DISCOVERY OF AN ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEUS DRIVEN MOLECULAR OUTFLOW IN THE LOCAL EARLY-TYPE GALAXY NGC 1266
Top Cited Papers
- 21 June 2011
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Astronomical Society in The Astrophysical Journal
- Vol. 735 (2), 88
- https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637x/735/2/88
Abstract
We report the discovery of a powerful molecular wind from the nucleus of the non-interacting nearby S0 field galaxy NGC 1266. The single-dish CO profile exhibits emission to ±400 km s–1 and requires a nested Gaussian fit to be properly described. Interferometric observations reveal a massive, centrally concentrated molecular component with a mass of 1.1 × 109 M ☉ and a molecular outflow with a molecular mass of ≈2.4 × 107 M ☉. The molecular gas close to the systemic velocity consists of a rotating, compact nucleus with a mass of about 4.1 × 108 M ☉ within a radius of ≈60 pc. This compact molecular nucleus has a surface density of ≈2.7 × 104 M ☉ pc–2, more than two orders of magnitude larger than that of giant molecular clouds in the disk of the Milky Way, and it appears to sit on the Kennicutt-Schmidt relation despite its extreme kinematics and energetic activity. We interpret this nucleus as a disk that confines the outflowing wind. A mass outflow rate of ≈13 M ☉ yr–1 leads to a depletion timescale of 85 Myr. The star formation in NGC 1266 is insufficient to drive the outflow, and thus it is likely driven by the active galactic nucleus. The concentration of the majority of the molecular gas in the central 100 pc requires an extraordinary loss of angular momentum, but no obvious companion or interacting galaxy is present to enable the transfer. NGC 1266 is the first known outflowing molecular system that does not show any evidence of a recent interaction.This publication has 58 references indexed in Scilit:
- The ATLAS3D project - I. A volume-limited sample of 260 nearby early-type galaxies: science goals and selection criteriaMonthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 2011
- THE STAR FORMATION LAW IN NEARBY GALAXIES ON SUB-KPC SCALESThe Astronomical Journal, 2008
- Radiative Efficiency and Content of Extragalactic Radio Sources: Toward a Universal Scaling Relation between Jet Power and Radio PowerThe Astrophysical Journal, 2008
- Measuring the inclination and mass-to-light ratio of axisymmetric galaxies via anisotropic Jeans models of stellar kinematicsMonthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 2008
- The Calibration of Mid‐Infrared Star Formation Rate IndicatorsThe Astrophysical Journal, 2007
- Radio properties of FIR-megamaser nucleiAstronomy & Astrophysics, 2006
- Star Formation in NGC 5194 (M51a): The Panchromatic View fromGALEXtoSpitzerThe Astrophysical Journal, 2005
- Efficient multi-Gaussian expansion of galaxiesMonthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 2002
- The high-velocity molecular flows near young stellar objectsThe Astrophysical Journal, 1983
- A survey of interstellar H I from L-alpha absorption measurements. IIThe Astrophysical Journal, 1978