DISCOVERY OF AN ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEUS DRIVEN MOLECULAR OUTFLOW IN THE LOCAL EARLY-TYPE GALAXY NGC 1266

Journal Article · Sun Jul 10 00:00:00 EDT 2011 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/735/2/88· OSTI ID:21578402

Alatalo, K; Blitz, L ^[1]; Young, L M ^[2]; Davis, T A; Bureau, M; Cappellari, M; Scott, N; Davies, R L ^[3]; Lopez, L A ^[4]; Shapiro, K L ^[5]; Crocker, A F ^[6]; MartIn, S ^[7]; Bois, M; Emsellem, E ^[8]; Bournaud, F; Duc, P -A ^[9]; De Zeeuw, P T; Krajnovic, D ^[10]; Falcon-Barroso, J ^[11]; Khochfar, S ^[12]

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1. Department of Astronomy, Campbell Hall, University of California-Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States)
2. Physics Department, New Mexico Tech, Socorro, NM 87801 (United States)
3. Sub-department of Astrophysics, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Denys Wilkinson Building, Keble Road, Oxford OX1 3RH (United Kingdom)
4. Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, 159 Interdisciplinary Sciences Building, University of California-Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 (United States)
5. Aerospace Research Laboratories, Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems, Redondo Beach, CA 90278 (United States)
6. Department of Astronomy, Lederle Graduate Research Tower B 619E, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003 (United States)
7. European Southern Observatory, Alonso de Cordova 3107, Vitacura, Casilla 19001, Santiago 19 (Chile)
8. Observatoire de Paris, LERMA and CNRS, 61 avenue del'Observatoire, F-75014 Paris (France)
9. Laboratoire AIM, CEA-Saclay/DSM/IRFU/SAp-CNRS-Universite Paris Diderot, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette (France)
10. European Southern Observatory, Karl-Schwarzschild-Str 2, 85748 Garching (Germany)
11. Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, C/Via Lactea, s/n, E-38205 La Laguna (Tenerife) (Spain)
12. Max-Planck-Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, Giessenbachstrae, 85748 Garching (Germany)

We report the discovery of a powerful molecular wind from the nucleus of the non-interacting nearby S0 field galaxy NGC 1266. The single-dish CO profile exhibits emission to {+-}400 km s{sup -1} and requires a nested Gaussian fit to be properly described. Interferometric observations reveal a massive, centrally concentrated molecular component with a mass of 1.1 x 10{sup 9} M{sub sun} and a molecular outflow with a molecular mass of {approx}2.4 x 10{sup 7} M{sub sun}. The molecular gas close to the systemic velocity consists of a rotating, compact nucleus with a mass of about 4.1 x 10{sup 8} M{sub sun} within a radius of {approx}60 pc. This compact molecular nucleus has a surface density of {approx}2.7 x 10{sup 4} M{sub sun} pc{sup -2}, more than two orders of magnitude larger than that of giant molecular clouds in the disk of the Milky Way, and it appears to sit on the Kennicutt-Schmidt relation despite its extreme kinematics and energetic activity. We interpret this nucleus as a disk that confines the outflowing wind. A mass outflow rate of {approx}13 M{sub sun} yr{sup -1} leads to a depletion timescale of {approx}<85 Myr. The star formation in NGC 1266 is insufficient to drive the outflow, and thus it is likely driven by the active galactic nucleus. The concentration of the majority of the molecular gas in the central 100 pc requires an extraordinary loss of angular momentum, but no obvious companion or interacting galaxy is present to enable the transfer. NGC 1266 is the first known outflowing molecular system that does not show any evidence of a recent interaction.

• OSTI ID: 21578402
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 735, Issue 2; Other Information: DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/735/2/88; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
CARBON MONOXIDE
EMISSION
GALACTIC EVOLUTION
GALAXIES
GAS FLOW
MASS
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBON OXIDES
CHALCOGENIDES
EVOLUTION
FLUID FLOW
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS