Quasar-Mode Feedback in Nearby Type 1 Quasars: Ubiquitous Kiloparsec-Scale Outflows and Correlations with Black Hole Properties

TL;DR

This study reveals that nearby Type 1 quasars ubiquitously host kiloparsec-scale outflows driven by their central black holes, with properties correlating with black hole mass, indicating a significant role of quasar-mode feedback in galaxy evolution.

Contribution

It introduces a new spectral PSF removal technique enabling detailed mapping of outflows in nearby quasars, demonstrating their ubiquity and correlation with black hole properties.

Findings

100% of sample host outflows with velocities up to 2600 km/s.

Outflow rates range from 1 to over 1000 solar masses per year.

Outflow energetics correlate with black hole mass.

Abstract

The prevalence and properties of kiloparsec-scale outflows in nearby Type 1 quasars have been the subject of little previous attention. This work presents Gemini integral field spectroscopy of ten Type 1 radio-quiet quasars at $z<0.3$. The excellent image quality, coupled with a new technique to remove the point spread function using spectral information, allow the fitting of the underlying host on a spaxel-by-spaxel basis. Fits to stars, line-emitting gas, and interstellar absorption show that 100% of the sample host warm ionized and/or cool neutral outflows with spatially-averaged velocities ($\langle v_{98\%}\rangle \equiv \langle v+2\sigma\rangle$) of 200-1300 km/s and peak velocities (maximum $v_{98\%}$) of 500-2600 km/s. These minor-axis outflows are powered primarily by the central AGN, reach scales of 3-12 kpc, and often fill the field of view. Including molecular data and Type 2 quasar measurements, nearby quasars show a wide range in mass outflow rates ($dM/dt = 1$ to $>$1000 M$_\odot$/yr) and momentum boosts [($c$ $dp/dt$)/L$_\mathrm{AGN}$ = 0.01-20]. After extending the mass scale to Seyferts, $dM/dt$ and $dE/dt$ correlate with black hole mass ($dM/dt \sim M_\mathrm{BH}^{0.7\pm0.3}$ and $dE/dt \sim M_\mathrm{BH}^{1.3\pm0.5}$). Thus, the most massive black holes in the local universe power the most massive and energetic quasar-mode winds.