To investigate the effects of radio jets on the interstellar medium (ISM) of galaxies that host active galactic nuclei (AGNs), an international science team led by Interstellar Institute of Canada (IAC) researcher Anelise Audibert has come across an ideal case: a teacup galaxy. They studied the interaction of radio jets with cold gas around massive quasars.
Teacup is a radio-quiet quasar 1.3 billion light years away, so named because one of the expanding bubbles seen in optical and radio images resembles the handle of a teacup. In addition, tiny radio jets with a slight tilt toward the galactic disk are in the galaxy’s core region, which is about 3,300 light-years across.
To characterize the cold, dense gas in the center of the teacup, the team used observations from the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA). They specifically identified the emission of carbon monoxide molecules which can only exist under certain conditions of density and temperature.
Observations also showed that the compact jet, despite its low power, interfered with gas distribution and heating, accelerating to an unusual speed.
When the team reviewed the results, they found that the cold gas was more turbulent and warmer in the direction perpendicular to the jet’s propagation, as opposed to what they had expected in the affected areas along the jet’s length.
IAC researcher Anelise Audibert said, “This is caused by the shock of the jet-driven bubbles, which heat and explode the gas in lateral expansion. Supported by comparisons with computer simulations, we believe that the orientation between the cold gas disk and the jet is an important factor in driving these sidewinds efficiently.”
Cristina Ramos-Almeida, researcher at IAC and study co-author, He saidAnd “It was previously thought that low-energy jets had little effect on the galaxy, but work like ours shows that, even in the case of radio-quiet galaxies, jets can redistribute and disrupt the surrounding gas, and this will impact the galaxy’s ability to form stars. new.”
Journal Reference:
- A. Audibert et al., Excitation of Molecular Gases by Teacup Emissions and Turbulence, Astronomy and Astrophysics (2023). DOIs: 10.1051 / 0004-6361 / 202345964
