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Alma Observations of Massive Molecular Gas Filaments Encasing Radio Bubbles in the Phoenix Cluster

Journal Article · · Astrophysical Journal
;  [1]; ;  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [6];  [7];  [8];  [9];  [10];  [11]
  1. Institute of Astronomy, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA (United Kingdom)
  2. Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States)
  3. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1 (Canada)
  4. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)
  5. Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Batavia, IL 60510-0500 (United States)
  6. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Missouri, Kansas City, MO 64110 (United States)
  7. Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637 (United States)
  8. Department of Physics, Durham University, Durham DH1 3LE (United Kingdom)
  9. Département de Physique, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC H3C 3J7 (Canada)
  10. Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721 (United States)
  11. School of Physics, University of Melbourne, Parkville VIC 3010 (Australia)
We report new ALMA observations of the CO(3-2) line emission from the 2.1±0.3×10{sup 10} M{sub ⊙} molecular gas reservoir in the central galaxy of the Phoenix cluster. The cold molecular gas is fueling a vigorous starburst at a rate of 500--800 M{sub ⊙} yr{sup −1} and powerful black hole activity in the forms of both intense quasar radiation and radio jets. The radio jets have inflated huge bubbles filled with relativistic plasma into the hot, X-ray atmospheres surrounding the host galaxy. The ALMA observations show that extended filaments of molecular gas, each 10--20 kpc long with a mass of several billion solar masses, are located along the peripheries of the radio bubbles. The smooth velocity gradients and narrow line widths along each filament reveal massive, ordered molecular gas flows around each bubble, which are inconsistent with gravitational free-fall. The molecular clouds have been lifted directly by the radio bubbles, or formed via thermal instabilities induced in low-entropy gas lifted in the updraft of the bubbles. These new data provide compelling evidence for close coupling between the radio bubbles and the cold gas, which is essential to explain the self-regulation of feedback. The very feedback mechanism that heats hot atmospheres and suppresses star formation may also paradoxically stimulate production of the cold gas required to sustain feedback in massive galaxies.
OSTI ID:
22869347
Journal Information:
Astrophysical Journal, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 836; ISSN ASJOAB; ISSN 0004-637X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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AGN feedback in the Phoenix cluster text January 2018
Resolving CO (2−1) in z ∼ 1.6 Gas-rich Cluster Galaxies with ALMA: Rotating Molecular Gas Disks with Possible Signatures of Gas Stripping journal January 2019
Multiwavelength radio observations of a brightest cluster galaxy at z = 1.71: detection of a modest active galactic nucleus and evidence for extended star formation journal May 2019
The First Astrophysical Result of Hisaki: A Search for the EUV He Lines in a Massive Cool Core Cluster at z = 0.7 journal August 2019
Cool-core Clusters: The Role of BCG, Star Formation, and AGN-driven Turbulence journal August 2018
Driving massive molecular gas flows in central cluster galaxies with AGN feedback journal September 2019
The Many Routes to AGN Feedback journal November 2017
Anatomy of a Cooling Flow: The Feedback Response to Pure Cooling in the Core of the Phoenix Cluster journal October 2019
Unifying the Micro and Macro Properties of AGN Feeding and Feedback journal March 2017
The VLT/MUSE view of the central galaxy in Abell 2052: Ionized gas swept by the expanding radio source★ journal April 2018
Constraining Gas Motions in the Intra-Cluster Medium text January 2019
Driving massive molecular gas flows in central cluster galaxies with AGN feedback text January 2019
Building a cluster: shocks, cavities, and cooling filaments in the group-group merger NGC 6338 text January 2019
IC 630: Piercing the Veil of the Nuclear Gas journal March 2017
Dense gas formation and destruction in a simulated Perseus-like galaxy cluster with spin-driven black hole feedback text January 2019
The Interplay of Kinetic and Radiative Feedback in Galaxy Clusters journal May 2019
IC 630: Piercing the Veil of the Nuclear Gas text January 2017
On the requirement for mixing-heating to utilize bubble cosmic rays to heat the intracluster medium text January 2018
Molecular Gas Filaments and Star-forming Knots Beneath an X-Ray Cavity in RXC J1504–0248 journal August 2018
The requirement for mixing-heating to utilize bubble cosmic rays to heat the intracluster medium journal October 2018
Constraining Gas Motions in the Intra-Cluster Medium journal February 2019
Ubiquitous cold and massive filaments in cool core clusters journal October 2019
Dense gas formation and destruction in a simulated Perseus-like galaxy cluster with spin-driven black hole feedback journal October 2019
The first astrophysical result of HISAKI: a search for the EUV He I lines a massive cool core cluster at z=0.7 text January 2019
Building a cluster: shocks, cavities, and cooling filaments in the group–group merger NGC 6338 journal June 2019
The Many Routes to AGN Feedback text January 2017
Multiwavelength radio observations of a Brightest Cluster Galaxy at z=1.71: Detection of a modest Active Galactic Nucleus and evidence for extended star formation text January 2019
Close entrainment of massive molecular gas flows by radio bubbles in the central galaxy of Abell 1795 journal September 2017
The Cold Circumgalactic Environment of MAMMOTH-I: Dynamically Cold Gas in the Core of an Enormous Ly α Nebula journal December 2019
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AGN feedback in the Phoenix cluster journal August 2018
An Enormous Molecular Gas Flow in the RX J0821+0752 Galaxy Cluster journal January 2019
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Close entrainment of massive molecular gas flows by radio bubbles in the central galaxy of Abell 1795 journalarticle January 2017
The Origin of Molecular Clouds in Central Galaxies journal February 2018
Molecular gas filaments and star-forming knots beneath an X-ray cavity in RXC J1504-0248 text January 2018
Revealing a Highly-Dynamic Cluster Core in Abell 1664 with Chandra text January 2018
Extended X-Ray Study of M49: The Frontier of the Virgo Cluster journal June 2019
The Origin of Molecular Clouds In Central Galaxies text January 2017
Broadband Radio Polarimetry of Fornax A. I. Depolarized Patches Generated by Advected Thermal Material from NGC 1316 journal March 2018
A Galaxy-scale Fountain of Cold Molecular Gas Pumped by a Black Hole journal September 2018
The ALMA Discovery of the Rotating Disk and Fast Outflow of Cold Molecular Gas in NGC 1275 journal October 2019
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