The AGN Ionization Cones of NGC 5728 : I - Excitation and Nuclear Structure

TL;DR

This study investigates the complex nuclear structure, gas excitation mechanisms, and multi-wavelength observations of the ionization cones in the Seyfert galaxy NGC 5728, revealing detailed interactions between the AGN, star formation, and the interstellar medium.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive multi-wavelength analysis of the nuclear and ionization cone structures, highlighting the impact of AGN activity and dust obscuration in NGC 5728.

Findings

AGN is hidden by a dust bar with high extinction

X-ray jet aligns with ionization cones and high-excitation lines

Molecular hydrogen is concentrated in a disk, separate from cones

Abstract

We explore the gas morphology and excitation mechanisms of the ionization cones of the Type II Seyfert galaxy NGC 5728. Near-IR and optical data from the SINFONI and MUSE IFUs on the VLT are combined with $HST$ optical images, $Chandra$ X-ray data and VLA radio observations. The complex nuclear structure has a star-forming (SF) ring with a diameter of 2 kpc. A radio jet impacts on the ISM at about 200 pc from the nucleus, with the SN remnants in the SF ring also present. Emission-line ratios of [Fe II] and H II show heavy extinction towards the nucleus, moderate extinction in the SF ring and reduced extinction in the ionization cones. The AGN is hidden by a dust bar with up to 19 magnitudes of visual extinction; the dust temperature at the nuclear position is ~870 K. An X-ray jet is aligned with the ionization cones, and associated with high-excitation emission lines of [Si VI] in a coronal-line region extending 300 pc from the nucleus. Molecular hydrogen is spatially independent of the cones, concentrated in a disk equatorial to the star-forming ring, but also showing entrainment along the sides of the bicone. Gas masses for warm and cold H$_2$, H I and H II are estimated, and the excitation mechanisms for ionized and molecular gas are elucidated, from both optical (which shows a clean SF-AGN mixing sequence) and infrared diagnostics (which show more complicated, multi-component excitation regimes).