Galactic-scale Feedback Observed in the 3C 298 Quasar Host Galaxy
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.
- Publication:
-
The Astrophysical Journal
- Pub Date:
- December 2017
- DOI:
- 10.3847/1538-4357/aa9c42
- arXiv:
- arXiv:1709.03510
- Bibcode:
- 2017ApJ...851..126V
- Keywords:
-
- galaxies: active;
- galaxies: high-redshift;
- galaxies: kinematics and dynamics;
- quasars: emission lines;
- quasars: individual: 3C 298;
- quasars: supermassive black holes;
- Astrophysics - Astrophysics of Galaxies
- E-Print:
- 23 pages, 11 figures, 4 tables, Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal