Molecular Gas Dynamics in a Nearby AGN/Starburst

The Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 1433 was imaged with ALMA in CO 3-2 at the unprecedented spatial resolution of 0.5 arcseconds (24 pc), probing the active galactic nucleus (AGN) feeding and feedback phenomena through the morphology and dynamics of the gas inside the central kpc. ALMA reveals a nuclear bar of 400 pc radius embedded in the large-scale primary bar. The CO map also reveals a nuclear gaseous spiral structure inside the nuclear ring encircling the nuclear stellar bar. Most of the gas shows ordered rotation, although a strong (200 km/s, 7 M⊙/yr) outflow is seen in the nucleus, likely driven by the inner radio jets, possibly boosted by star formation.

Figure: A composite ALMA - HST image of the central parts of the nearby active galaxy NGC 1433. The faint blue background image shows the central dust lanes of this galaxy (HST). The red structures are the dust and molecular gas imaged by ALMA.

View Publication: ALMA observations of feeding and feedback in nearby Seyfert galaxies: an AGN-driven outflow in NGC 1433,F. Combes (Paris), S. García-Burillo (Madrid), V. Casasola (INAF Bologna), L. Hunt (INAF Firenzi), M. Krips (IRAM), A.J. Baker (Rutgers), A. Eckhart (F. Boone (CNRS), A. Eckart (Köln), I. Marquez (Andalucia), R. Neri (IRAM), E. Schinnerer (MPIfA), and L.J. Tacconi (MPIfeP), 2013 A&A, 558, 124 (October 2013).

Added 17 Jan 2014

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