SDSS J0025-10 at z=0.30: a (U)LIRG to optical QSO transition candidate

TL;DR

This study characterizes the molecular gas in a merging quasar host galaxy at z=0.30, revealing a transitional phase consistent with the (U)LIRG to optical QSO evolution, with spatially resolved CO emission and evidence of tidal dwarf galaxy formation.

Contribution

First spatially resolved CO observations of a z=0.30 quasar host galaxy, linking molecular gas distribution to galaxy evolution stages.

Findings

Molecular gas mass ~6 x 10^9 Msun distributed in two main reservoirs.

Approximately 60% of gas is near the nucleus, 40% in tidal tail.

System exhibits properties of a transitional (U)LIRG to QSO phase.

Abstract

We have characterized the amount, spatial distribution and kinematics of the molecular gas in the merging, double nucleus type 2 quasar SDSS J0025-10 at z=0.30 using the CO(1-0) transition, based on data obtained with ATCA. This is one of the scarce examples of quasar host galaxies where the CO emission has been resolved spatially at any redshift. We infer a molecular gas mass M(H2) = (6 +/- 1) x 1e9 Msun, which is distributed in two main reservoirs separated by ~9 kpc. ~60% of the gas is in the central region, associated with the QSO nucleus and/or the intermediate region between the two nuclei. The other 40% is associated with the northern tidal tail and is therefore unsettled. With its high infrared luminosity L(IR) = (1.1 +/- 0.3) x 1e12 Lsun, SDSS J0025-10 is an analogue of local luminous LIRGs and ULIRGs. On the other hand, the clear evidence for an ongoing major merger of two gas rich progenitors, the high L(IR) dominated by a starburst, the massive reservoir of molecular gas with a large fraction still unsettled, and the quasar activity are all properties consistent with a transition phase in the (U)LIRG-optical QSO evolutionary scenario. We propose that we are observing the system during a particular transient phase, prior to more advanced mergers where the nuclei have already coalesced. We argue that a fraction of the molecular gas reservoir is associated with a tidal dwarf galaxy identified in the optical HST image at the tip of the northern tidal tail. The formation of such structures is predicted by simulations of colliding galaxies.