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Literature
Date: 11/19/2024

Arxiv: A case study of gas impacted by black-hole jets with the JWST: outflows, bow shocks, and high excitation of the gas in the galaxy IC5063 Published: 6/5/2024 3:58:02 PM Updated: 11/18/2024 5:18:13 PM


Paper abstract: We present James Webb Space Telescope MIRI data of the inner 3x2kpc^2 of thegalaxy IC5063, in which the jets of a supermassive black hole interact with thegaseous disk they are crossing. Jet-driven outflows were known to be initiatedalong or near the jet path and to modify the stability of molecular clouds,possibly altering their star formation properties. The MIRI data, ofunprecedented resolution and sensitivity in the infrared, now reveal that thereare more than ten discrete regions with outflows, nearly doubling the number ofsuch known regions. Outflows exist near the radio lobes, at the nucleus, in abiconical structure perpendicular to the jet, and in a bubble moving againstthe disk. In some of them, velocities above escape velocity are observed.Stratification is also observed, with higher ionization or excitation gasattaining higher velocities. More outflows and bow shocks, found further awayfrom the nucleus than the radio lobes, in regions without significant radioemission, reveal the existence of past or weak radio jets that interacted withthe interstellar medium. The coincidence of the bow shocks with the opticalextended emission line region (EELR) suggests that the jets also contributed tothe gas ionization. Maps of the H2 gas excitation temperature, T_ex, indicatethat the molecular gas is most excited in regions with radio emission. There,T_ex is >100 K higher than in the EELR interior. We argue that a combination ofjet-related shocks and cosmic rays is likely responsible for this excessmolecular gas excitation.