The Kinematics and Ionization of Nuclear Gas Clouds in Centaurus A

TL;DR

This paper investigates the ionization and kinematics of a nuclear gas cloud in Centaurus A, proposing jet impact and photoionization as key processes, and constrains jet parameters based on observed emission lines.

Contribution

It introduces a combined shock and photoionization model for the cloud, emphasizing the role of jet impact and X-ray ionization, and constrains jet Lorentz factors and inclination angles.

Findings

Photoionization explains observed emission lines better than shock models.

Jet impact likely causes the cloud's blue-shifted emission.

Constraints on jet Lorentz factors and inclination angles based on cloud density.

Abstract

Neumayer et al. established the existence of a blue-shifted cloud in the core of Centaurus A, within a few parsecs of the nucleus and close to the radio jet. We propose that the cloud has been impacted by the jet, and that it is in the foreground of the jet, accounting for its blue-shifted emission on the Southern side of the nucleus. We consider both shock excitation and photoionization models for the excitation of the cloud. Shock models do not account for the [SiVI] and [CaVIII] emission line fluxes. However, X-ray observations indicate a source of ionizing photons in the core of Centaurus A; photoionization by the inferred flux incident on the cloud can account for the fluxes in these lines relative to Brackett-gamma. The power-law slope of the ionizing continuum matches that inferred from synchrotron models of the X-rays. The logarithm of the ionization parameter is -1.9, typical of that in Seyfert galaxies and consistent with the value proposed for dusty ionized plasmas. The model cloud density depends upon the Lorentz factor of the blazar and the inclination of our line of sight to the jet axis. For acute inclinations, the inferred density is consistent with expected cloud densities. However, for moderate inclinations of the jet to the line of sight, high Lorentz factors imply cloud densities in excess of $10^5 cm^{-3}$ and very low filling factors, suggesting that models of the gamma ray emission should incorporate jet Lorentz factors $\lesssim 5$.