Evidence for quasar fast outflows being accelerated at the scale of tens of parsecs

TL;DR

This paper provides direct evidence that quasar outflows are accelerated at scales of about ten parsecs, with their velocities increasing with distance, and discusses their role in galaxy evolution.

Contribution

It reports the galactocentric distances of outflow components, revealing acceleration at ~10 parsecs, and links outflow kinematics to dust-driven models affecting galaxy feedback.

Findings

Outflow distance increases with velocity, from several to over a hundred parsecs.

Outflows carry about 1% of quasar energy.

Kinematics consistent with dust-driven acceleration at the dusty torus scale.

Abstract

Quasar outflows may play a crucial role in regulating the host galaxy, although the spatial scale of quasar outflows remain a major enigma, with their acceleration mechanism poorly understood. The kinematic information of outflow is the key to understanding its origin and acceleration mechanism. Here, we report the galactocentric distances of different outflow components for both a sample and an individual quasar. We find that the outflow distance increases with velocity, with a typical value from several parsecs to more than one hundred parsecs, providing direct evidence for an acceleration happening at a scale of the order of 10 parsecs. These outflows carry ~1% of the total quasar energy, while their kinematics are consistent with a dust driven model with a launching radius comparable to the scale of a dusty torus, indicating that the coupling between dust and quasar radiation may produce powerful feedback that is crucial to galaxy evolution.