NuSTAR View of the Black Hole Wind in the Galaxy Merger IRAS F11119+3257
Abstract
Galactic winds driven by active galactic nuclei (AGNs) have been invoked to play a fundamental role in the co-evolution between supermassive black holes and their host galaxies. Finding observational evidence of such feedback mechanisms is of crucial importance and it requires a multi-wavelength approach in order to compare winds at different scales and phases. In Tombesi et al., we reported the detection of a powerful ultra-fast outflow (UFO) in the Suzaku X-ray spectrum of the ultra-luminous infrared galaxy IRAS F11119+3257. The comparison with a galaxy-scale OH molecular outflow observed with Herschel in the same source supported the energy-conserving scenario for AGN feedback. The main objective of this work is to perform an independent check of the Suzaku results using the higher sensitivity and wider X-ray continuum coverage of NuSTAR. We clearly detect a highly ionized Fe K UFO in the 100 ks NuSTAR spectrum with parameters N H = (3.2 ± 1.5) × 1024 cm-2, log ξ = {4.0}-0.3+1.2 erg s-1 cm, and {v}{out}={0.253}-0.118+0.061c. The launching radius is likely at a distance of r ≥ 16r s from the black hole. The mass outflow rate is in the range of {\dot{M}}{out} ≃ 0.5-2 M ⊙ yr-1. The UFO momentum rate and power are {\dot{P}}{out} ≃ 0.5-2 L AGN/c and {\dot{E}}{out} ≃ 7%-27% L AGN, respectively. The UFO parameters are consistent between the 2013 Suzaku and the 2015 NuSTAR observations. Only the column density is found to be variable, possibly suggesting a clumpy wind. The comparison with the energetics of molecular outflows estimated in infrared and millimeter wavelengths support a connection between the nuclear and galaxy-scale winds in luminous AGNs.
- Publication:
-
The Astrophysical Journal
- Pub Date:
- December 2017
- DOI:
- 10.3847/1538-4357/aa9579
- arXiv:
- arXiv:1710.07485
- Bibcode:
- 2017ApJ...850..151T
- Keywords:
-
- black hole physics;
- galaxies: active;
- line: identification;
- X-rays: galaxies;
- Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
- E-Print:
- Accepted for publication in ApJ