SUPER VII. Morphology and kinematics of H$\alpha$ emission in AGN host galaxies at Cosmic noon using SINFONI

TL;DR

This study uses adaptive optics integral field spectroscopy to analyze the morphology and kinematics of Hα emission in 21 AGN host galaxies at z~2, revealing diverse ionization sources, extended emission, and signs of feedback.

Contribution

It provides the first spatially resolved analysis of Hα in a significant sample of high-redshift AGN hosts, distinguishing between AGN and star formation ionization.

Findings

76% of galaxies show extended Hα emission.

30% of galaxies have Hα ionized by AGN.

Evidence of AGN-driven outflows in some galaxies.

Abstract

We present spatially resolved H$\alpha$ properties of 21 type 1 AGN host galaxies at z$\sim$2 derived from the SUPER survey. These targets were observed with the adaptive optics capabilities of the SINFONI spectrograph, a near-infrared integral field spectrograph, that provided a median spatial resolution of 0.3 arcsec ($\sim$2 kpc). We model the H$\alpha$ emission line profile in each pixel to investigate whether it traces gas in the narrow line region or if it is associated with star formation. To do this, we first investigate the presence of resolved H$\alpha$ emission by removing the contribution of the AGN PSF. We find extended H$\alpha$ emission in sixteen out of the 21 type 1 AGN host galaxies (76%). Based on the BPT diagnostics, optical line flux ratios and the line widths (FWHM), we show that the H$\alpha$ emission in five galaxies is ionised by the AGN (30%), in four galaxies by star formation (25%) and for the rest (45%), the ionisation source is unconstrained. Two galaxies show extended H$\alpha$ FWHM $>$600 km/s, which is interpreted as a part of an AGN-driven outflow. Morphological and kinematic maps of H$\alpha$ emission in targets with sufficient signal-to-noise ratio suggest the presence of rotationally supported disks in six galaxies and possible presence of companions in four galaxies. In two galaxies, we find an anti-correlation between the locations of extended H$\alpha$ emission and [OIII]-based ionised outflows, indicating possible negative feedback at play. However, in the majority of galaxies, we do not find evidence of outflows impacting H$\alpha$ based star formation.