Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Outflows are one of the most spectacular mechanisms through which active galactic nuclei (AGN) impact their host galaxy, though the role of AGN-driven outflows in global star formation regulation across the galaxy population is unclear. NGC 1266 is an excellent case study for investigating outflows and star formation quenching because it is a nearby ( D ∼ 30 Mpc) AGN host galaxy with an outflow driving shocks through the interstellar medium (ISM) and has recently quenched its star formation outside the nucleus. While previous works have studied the molecular outflow from its CO emission, to fully characterize the impact the outflow has on the ISM observations probing the dense, cold gas are necessary. Our Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array Cycle 0 observations do not detect a molecular outflow in 13 CO(2–1) and yield a lower limit of 12 CO/ 13 CO ≥ 250, suggesting a highly optically thin CO outflow with low 13 CO abundance. In contrast, we detect substantial HCN(1–0) emission in the outflow, with an HCN(1–0)/ 12 CO(1–0) ratio of 0.09, consistent with global measurements of many star-forming galaxies and luminous infrared galaxies. We conclude that the CO emission traces a diffuse component of the molecular gas with a low optical depth, whereas the HCN(1–0) traces dense clumps of gas entrained in the outflow. We measure an upper limit molecular outflow rate of <85 M ⊙ yr –1 . Assuming the ongoing nuclear star formation and outflow continue at the same rates, NGC 1266 will deplete its gas reservoir in 450 Myr or longer, indicating that relatively low-level AGN feedback is capable of gradually expelling the molecular gas reservoir after a rapid quenching event.
Source: The Astrophysical Journal
Authors: Justin Atsushi Otter, Katherine Alatalo, Kate Rowlands, Pallavi Patil, Maya Skarbinski, Lauren Dysarz, Mark Lacy, María J. Jiménez-Donaire, Susanne Aalto, Timothy A. Davis, Antoniu Fodor, K. Decker French, Nanase Harada, Timothy Heckman, Ryo Kishikawa, Sebastian Lopez, Yuanze Luo, Sergio Martin, Anne M. Medling, Kristina Nyland, Andreea Petric, Namrata Roy, Mamiko Sato, Elizaveta Sazonova, Adam Smercina, Akshat Tripathi
Institutions: Johns Hopkins University, Space Telescope Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Spanish National Observatory, Chalmers University of Technology, Cardiff University, University of Toledo, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, The Graduate University for Advanced Studies, SOKENDAI, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Arizona State University, The University of Tokyo, The Ohio State University, Texas A&M University, Atacama Large Millimeter Submillimeter Array, European Southern Observatory, United States Naval Research Laboratory, University of Waterloo
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $4,499
Funders: National Science Foundation, Research Corporation for Science Advancement, Maryland Space Grant Consortium, Space Telescope Science Institute, National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, National Science and Technology Council, National Institutes of Natural Sciences, Astrophysics Division
OpenAlex ID: W7126216634