Powerful Nuclear Outflows and Circumgalactic Medium Shocks Driven by the Most Luminous Known Obscured Quasar in the Universe
We report integral field spectroscopy observations with the Near-Infrared Spectrograph on board the James Webb Space Telescope, targeting the 60 kpc environment surrounding the most luminous obscured quasar known at z = 4.6. We detect ionized gas filaments on 40 kpc scales connecting a network of me...
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2025-01-01
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/addbdd |
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| author | Andrey Vayner Tanio Díaz-Santos Peter R. M. Eisenhardt Daniel Stern Lee Armus Daniel Anglés-Alcázar Roberto J. Assef Román Fernández Aranda Andrew W. Blain Hyunsung D. Jun Chao-Wei Tsai Niranjan Chandra Roy Drew Brisbin Carl D. Ferkinhoff Manuel Aravena Jorge González-López Guodong Li Mai Liao Devika Shobhana Jingwen Wu Dejene Zewdie |
| author_facet | Andrey Vayner Tanio Díaz-Santos Peter R. M. Eisenhardt Daniel Stern Lee Armus Daniel Anglés-Alcázar Roberto J. Assef Román Fernández Aranda Andrew W. Blain Hyunsung D. Jun Chao-Wei Tsai Niranjan Chandra Roy Drew Brisbin Carl D. Ferkinhoff Manuel Aravena Jorge González-López Guodong Li Mai Liao Devika Shobhana Jingwen Wu Dejene Zewdie |
| author_sort | Andrey Vayner |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | We report integral field spectroscopy observations with the Near-Infrared Spectrograph on board the James Webb Space Telescope, targeting the 60 kpc environment surrounding the most luminous obscured quasar known at z = 4.6. We detect ionized gas filaments on 40 kpc scales connecting a network of merging galaxies, likely to form a cluster. We find regions of low ionization consistent with large-scale shock excitation surrounding the central dust-obscured quasar, out to distances nearly 8 times the effective stellar radius of the quasar host galaxy. In the nuclear region, we find an ionized outflow driven by the quasar with velocities reaching 13,000 km s ^−1 , one of the fastest discovered to date, with an outflow rate of 2000 M _⊙ yr ^−1 and a kinetic luminosity of 6 × 10 ^46 erg s ^−1 , resulting in a coupling efficiency between the bolometric luminosity of the quasar and the outflow of 5%. The kinetic luminosity of the outflow is sufficient to power the turbulent motion of the gas on galactic and circumgalactic scales, and is likely the primary driver of the radiative shocks on interstellar medium and circumgalactic medium scales. This provides compelling evidence supporting long-standing theoretical predictions that powerful quasar outflows are a main driver in regulating the heating and accretion rate of gas onto massive central cluster galaxies. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-d433989cfd0d4fb9953cc63cee421096 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1538-4357 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
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| series | The Astrophysical Journal |
| spelling | doaj-art-d433989cfd0d4fb9953cc63cee4210962025-08-22T15:19:59ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal1538-43572025-01-01989223010.3847/1538-4357/addbddPowerful Nuclear Outflows and Circumgalactic Medium Shocks Driven by the Most Luminous Known Obscured Quasar in the UniverseAndrey Vayner0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0710-3729Tanio Díaz-Santos1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0699-6083Peter R. M. Eisenhardt2Daniel Stern3https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2686-9241Lee Armus4https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3498-2973Daniel Anglés-Alcázar5https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5769-4945Roberto J. Assef6https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9508-3667Román Fernández Aranda7https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7714-688XAndrew W. Blain8https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7489-5167Hyunsung D. Jun9https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1470-5901Chao-Wei Tsai10https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9390-9672Niranjan Chandra Roy11https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0487-3090Drew Brisbin12https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4795-419XCarl D. Ferkinhoff13https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6266-0213Manuel Aravena14https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6290-3198Jorge González-López15https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3926-1411Guodong Li16https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4007-5771Mai Liao17https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9137-7019Devika Shobhana18https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5033-8056Jingwen Wu19https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7808-3756Dejene Zewdie20https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4293-7507IPAC, California Institute of Technology , 1200 E. California Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA ; avayner@ipac.caltech.eduInstitute of Astrophysics , Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas (FORTH), Heraklion, 70013, Greece; School of Sciences, European University Cyprus , Diogenes Street, Engomi, 1516 Nicosia, CyprusJet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology , 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109, USAJet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology , 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109, USAIPAC, California Institute of Technology , 1200 E. California Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA ; avayner@ipac.caltech.eduDepartment of Physics, University of Connecticut , 196 Auditorium Road, U-3046, Storrs, CT 06269-304, USAInstituto de Estudios Astrofísicos, Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias, Universidad Diego Portales , Av. Ejército Libertador 441, Santiago, ChileInstitute of Astrophysics , Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas (FORTH), Heraklion, 70013, Greece; Department of Physics, University of Crete , Heraklion, 70013, GreeceSchool of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester , Leicester, LE1 7RH, UKDepartment of Physics, Northwestern College , 101 7th Street SW, Orange City, IA 51041, USA; School of Physics, Korea Institute for Advanced Study , 85 Hoegiro, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul, 02455, Republic of KoreaNational Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences , 20A Datun Road, Beijing 100101, People’s Republic of China; Institute for Frontiers in Astronomy and Astrophysics, Beijing Normal University , Beijing 102206, People’s Republic of ChinaDepartment of Physics, University of Connecticut , 196 Auditorium Road, U-3046, Storrs, CT 06269-304, USAInstituto de Estudios Astrofísicos, Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias, Universidad Diego Portales , Av. Ejército Libertador 441, Santiago, ChileWinona State University , Winona, MN 55987, USAInstituto de Estudios Astrofísicos, Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias, Universidad Diego Portales , Av. Ejército Libertador 441, Santiago, ChileInstituto de Astrofísica, Facultad de Física, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile , Santiago 7820436, Chile; Las Campanas Observatory, Carnegie Institution of Washington , Raúl Bitrán 1200, La Serena, ChileInstituto de Estudios Astrofísicos, Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias, Universidad Diego Portales , Av. Ejército Libertador 441, Santiago, Chile; National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences , 20A Datun Road, Beijing 100101, People’s Republic of ChinaInstituto de Estudios Astrofísicos, Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias, Universidad Diego Portales , Av. Ejército Libertador 441, Santiago, Chile; National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences , 20A Datun Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100101, People’s Republic of China; Chinese Academy of Sciences South America Center for Astronomy , National Astronomical Observatories, CAS, Beijing 100101, People’s Republic of ChinaInstituto de Estudios Astrofísicos, Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias, Universidad Diego Portales , Av. Ejército Libertador 441, Santiago, ChileNational Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences , 20A Datun Road, Beijing 100101, People’s Republic of China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100049, People’s Republic of ChinaCentre for Space Research, North-West University , Potchefstroom, 2520, South AfricaWe report integral field spectroscopy observations with the Near-Infrared Spectrograph on board the James Webb Space Telescope, targeting the 60 kpc environment surrounding the most luminous obscured quasar known at z = 4.6. We detect ionized gas filaments on 40 kpc scales connecting a network of merging galaxies, likely to form a cluster. We find regions of low ionization consistent with large-scale shock excitation surrounding the central dust-obscured quasar, out to distances nearly 8 times the effective stellar radius of the quasar host galaxy. In the nuclear region, we find an ionized outflow driven by the quasar with velocities reaching 13,000 km s ^−1 , one of the fastest discovered to date, with an outflow rate of 2000 M _⊙ yr ^−1 and a kinetic luminosity of 6 × 10 ^46 erg s ^−1 , resulting in a coupling efficiency between the bolometric luminosity of the quasar and the outflow of 5%. The kinetic luminosity of the outflow is sufficient to power the turbulent motion of the gas on galactic and circumgalactic scales, and is likely the primary driver of the radiative shocks on interstellar medium and circumgalactic medium scales. This provides compelling evidence supporting long-standing theoretical predictions that powerful quasar outflows are a main driver in regulating the heating and accretion rate of gas onto massive central cluster galaxies.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/addbddQuasarsHigh-redshift galaxy clustersSupermassive black holesShocksCircumgalactic medium |
| spellingShingle | Andrey Vayner Tanio Díaz-Santos Peter R. M. Eisenhardt Daniel Stern Lee Armus Daniel Anglés-Alcázar Roberto J. Assef Román Fernández Aranda Andrew W. Blain Hyunsung D. Jun Chao-Wei Tsai Niranjan Chandra Roy Drew Brisbin Carl D. Ferkinhoff Manuel Aravena Jorge González-López Guodong Li Mai Liao Devika Shobhana Jingwen Wu Dejene Zewdie Powerful Nuclear Outflows and Circumgalactic Medium Shocks Driven by the Most Luminous Known Obscured Quasar in the Universe The Astrophysical Journal Quasars High-redshift galaxy clusters Supermassive black holes Shocks Circumgalactic medium |
| title | Powerful Nuclear Outflows and Circumgalactic Medium Shocks Driven by the Most Luminous Known Obscured Quasar in the Universe |
| title_full | Powerful Nuclear Outflows and Circumgalactic Medium Shocks Driven by the Most Luminous Known Obscured Quasar in the Universe |
| title_fullStr | Powerful Nuclear Outflows and Circumgalactic Medium Shocks Driven by the Most Luminous Known Obscured Quasar in the Universe |
| title_full_unstemmed | Powerful Nuclear Outflows and Circumgalactic Medium Shocks Driven by the Most Luminous Known Obscured Quasar in the Universe |
| title_short | Powerful Nuclear Outflows and Circumgalactic Medium Shocks Driven by the Most Luminous Known Obscured Quasar in the Universe |
| title_sort | powerful nuclear outflows and circumgalactic medium shocks driven by the most luminous known obscured quasar in the universe |
| topic | Quasars High-redshift galaxy clusters Supermassive black holes Shocks Circumgalactic medium |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/addbdd |
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