2014/01/31 by Guilin Liu, Nadia L. Zakamska, Jenny E. Greene · 3 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Active galactic nucleus #Astronomy #Astrophysics #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #Doubly ionized oxygen #Emission spectrum #Extragalactic astronomy #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Galaxy #Ion #Ionization #Luminosity #OVV quasar #Physics #Quasar #Spectral line #Star formation #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph.CO #astro-ph.GA #astro-ph.HE
paper · pdf · doi:10.1093/mnras/stu974
published as Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 2014, Volume 442, Issue 2, p.1303-1318 · 17 pages, 10 figures, 2 tables. Published in MNRAS, 2014
openalex publication_date 2014/06/11 · arxiv created 2015/03/25 · arxiv updated 2015/03/26 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Quasar feedback is suspected to play a key role in the evolution of massive galaxies, by removing or reheating gas in quasar host galaxies and thus limiting the amount of star formation. In this paper, we continue our investigation of quasar-driven winds on galaxy-wide scales. We conduct Gemini Integral Field Unit spectroscopy of a sample of luminous unobscured (type 1) quasars, to determine the morphology and kinematics of ionized gas around these objects, predominantly via observations of the [O iii] λ5007 Å emission line. We find that ionized gas nebulae extend out to ∼13 kpc from the quasar, that they are smooth and round, and that their kinematics are inconsistent with gas in dynamical equilibrium with the host galaxy. The observed morphological and kinematic properties are strikingly similar to those of ionized gas around obscured (type 2) quasars with matched [O iii] luminosity, with marginal evidence that nebulae around unobscured quasars are slightly more compact. Therefore, in samples of obscured and unobscured quasars carefully matched in [O iii] luminosity, we find support for the standard geometry-based unification model of active galactic nuclei, in that the intrinsic properties of the quasars, of their hosts and of their ionized gas appear to be very similar. Given the apparent ubiquity of extended ionized regions, we are forced to conclude that either the quasar is at least partially illuminating pre-existing gas or that both samples of quasars are seen during advanced stages of quasar feedback. In the latter case, we may be biased by our [O iii]-based selection against quasars in the early ‘blow-out’ phase, for example due to dust obscuration.