Bubbles and outflows: The novel JWST/NIRSpec view of the z = 1.59 obscured quasar XID2028

¹ INAF – Osservatorio Astrofisco di Arcetri, Largo E. Fermi 5, 50127 Firenze, Italy
e-mail: giovanni.cresci@inaf.it
² Università degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Via G. Sansone 1, 50019 Sesto F.no, Firenze, Italy
³ Centro de Astrobiología (CAB, CSIC–INTA), Departamento de Astrofísica, Cra. de Ajalvir Km. 4, 28850 Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain
⁴ Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Alma Mater Studiorum, Universitá di Bologna, Via Gobetti 93/2, 40129 Bologna, Italy
⁵ INAF – Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio di Bologna, Via Gobetti 93/3, 40129 Bologna, Italy
⁶ Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza dei Cavalieri 7, 56126 Pisa, PI, Italy
⁷ INAF – Istituto di Radioastronomia, Via Gobetti 101, 40129 Bologna, Italy
⁸ Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, 19 J.J. Thomson Ave., Cambridge CB3 0HE, UK
⁹ Kavli Institute for Cosmology, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA, UK
¹⁰ Instituto de Astrofísica, Facultad de Física, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Casilla 306, Santiago 22, Chile
¹¹ Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA
¹² INAF – Osservatorio Astrofisico di Torino, Via Osservatorio 20, 10025 Pino Torinese, Italy

Received: 26 January 2023
Accepted: 28 February 2023

Abstract

Quasar feedback in the form of powerful outflows is invoked as a key mechanism to quench star formation in galaxies, although direct observational evidence is still scarce and debated. Here we present Early Release Science JWST NIRSpec IFU observations of the z = 1.59 prototypical obscured Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN) XID2028: This target represents a unique test case for studying quasar feedback at the peak epoch of AGN-galaxy co-evolution because extensive multi-wavelength coverage is available and a massive and extended outflow is detected in the ionised and molecular components. With the unprecedented sensitivity and spatial resolution of the JWST, the NIRSpec dataset reveals a wealth of structures in the ionised gas kinematics and morphology that were previously hidden in the seeing-limited ground-based data. In particular, we find evidence of an interaction between the interstellar medium of the galaxy and the quasar-driven outflow and radio jet that produces an expanding bubble from which the fast and extended wind detected in previous observations emerges. The new observations confirm the complex interplay between the AGN jet, wind and the interstellar medium of the host galaxy, highlighting the role of low-luminosity radio jets in AGN feedback. They also clearly show the new window that NIRSpec opens for detailed studies of feedback at high redshift.