The Close AGN Reference Survey (CARS)

No evidence of galaxy-scale hot outflows in two nearby AGN^⋆

¹ Yale Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics, and Physics Department, Yale University, PO Box 2018120 New Haven, CT, 06520-8120 USA
e-mail: meredith.powell@yale.edu
² Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie, Königstuhl 17, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany
³ Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden St., Cambridge, MA, 02138 USA
⁴ Leibniz-Institut für Astrophysik Potsdam, An der Sternwarte 16, 14482 Potsdam, Germany
⁵ Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, R3T 2N2, Canada
⁶ Carlson Center for Imaging Science, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY, 14623, USA
⁷ I. Physikalisches Institut der Universität zu Köln, Zülpicher Str. 77, 50937 Köln, Germany
⁸ LERMA, Observatoire de Paris, Collège de France, PSL Univ., CNRS, Sorbonne Univ., 75014 Paris, France
⁹ Sydney Institute for Astronomy, School of Physics, A28, The University of Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia
¹⁰ School of Physics & Astronomy, Cardiff University, Queens Buildings, The Parade, Cardiff, CF24 3AA, UK
¹¹ Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Auf dem Hügel 69, 53121 Bonn, Germany
¹² School of Physics & Astronomy, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY, 14623, USA
¹³ Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, Glorieta de la Astronomía s/n, 18008 Granada, Spain
¹⁴ Departamento de Física Teórica, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Zaragoza, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
¹⁵ Gemini Observatory, Northern Operations Center, 670 N. A’ohoku Pl., Hilo, Hawaii, 96720, USA

Received: 14 May 2018
Accepted: 30 June 2018

Abstract

Aims. We probe the radiatively-efficient, hot wind feedback mode in two nearby luminous unobscured (type 1) AGN from the Close AGN Reference Survey (CARS), which show intriguing kpc-scale arc-like features of extended [O III]ionized gas as mapped with VLT-MUSE. We aimed to detect hot gas bubbles that would indicate the existence of powerful, galaxy-scale outflows in our targets, HE 0227–0931 and HE 0351+0240, from deep (200 ks) Chandra observations.

Methods. By measuring the spatial and spectral properties of the extended X-ray emission and comparing with the sub kpc-scale IFU data, we are able to constrain feedback scenarios and directly test if the ionized gas is due to a shocked wind.

Results. No extended hot gas emission on kpc-scales was detected. Unless the ambient medium density is low (n _H  ∼  1 cm⁻³ at 100 pc), the inferred upper limits on the extended X-ray luminosities are well below what is expected from theoretical models at matching AGN luminosities.

Conclusions. We conclude that the highly-ionized gas structures on kpc scales are not inflated by a hot outflow in either target, and instead are likely caused by photoionization of pre-existing gas streams of different origins. Our nondetections suggest that extended X-ray emission from an AGN-driven wind is not universal, and may lead to conflicts with current theoretical predictions.