Does the Compact Radio Jet in PG 1700+518 Drive a Molecular Outflow?

Date

2018

Authors

Runnoe, Jessie
Gültekin, Kayhan
Rupke, David

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Publisher

IOP Publishing

Abstract

Radio jets play an important role in quasar feedback, but direct observations showing how the jets interact with the multi-phase interstellar medium of galaxy disks are few and far between. In this work, we provide new millimeter interferometric observations of PG 1700+518 in order to investigate the effect of its radio jet on the surrounding molecular gas. PG 1700 is a radio-quiet, low-ionization broad absorption line quasar whose host galaxy has a nearby interacting companion. On subkiloparsec scales, the ionized gas is driven to high velocities by a compact radio jet that is identified by radio interferometry. We present observations from the NOrthern Extended Millimeter Array (NOEMA) interferometer with a 3farcs8 (16 kpc) synthesized beam where we detect the $\mathrm{CO}(1\to 0)$ emission line at $30\sigma $ significance with a total flux of 3.12 ± 0.02 Jy km s−1 and a typical velocity dispersion of 125 ± 5 km s−1. Despite the outflow in ionized gas, we find no concrete evidence that the CO gas is being affected by the radio jet on size scales of a kiloparsec or more. However, a ~1'' drift in the spatial centroid of the CO emission as a function of velocity across the emission line and the compact nature of the jet hint that higher spatial resolution observations may reveal a signal of interaction between the jet and molecular gas.

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Source

The Astrophysical Journal

Type

Journal article

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Access Statement

Open Access

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