We present a multi-wavelength study of the gaseous medium surrounding the nearby active galactic nucleus (AGN), Fornax A. Using MeerKAT, ALMA, and MUSE observations, we reveal a complex distribution of the atomic (H I), molecular (CO), and ionised gas in its centre and along the radio jets. By studying the multi-scale kinematics of the multi-phase gas, we reveal the presence of concurrent AGN feeding and feedback phenomena. Several clouds and an extended 3 kpc filament - perpendicular to the radio jets and the inner disk (r ≲ 4.5 kpc) - show highly-turbulent kinematics, which likely induces non-linear condensation and subsequent chaotic cold accretion (CCA) onto the AGN. In the wake of the radio jets and in an external (r ≳ 4.5 kpc) ring, we identify an entrained massive (∼10^7 M⊙) multi-phase outflow (vOUT ∼ 2000 km s^−1). The rapid flickering of the nuclear activity of Fornax A (∼3 Myr) and the gas experiencing turbulent condensation raining onto the AGN provide quantitative evidence that a recurrent, tight feeding and feedback cycle may be self-regulating the activity of Fornax A, in agreement with CCA simulations. To date, this is one of the most in-depth probes of such a mechanism, paving the way to apply these precise diagnostics to a larger sample of nearby AGN hosts and their multi-phase inter stellar medium.
AGN feeding and feedback in Fornax A: kinematical analysis of the multi-phase ISM / Maccagni, FILIPPO MARCELLO; Serra, Paolo; Gaspari, Massimo; Kleiner, D.; Morokuma-Matsui, K.; Oosterloo, T. A.; Onodera, M.; Kamphuis, P.; Loi, F.; Thorat, K.; Ramatsoku, M.; Smirnov, O.; White, S. V.. - In: ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS. - ISSN 0004-6361. - 656:(2021), pp. A45-N/A. [10.1051/0004-6361/202141143]
AGN feeding and feedback in Fornax A: kinematical analysis of the multi-phase ISM
GASPARI, MASSIMO;
2021
Abstract
We present a multi-wavelength study of the gaseous medium surrounding the nearby active galactic nucleus (AGN), Fornax A. Using MeerKAT, ALMA, and MUSE observations, we reveal a complex distribution of the atomic (H I), molecular (CO), and ionised gas in its centre and along the radio jets. By studying the multi-scale kinematics of the multi-phase gas, we reveal the presence of concurrent AGN feeding and feedback phenomena. Several clouds and an extended 3 kpc filament - perpendicular to the radio jets and the inner disk (r ≲ 4.5 kpc) - show highly-turbulent kinematics, which likely induces non-linear condensation and subsequent chaotic cold accretion (CCA) onto the AGN. In the wake of the radio jets and in an external (r ≳ 4.5 kpc) ring, we identify an entrained massive (∼10^7 M⊙) multi-phase outflow (vOUT ∼ 2000 km s^−1). The rapid flickering of the nuclear activity of Fornax A (∼3 Myr) and the gas experiencing turbulent condensation raining onto the AGN provide quantitative evidence that a recurrent, tight feeding and feedback cycle may be self-regulating the activity of Fornax A, in agreement with CCA simulations. To date, this is one of the most in-depth probes of such a mechanism, paving the way to apply these precise diagnostics to a larger sample of nearby AGN hosts and their multi-phase inter stellar medium.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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