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We use Gemini Near-Infrared Integral Field Spectrograph (NIFS) adaptive optics assisted data cubes to map the stellar population of the inner few hundred parsec of a sample of 18 nearby Seyfert galaxies. The near-infrared light is dominated by the contribution of young to intermediate-age stellar populations, with light-weighted mean ages ‹t›L ≲ 1.5 Gyr. Hot dust (HD) emission is centrally peaked (in the unresolved nucleus), but it is also needed to reproduce the continuum beyond the nucleus in nearly half of the sample. We have analysed the stellar population properties of the nuclear region and their relation with more global properties of the galaxies. We find a correlation between the X-ray luminosity and the contributions from the HD, featureless continuum (FC), and reddening AV. We attribute these correlations to the fact that all these properties are linked to the mass accretion rate to the active galactic nuclei (AGNs). We also find a correlation of the bolometric luminosity log(LBolobs) with the mass-weighted mean age of the stellar population, interpreted as due a delay between the formation of new stars and the triggering/feeding of the AGN. The gas reaching the supermassive black hole is probably originated from mass loss from the already somewhat evolved intermediate-age stellar population (‹t›L ≲ 1.5 Gyr). In summary, our results show that there is a significant fraction of young to intermediate-age stellar populations in the inner few 100 pc of active galaxies, suggesting that this region is facing a rejuvenation process in which the AGN, once triggered, precludes further star formation, in the sense that it can be associated with the lack of new star formation in the nuclear region.

We study the gas distribution and kinematics of the inner kpc of six moderately luminous (43.43 ≤ log Lbol ≤ 44.83) nearby (0.004 ≤ z ≤ 0.014) Seyfert galaxies observed with the Near-infrared Integral Field Spectrograph (NIFS) in the J (⁠1.25μm) and K (⁠2.2μm) bands. We analyse the most intense emission lines detected on these spectral wavebands: [Fe ii] 1.2570μm and Paβ, which trace the ionized gas in the partially and fully ionized regions, and H2 2.1218μm, which traces the hot (∼2000 K) molecular gas. The dominant kinematic component is rotation in the disc of the galaxies, except for the ionized gas in NGC 5899 that shows only weak signatures of a disc component. We find ionized gas outflow in four galaxies, while signatures of H2 outflows are seen in three galaxies. The ionized gas outflows display velocities of a few hundred km s−1, and their mass outflow rates are in the range 0.005–12.49 M⊙ yr−1. Their kinetic powers correspond to 0.005–0.7 per cent of the active galactic nuclei (AGN) bolometric luminosities. Besides rotation and outflows signatures in some cases, the H2 kinematics also reveals inflows in three galaxies. The inflow velocities are 50–80 km s−1 and the mass inflow rates are in the range 1–9 × 10−4 M⊙ yr−1 for hot molecular gas. These inflows might be only the hot skin of the total inflowing gas, which is expected to be dominated by colder gas. The mass inflow rates are lower than the current accretion rates to the AGN, and the ionized outflows are apparently disturbing the gas in the inner kpc.

The merger remnant NGC 34 is a local luminous infrared galaxy (LIRG) hosting a nuclear starburst and a hard X-ray source associated with a putative, obscured Seyfert 2 nucleus. In this work, we use adaptive optics assisted near-infrared (NIR) integral field unit observations of this galaxy to map the distribution and kinematics of the ionized and molecular gas in its inner 1.2kpc×1.2kpc⁠, with a spatial resolution of 70 pc. The molecular and ionized gas kinematics is consistent with a disc with projected major axis along a mean PA = −9∘.2 ± 0∘.9. Our main findings are that NGC 34 hosts an AGN and that the nuclear starburst is distributed in a circumnuclear star formation ring with inner and outer radii of ≈ 60 and 180 pc, respectively, as revealed by maps of the [FeII]/Paβ and H2/Br γ emission-line ratios, and corroborated by PCA tomography analysis. The spatially resolved NIR diagnostic diagram of NGC 34 also identifies a circumnuclear structure dominated by processes related to the stellar radiation field and a nuclear region where [FeII] and H2 emissions are enhanced relative to the hydrogen recombination lines. We estimate that the nuclear X-ray source can account for the central H2 enhancement and conclude that [FeII] and H2 emissions are due to a combination of photoionization by young stars, excitation by X-rays produced by the AGN and shocks. These emission lines show nuclear, broad, blueshifted components that can be interpreted as nuclear outflows driven by the AGN.

We use the Gemini NIFS instrument to map the H22.1218μm and Brγ flux distributions in the inner 0.04–2 kpc of a sample of 36 nearby active galaxies (0.001 ≲ z ≲ 0.056) at spatial resolutions from 4 to 250 pc. We find extended emission in 34 galaxies. In ∼55 per cent of them, the emission in both lines is most extended along the galaxy major axis, while in the other 45 per cent the extent follows a distinct orientation. The emission of H2 is less concentrated than that of Brγ, presenting a radius that contains half of the flux 60 per cent greater, on average. The H2 emission is driven by thermal processes – X-ray heating and shocks – at most locations for all galaxies, where 0.4 6 (seen in 40 per cent of the galaxies), shocks are the main H2 excitation mechanism, while in regions with H2/Brγ < 0.4 (25 per cent of the sample) the H2 emission is produced by fluorescence. The only difference we found between type 1 and type 2 active galactic nucleus (AGN) was in the nuclear emission-line equivalent widths that are smaller in type 1 than in type 2 due to a larger contribution to the continuum from the hot dusty torus in the former. The gas masses in the inner 125 pc radius are in the range 101−104 M⊙ for the hot H2 and 103−106 M⊙ for the ionized gas and would be enough to power the AGN in our sample for 105−108 yr at their current accretion rates.

Galaxy mergers are central to our understanding of galaxy formation, especially within the context of hierarchical models. Besides having a large impact on the star formation history, mergers are also able to influence gas motions at the centre of galaxies and trigger an active galactic nucleus (AGN). In this paper, we present a case study of the Seyfert galaxy NGC 2992, which together with NGC 2993 forms the early-stage merger system Arp 245. Using Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph integral field unit data from the inner 1.1 kpc of the galaxy, we were able to spatially resolve the stellar populations, the ionization mechanism, and kinematics of ionized gas. From full spectral synthesis, we found that the stellar population is primarily composed by old metal-rich stars (t ≥ 1.4 Gyr, Z ≥ 2.0 Z⊙), with a contribution of at most 30 per cent of the light from a young and metal-poor population (t ≤ 100 Myr, Z ≤ 1.0 Z⊙). We detect H α and H β emission from the broad-line region with a full width at half-maximum of ∼2000 kms−1⁠. The narrow-line region kinematics presents two main components: one from gas orbiting the galaxy disc and a blueshifted (velocity ≈ −200 kms−1⁠) outflow, possibly correlated with the radio emission, with mass outflow rate of ∼2 M⊙ yr−1 and a kinematic power of ∼2 × 1040 erg s−1 (⁠E˙out/Lbol ≈ 0.2 per cent). We also show even though the main ionization mechanism is the AGN radiation, ionization by young stars and shocks may also contribute to the emission line ratios presented in the innermost region of the galaxy.

The near-infrared spectra of active galactic nuclei (AGN) present emission lines of different atomic and molecular species. The mechanisms involved in the origin of these emission lines in AGN are still not fully understood. We use J- and K-band integral field spectra of six luminous (43.1 < logLbol/(erg s−1) < 44.4) Seyfert galaxies (NGC 788, Mrk 607, NGC 3227, NGC 3516, NGC 5506, and NGC 5899) in the local Universe (0.0039

We have used the Gemini Near-Infrared Integral Field Spectrograph in the J and K bands to map the distribution, excitation, and kinematics of the ionized H ii and warm molecular gas H2, in the inner few 100 pc of six nearby active galaxies: NGC 788, Mrk 607, NGC 3227, NGC 3516, NGC 5506, NGC 5899. For most galaxies, this is the first time that such maps have been obtained. The ionized and H2 gas show distinct kinematics: while the H2 gas is mostly rotating in the galaxy plane with low velocity dispersion (σ), the ionized gas usually shows signatures of outflows associated with higher σ values, most clearly seen in the [Fe ii] emission line. These two gas species also present distinct flux distributions: the H2 is more uniformly spread over the whole galaxy plane, while the ionized gas is more concentrated around the nucleus and/or collimated along the ionization axis of its active galactic nucleus (AGN), presenting a steeper gradient in the average surface mass density profile than the H2 gas. The total H ii masses cover the range 2×105--2×107 M⊙, with surface mass densities in the range 3–150 M⊙ pc−2, while for the warm H2 the values are 103–4 times lower. We estimate that the available gas reservoir is at least ≈ 100 times more massive than needed to power the AGN. If this gas forms new stars the star formation rates, obtained from the Kennicutt–Schmidt scaling relation, are in the range 1–260 × 10−3 M⊙ yr−1. But the gas will also – at least in part – be ejected as the observed outflows

We present a spatially resolved stellar population study of the inner∼200 pc radius ofNGC 4303 based on near-infrared integral field spectroscopy with SINFONI/VLT at a spatial resolution of 40–80 pc and using the STARLIGHT code. We found that the distribution of thestellar populations presents a spatial variation, suggesting an age stratification. Three main structures stand out. Two nuclear blobs, one composed by young stars (t≤50 Myr) and onewith intermediate-age stars (50 Myr2 Gyr) is distributed outside the two blob structures.For the nuclear region (inner∼60 pc radius) we derived an SFR of 0.43 M yr−1and foundno signatures of non-thermal featureless continuum and hot dust emission, supporting thescenario in which an LLAGN/LINER-like source is hidden in the centre of NGC 4303. Thus, our results reveal a rather complex star formation history in NGC 4303, with different stellar population components coexisting with a low efficiency accreting black hole in its centre.

We map optical and near-infrared (NIR) stellar population properties of the inner 320 × 535 pc2 of the elliptical galaxy NGC 1052. The optical and NIR spectra were obtained using the Gemini Integral Field Units of the GMOS instrument and NIFS, respectively. By performing stellar population synthesis in the optical alone, we find that this region of the galaxy is dominated by old (t > 10 Gyr) stellar populations. Using the NIR, we find the nucleus to be dominated by old stellar populations, and a circumnuclear ring with younger (~2.5 Gyr) stars. We also combined the optical and NIR datacubes and performed a panchromatic spatially resolved stellar population synthesis, which resulted in a dominance of older stellar populations, in agreement with optical results. We argue that the technique of combining optical and NIR data might be useful to isolate the contribution of stellar population ages with strong NIR absorption bands. We also derive the stellar kinematics and find that the stellar motions are dominated by a high (~240 km s−1) velocity dispersion in the nucleus, with stars also rotating around the centre. Lastly, we measure the absorption bands, both in the optical and in the NIR, and find a nuclear drop in their equivalent widths. The favoured explanation for this drop is a featureless continuum emission from the low luminosity active galactic nucleus.

Com o objetivo de estudar a relação entre a formação estelar circumnuclear e o nucleo ativo de galaxias, apresentamos aqui um estudo detalhado de uma galaxia prototipo: NG4303. Assim, apresentamos o estudo das populações estelares na região central (r . 200 pc) dessa fonte, atrav es de espectroscopia de campo integral no infravermelho pr oximo ( 1.1-2.4 m). Os dados foram obtidos com o instrumento SINFONI, anexado ao telesc opio VLT e apresentam resolução espacial de 40-80 pc. A metodologia do trabalho consiste em realizar sintese de população estelar utilizando o codigo starlight e novas gerações de modelos de populações estelares. Como primeira parte do trabalho, testamos a confiabilidade dos modelos no intervalo espectral do infravermelho proximo. Depois disso, aplicamos a metodologia a NGC4303, no intuito de estudar o historico de formação estelar espacialmente resolvido nessa fonte. Encontramos que a distribuiçao das populações estelares apresenta uma variação espacial, sugerindo uma estratificaçao em idade. Tres principais estruturas se destacam: Dois blobs, um composto por estrelas jovens (t 50 106anos) e outro composto por estrelas de idade intermediaria (50 106anos < t 2 109anos), ambos deslocados do centro. A terceira e uma estrutura do tipo bra co-espiral interno com estrelas de idade intermediaria, circundando o blob de estrelas jovens. Nossos resultados indicam que a formação estelar ocorreu atrraves de m ultiplos surtos de formação estelar nessa fonte. Alem do mais, as populaçoes estelares mais jovens (t . 2 Gyr) estão distribu das ao longo de um anel de formação estelar circumnuclear, com raio de r 250 pc. O anel apresenta taxas de formação estelar (SFRs) no intervalo de 0.002-0.14M ano1, favorecendo o cenario de formação estelar chamado `pearls-on-a-string'. A componente velha da população estelar (t > 2 109anos), a qual atribu mos a população estelar do bojo, esta distribuída fora dos dois blobs de idades mais jovens. Para a região nuclear (r 60 pc internos), derivamos um SFR de 0.43M ano1 e não encontramos nenhuma assinatura de continuo não-termico ou emissão de poeira quente, dando suporte ao cenario no qual um AGN de baixa luminosidade/LINER esta obscurecido no centro de NGC4303. Assim, nossos resultados revelam um cenario complexo de historico de formação estelar em NGC4303, com diferentes componentes da população estelar coexistindo com um buraco negro de baixa e ciência de acreção no seu centro. Aimed at studying the relation between circumnuclear star-formation and the active galactic nuclei, we present here a detailed study of a prototype object: NG4303. We present a stellar population study of the inner 200 pc radius of this source using near-infrared ( 1.1-2.4 m) integral eld spectroscopy with the VLT instrument SINFONI at a spatial resolution of 40-80 pc. Our methodology consists of performing stellar population synthesis using the starlight code and new generations of stellar population models. As the rst part of this thesis, we tested the reliability of the stellar population models in the near-infrared, after that, we applied our methodology to NGC4303 in order to study spatially the star formation history of this source. We found the distribution of the stellar populations presents a spatial variation, suggesting an age strati cation. Three main structures stand out. Two nuclear blobs, one composed by young stars (t 50 Myr) and one with intermediateage stars (50 Myr < t 2 Gyr) both shifted from the centre. The third one is an internal intermediate-age spiral arm-like structure, surrounding the blob of young stars. Our results indicate star formation has occurred through multiple bursts in this source. Furthermore, the younger stellar populations (t . 2 Gyr) are distributed along a circumnuclear star-forming ring with r 250 pc. The ring displays star formation rates (SFRs) in the range of 0.002-0.14M yr1, favoring the `pearls-on-astring' scenario. The old underlying bulge stellar population component (t > 2 Gyr) is distributed outside the two blob structures. For the nuclear region (inner 60 pc radius) we derived a SFR of 0.43M yr1 and found no signatures of non-thermal featureless continuum and hot dust emission, supporting the scenario in which a LLAGN/LINER-like source is hidden in the centre of NGC4303. Thus, our results reveal a rather complex star formation history in NGC4303, with di erent stellar population components coexisting with a low e ciency accreting black hole in its centre.

We present and characterize a sample of 20 nearby Seyfert galaxies selected for having BAT 14–195 keV luminosities LX ≥ 1041.5 erg s−1, redshift z ≤ 0.015, being accessible for observations with the Gemini Near-Infrared Field Spectrograph (NIFS) and showing extended [O III]λ5007 emission. Our goal is to study Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN) feeding and feedback processes from near-infrared integral-field spectra, which include both ionized (H II) and hot molecular (H2) emission. This sample is complemented by other nine Seyfert galaxies previously observed with NIFS.We show that the host galaxy properties (absolute magnitudes MB, MH, central stellar velocity dispersion and axial ratio) show a similar distribution to those of the 69 BAT AGN. For the 20 galaxies already observed, we present surface mass density ( ) profiles for HII and H2 in their inner ∼500 pc, showing that HII emission presents a steeper radial gradient thanH2. This can be attributed to the different excitationmechanisms: ionization by AGN radiation for HII and heating by X-rays for H2. The mean surface mass densities are in the range (0.2 ≤ HII ≤ 35.9)M pc−2, and (0.2 ≤ H2 ≤ 13.9)× 10−3M pc−2, while the ratios between the HII and H2 masses range between ∼200 and 8000. The sample presented here will be used in future papers to map AGN gas excitation and kinematics, providing a census of the mass inflow and outflow rates and power as well as their relation with the AGN luminosity.

We performed a near-infrared (NIR; ∼1.0 –2.4 μm) stellar population study in a sample of early-type galaxies. The synthesis was performed using five different evolutionary population synthesis libraries of models. Our main results can be summarized as follows: low-spectral-resolution libraries are not able to produce reliable results when applied to the NIR alone, with each library finding a different dominant population. The two newest higher resolution models, on the other hand, perform considerably better, finding consistent results to each other and to literature values. We also found that optical results are consistent with each other even for lower resolution models. We also compared optical and NIR results and found out that lower resolution models tend to disagree in the optical and in the NIR, with higher fraction of young populations in the NIR and dust extinction ∼1 mag higher than optical values. For higher resolution models, optical and NIR results tend to agree much better, suggesting that a higher spectral resolution is fundamental to improve the quality of the results.

We present Gemini/GNIRS (Gemini Near-Infrared Spectrograph) spectroscopy of the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 4388, with simultaneous coverage from 0.85 to 2.5 μm. Several spatially extended emission lines are detected for the first time, both in the obscured and unobscured portion of the optical narrow-line region (NLR), allowing us to assess the combined effects of the central continuum source, outflowing gas and shocks generated by the radio jet on the central 280 pc gas. The HI and [Fe II] lines allow us to map the extinction affecting the NLR. We found that the nuclear region is heavily obscured, with E(B − V) ∼ 1.9 mag. To the NE of the nucleus and up to ∼150 pc, the extinction remains large, ∼1 mag or larger, consistent with the system of dust lanes seen in optical imaging.We derived position–velocity diagrams for the most prominent lines as well as for the stellar component. Only the molecular gas and the stellar component display a well-organized pattern consistent with disc rotation. Other emission lines are kinematically perturbed or show little evidence of rotation. Extended high-ionization emission of sulphur, silicon and calcium is observed to distances of at least 200 pc both NE and SW of the nucleus. We compared flux ratios between these lines with photoionization models and conclude that radiation from the central source alone cannot explain the observed high-ionization spectrum. Shocks between the radio jet and the ambient gas are very likely an additional source of excitation. We conclude that NGC 4388 is a prime laboratory to study the interplay between all these mechanisms.

We use the Gemini Near-Infrared Integral Field Spectrograph (NIFS) to map the stellar kinematics of the inner few hundred parsecs of a sample of 16 nearby Seyfert galaxies, at a spatial resolution of tens of parsecs and spectral resolution of 40 kms−1. We find that the line-of-sight (LOS) velocity fields for most galaxies are well reproduced by rotating disc models. The kinematic position angle (PA) derived for the LOS velocity field is consistent with the large-scale photometric PA. The residual velocities are correlated with the hard X-ray luminosity, suggesting that more luminous active galactic nuclei have a larger impact in the surrounding stellar dynamics. The central velocity dispersion values are usually higher than the rotation velocity amplitude, what we attribute to the strong contribution of bulge kinematics in these inner regions. For 50 per cent of the galaxies, we find an inverse correlation between the velocities and the h3 Gauss–Hermitte moment, implying red wings in the blueshifted side and blue wings in the redshifted side of the velocity field, attributed to the movement of the bulge stars lagging the rotation. Two of the 16 galaxies (NGC 5899 and Mrk 1066) show an S-shape zero velocity line, attributed to the gravitational potential of a nuclear bar. Velocity dispersion (σ) maps show rings of low-σ values (∼50–80 km s−1) for four objects and ‘patches’ of low σ for six galaxies at 150–250 pc from the nucleus, attributed to young/ intermediate age stellar populations.