates that radiation pressure is the dominant driving mechanism behind the NLR outflows in these moderate-luminosity AGNs, with a force multiplier ∼500 yielding the best agreement between the modeled and observed turnover radii. However, in Meena et al. we found that this trend may not hold at lower luminosities, where our modeled turnover distance for NGC 4051 is much smaller than in the observed kinematics. This result may indicate that either additional force(s) are responsible for accelerating the NLR outflows in low-luminosity AGNs, or higher spatial resolution observations are required to quantify their turnover radii.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/aca75fActive galactic nucleiAGN host galaxiesSeyfert galaxiesEmission line galaxiesGalaxy windsGalaxy kinematics |
| spellingShingle | Beena Meena D. Michael Crenshaw Henrique R. Schmitt Mitchell Revalski Zo Chapman Travis C. Fischer Steven B. Kraemer Justin H. Robinson Julia Falcone Garrett E. Polack Investigating the Narrow-line Region Dynamics in Nearby Active Galaxies The Astrophysical Journal Active galactic nuclei AGN host galaxies Seyfert galaxies Emission line galaxies Galaxy winds Galaxy kinematics |
| title | Investigating the Narrow-line Region Dynamics in Nearby Active Galaxies |
| title_full | Investigating the Narrow-line Region Dynamics in Nearby Active Galaxies |
| title_fullStr | Investigating the Narrow-line Region Dynamics in Nearby Active Galaxies |
| title_full_unstemmed | Investigating the Narrow-line Region Dynamics in Nearby Active Galaxies |
| title_short | Investigating the Narrow-line Region Dynamics in Nearby Active Galaxies |
| title_sort | investigating the narrow line region dynamics in nearby active galaxies |
| topic | Active galactic nuclei AGN host galaxies Seyfert galaxies Emission line galaxies Galaxy winds Galaxy kinematics |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/aca75f |
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