Search

We analyse optical data cubes of the inner kiloparsec of 30 local (z ≤ 0.02) active galactic nucleus (AGN) hosts that our research group, AGNIFS, has collected over the past decade via observations with the integral field units of the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrographs. Spatial resolutions range between 50 and 300 pc and spectral coverage is from 4800 or 5600 to 7000 Å, at velocity resolutions of ≈50  |$\rm ~km~s^{-1}$|⁠. We derive maps of the gas excitation and kinematics, and determine the AGN ionization axis – which has random orientation relative to the galaxy – and the kinematic major axes of the emitting gas. We find that rotation dominates the gas kinematics in most cases, but is disturbed by the presence of inflows and outflows. Outflows have been found in 21 nuclei, usually along the ionization axis. The gas velocity dispersion is traced by W 80 (velocity width encompassing 80 per cent of the line flux), adopted as a tracer of outflows. In seven sources, W 80 is enhanced perpendicularly to the ionization axis, indicating lateral expansion of the outflow. We have estimated mass-outflow rates |$\dot{M}$| and powers |$\dot{E}$|⁠ , finding median values of |$\log \, [\dot{M}/({\rm \, M_\odot \, yr^{-1}})]=-2.1_{-1.0}^{+1.6}$| and |$\log \, [\dot{E}/({\rm \, erg\, s^{-1}})]=38.5_{-0.9}^{+1.8}$|⁠ , respectively. Both quantities show a mild correlation with the AGN luminosity (L AGN). |$\dot{E}$| is of the order of 0.01 L AGN for four sources, but much lower for the majority (nine) of the sources, with a median value of |$\log \, [\dot{E}/L_{\rm AGN} ]=-5.34_{-0.9}^{+3.2}$|⁠ , indicating that typical outflows in the local Universe are unlikely to significantly impact their host galaxy evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to gauge the role that active galactic nuclei play in the evolution of galaxies via the effect of kinetic feedback in nearby QSO 2's (z ∼ 0.3), we observed eight such objects with bolometric luminosities |$L_{bol} \sim 10^{46}\rm {erg\, s^{-1}}$| using Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph-integral field units. The emission lines were fitted with at least two Gaussian curves, the broadest of which we attributed to gas kinetically disturbed by an outflow. We found that the maximum extent of the outflow ranges from ∼1 to 8 kpc, being |${\sim }\, 0.5\, {\pm }\, 0.3$| times the extent of the [ |$\mathrm{O\,{\small III}}$| ] ionized gas region. Our ' default ' assumptions for the gas density (obtained from the [ |$\mathrm{S\,{\small II}}$| ] doublet) and outflow velocities resulted in peak mass outflow rates of |$\dot{M}_{\mathrm{ out}}^{{\tt def}}\sim$|  3–30  |$\rm {M_{\odot }}\, yr^{-1}$| and outflow power of |$\dot{E}_{\mathrm{ out}}^{{\tt \mathrm{ def}}}\sim \, 10^{41}$| – |$10^{43}\, \mathrm{erg\, s^{-1}}$|⁠. The corresponding kinetic coupling efficiencies are |$\varepsilon _f^{{\tt def}}=\dot{E}_{\mathrm{ out}}^{{\tt def}}/L_{\mathrm{ bol}}\, \sim 7\times 10^{-4}$| –0.5 per cent, with the average efficiency being only 0.06 per cent (0.01 per cent median), implying little feedback powers from ionized gas outflows in the host galaxies. We investigated the effects of varying assumptions and calculations on |$\dot{M}_{\mathrm{ out}}$| and |$\dot{E}_{\mathrm{ out}}$| regarding the ionized gas densities, velocities, masses, and inclinations of the outflow relative to the plane of the sky, resulting in average uncertainties of 1 dex. In particular, we found that better indicators of the [ |$\mathrm{O\,{\small III}}$| ] emitting gas density than the default [ |$\mathrm{S\,{\small II}}$| ] line ratio, such as the [ |$\mathrm{Ar\,{\small IV}}$| ] λλ4711,40 line ratio, result in almost an order of magnitude decrease in the ε f . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]