Gas and stars in compact (young) radio sources

TL;DR

This paper investigates the formation, evolution, and nuclear activity of compact radio sources by analyzing gas and stellar components through multi-wavelength observations, revealing insights into galaxy development and AGN feedback.

Contribution

It combines emission and absorption studies of neutral hydrogen with stellar population analysis to explore galaxy formation and AGN triggering in compact radio sources.

Findings

Detection of large-scale neutral hydrogen emission in nearby sources.

Evidence of fast outflows in distant compact radio sources.

Support for the young radio AGN hypothesis through outflow observations.

Abstract

Gas can be used to trace the formation and evolution of galaxies as well as the impact that the nuclear activity has on the surrounding medium. For nearby compact radio sources, we have used observations of neutral hydrogen - that we detected in emission distributed over very large scales - combined with the study of the stellar population and deep optical images to investigate the history of the formation of their host galaxy and the triggering of the activity. For more distant and more powerful compact radio sources, we have used optical spectra and HI - in absorption - to investigate the presence of fast outflows that support the idea that compact radio sources are young radio loud AGN observed during the early stages of their evolution and currently shredding their natal cocoons through extreme circumnuclear outflows. We will review the most recent results obtained from these projects.