Tracing the extreme interplay between radio jets and the ISM in IC5063

TL;DR

This study reports the discovery of a molecular gas outflow driven by radio jets in IC5063, highlighting the interaction between jets and the interstellar medium and its implications for galaxy evolution.

Contribution

First detection of a jet-driven molecular outflow in IC5063, demonstrating the impact of radio jets on the molecular gas component in a nearby Seyfert galaxy.

Findings

Molecular outflow mass between 2.25x10^7 and 1.29x10^8 solar masses

Mass outflow rate between 22 and 129 solar masses per year

Outflow likely occurs in bursts and is currently in a strong phase

Abstract

We report the discovery with the Atacama Pathfinder EXperiment (APEX) of an outflow of molecular gas in the radio-loud Seyfert galaxy IC5063 (z = 0.0110). In addition to the emission of the large-scale CO disk, a prominent blueshifted wing is observed in the CO(2-1) spectrum. IC5063 represents one of the best cases of a fast jet-driven HI (and ionized gas) outflow, which is located at the site of a radio-bright feature about 0.5 kpc from the nucleus. It is possible that the blueshifted part of the molecular gas is associated with this outflow and is accelerated by the interaction with the radio jet. The outflow of molecular gas is characterized by an H$_2$ mass of the outflowing component of between 2.25 +/- 0.70 x 10^7 M_sun and 1.29 +/- 0.40 x 10^8 M_sun and a mass outflow rate between 22 and 129 M_sun/yr depending on the assumption for alpha_X and assuming a luminosity ratio L'_CO(2-1)/L'_CO(1-0) = 1. This confirms that this may indeed be the dominant component in outflows driven by the nuclear activity that are also found in other objects. However, this high mass outflow rate cannot easily be supported for a long time, suggesting that the gas outflow in IC5063 happens in bursts and is in a particularly strong phase at present. Owing to its proximity, IC5063 serves as an excellent laboratory for understanding the impact of radio jets on the gas-rich inter-stellar medium.