Galactic-scale Feedback Observed in the 3C 298 Quasar Host Galaxy

December 2017 • 2017ApJ...851..126V

Authors • Vayner, Andrey • Wright, Shelley A. • Murray, Norman • Armus, Lee • Larkin, James E. • Mieda, Etsuko

Abstract • We present high angular resolution multiwavelength data of the 3C 298 radio-loud quasar host galaxy (z = 1.439) taken using the W.M. Keck Observatory OSIRIS integral field spectrograph (IFS) with adaptive optics, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) WFC3, and the Very Large Array (VLA). Extended emission is detected in the rest-frame optical nebular emission lines Hβ, [O III], Hα, [N II], and [S II], as well as in the molecular lines CO (J = 3-2) and (J = 5-4). Along the path of the relativistic jets of 3C 298, we detect conical outflows in ionized gas emission with velocities of up to 1700 {km} {{{s}}}^-1 and an outflow rate of 450-1500 {M}_⊙ {{yr}}^-1 extended over 12 kpc. Near the spatial center of the conical outflow, CO (J = 3-2) emission shows a molecular gas disk with a rotational velocity of ±150 {km} {{{s}}}^-1 and total molecular mass ({M}_{{{H}}₂}) of 6.6+/- 0.36× {10}⁹ {M}_⊙ . On the blueshifted side of the molecular disk, we observe broad extended emission that is due to a molecular outflow with a rate of 2300 {M}_⊙ {{yr}}^-1 and depletion timescale of 3 Myr. We detect no narrow Hα emission in the outflow regions, suggesting a limit on star formation of 0.3 {M}_⊙ {{yr}}^-1 {{kpc}}^-2. Quasar-driven winds are evacuating the molecular gas reservoir, thereby directly impacting star formation in the host galaxy. The observed mass of the supermassive black hole is {10}^9.37{--9.56} {M}_⊙ , and we determine a dynamical bulge mass of {M}_{bulge}=1{--}1.7× {10}¹⁰\tfrac{R}{1.6 {kpc}} {M}_⊙ . The bulge mass of 3C 298 lies 2-2.5 orders of magnitude below the expected value from the local galactic bulge—supermassive black hole mass ({M}_{bulge}{--}{M}_{BH}) relationship. A second galactic disk observed in nebular emission is offset from the quasar by 9 kpc, suggesting that the system is an intermediate-stage merger. These results show that galactic-scale negative feedback is occurring early in the merger phase of 3C 298, well before the coalescence of the galactic nuclei and assembly on the local {M}_{bulge}{--}{M}_{BH} relationship.

Links

• PREPRINT http://arxiv.org/abs/1709.03510
• NED https://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/uri/NED::InRefcode/2017ApJ...851..126V
• ELECTR https://doi.org/10.3847%2F1538-4357%2Faa9c42
• SIMBAD http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbo.pl?bibcode=2017ApJ...851..126V
• PDF https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/aa9c42/pdf
• PDF https://stacks.iop.org/0004-637X/851/126/pdf
• DATA https://archive.stsci.edu/mastbibref.php?bibcode=2017ApJ...851..126V
• DATA https://hst.esac.esa.int/ehst/#/pages/search;bibcode=2017ApJ...851..126V