Optical, near-IR and sub-mm IFU Observations of the nearby dual AGN Mrk 463

TL;DR

This study uses optical, near-IR, and sub-mm IFU observations to analyze the gas dynamics, star formation, and SMBH activity in the nearby dual AGN Mrk 463, revealing complex morphology, outflows, and molecular gas properties in a late-stage galaxy merger.

Contribution

First detailed multi-wavelength IFU and ALMA study of Mrk 463 revealing gas dynamics, outflows, and SMBH accretion processes in a dual AGN merger.

Findings

Detection of high-velocity outflows (>600 km/s) associated with Mrk 463E.

Presence of large molecular gas reservoir (~10^9 M_sun) in the system.

Evidence for a significant luminosity drop in Mrk 463E over 40,000 years.

Abstract

We present optical and near-IR Integral Field Unit (IFU) and ALMA band 6 observations of the nearby dual Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) Mrk 463. At a distance of 210 Mpc, and a nuclear separation of $\sim$4 kpc, Mrk 463 is an excellent laboratory to study the gas dynamics, star formation processes and supermassive black hole (SMBH) accretion in a late-stage gas-rich major galaxy merger. The IFU observations reveal a complex morphology, including tidal tails, star-forming clumps, and emission line regions. The optical data, which map the full extent of the merger, show evidence for a biconical outflow and material outflowing at $>$600 km s$^{-1}$, both associated with the Mrk 463E nucleus, together with large scale gradients likely related to the ongoing galaxy merger. We further find an emission line region $\sim$11 kpc south of Mrk 463E that is consistent with being photoionized by an AGN. Compared to the current AGN luminosity, the energy budget of the cloud implies a luminosity drop in Mrk 463E by a factor 3-20 over the last 40,000 years. The ALMA observations of $^{12}$CO(2-1) and adjacent 1mm continuum reveal the presence of $\sim$10$^{9}$M$_\odot$ in molecular gas in the system. The molecular gas shows velocity gradients of $\sim$800 km/s and $\sim$400 km/s around the Mrk 463E and 463W nuclei, respectively. We conclude that in this system the infall of $\sim$100s $M_\odot$/yr of molecular gas is in rough balance with the removal of ionized gas by a biconical outflow being fueled by a relatively small, $<$0.01% of accretion onto each SMBH.