Misc,
Jet-driven galaxy-scale gas outflows in the hyper-luminous quasar 3C273
(2019)cite arxiv:1905.10387Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ.
Abstract
We present an unprecedented view on the morphology and kinematics of the
extended narrow-line region (ENLR) and molecular gas around the prototypical
hyper-luminous quasar 3C273 ($L\sim10^47$ erg/s at z=0.158) based on VLT-MUSE
optical 3D spectroscopy and ALMA observations. We find that: 1) The ENLR size
of 12.1$\pm$0.2kpc implies a smooth continuation of the size-luminosity
relation out to large radii or a much larger break radius as previously
proposed. 2) The kinematically disturbed ionized gas with line splits reaching
1000km/s out to 6.1$\pm$1.5kpc is aligned along the jet axis. 3) The extreme
line broadening on kpc scales is caused by spatial and spectral blending of
many distinct gas clouds separated on sub-arcsecond scales with different
line-of-sight velocities. The ENLR velocity field combined with the known jet
orientation rule out a simple scenario of a radiatively-driven radial expansion
of the outflow. Instead we propose that a pressurized expanding hot gas cocoon
created by the radio jet is impacting on an inclined gas disk leading to
transverse and/or backflow motion with respect to our line-of-sight. The
molecular gas morphology may either be explained by a density wave at the front
of the outflow expanding along the jet direction as predicted by positive
feedback scenario or the cold gas may be trapped in a stellar over-density
caused by a recent merger event. Using 3C273 as a template for observations of
high-redshift hyper-luminous AGN reveals that large-scale ENLRs and kpc scale
outflows may often be missed due to the brightness of the nuclei and the
limited sensitivity of current near-IR instrumentation.
