Zusammenfassung
The early-type galaxy NGC 5195 (alternatively known as M51b) possesses
extended gas features detected in multi-wavelength, postulated to be associated
with previous activities of the central supermassive black hole (SMBH). Using
integral field spectroscopic observations from the Canada-France-Hawaii
Telescope (CFHT)/SITELLE, we report on the discovery of a new large-scale
ionized gas structure traced by O III, N II, and H$\alpha$ line emission,
extending to $\sim10\rm\,kpc$ 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
$M_out = 3.5-27.9 \rm\, M_ødot\, yr^-1$ and $E_out
= 0.98-7.9\times10^40\rm\, erg\, s^-1$, 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 HI 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.
Nutzer