SUPER

VIII. Fast and furious at z ∼ 2: Obscured type-2 active nuclei host faster ionised winds than type-1 systems

¹ Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Università di Firenze, Via G. Sansone 1, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Firenze, Italy
² INAF - Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri, Largo E. Fermi 5, 50125 Firenze, Italy
³ Max-Planck-Institut für Extraterrestrische Physik (MPE), Giessenbachstraße 1, D-85748 Garching, Germany
⁴ Centro de Astrobiología (CAB), CSIC–INTA, Cra. de Ajalvir Km. 4, 28850 – Torrejón de Ardoz Madrid, Spain
⁵ European Southern Observatory, Karl-Schwarzschild-Strasse 2, Garching bei München, Germany
⁶ Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
⁷ INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova, Vicolo dell’Osservatorio 5, I-35122 Padova, Italy
⁸ Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia “Augusto Righi”, Università di Bologna, Via P. Gobetti 93/2, 40129 Bologna, Italy
⁹ INAF – Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio, Via Gobetti 93/3, 40129 Bologna, Italy
¹⁰ Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Trieste, Sezione di Astronomia, Via G.B. Tiepolo 11, I-34131 Trieste, Italy
¹¹ INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste, Via G. Tiepolo 11, I-34143 Trieste, Italy
¹² Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza dei Cavalieri 7, I-56126 Pisa, Italy
¹³ Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Oslo, PO Box 1029 Blindern, 0315 Oslo, Norway
¹⁴ Department of Physics & Astronomy, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
¹⁵ ESA, European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC), Camino Bajo del Castillo s/n, 28692 Villanueva de la Cañada, Madrid, Spain
¹⁶ IFPU - Institute for fundamental physics of the Universe, Via Beirut 2, 34014 Trieste, Italy
¹⁷ School of Mathematics, Statistics and Physics, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK
¹⁸ School of Physics and Astronomy, Tel-Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel
¹⁹ INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma, Via di Frascati 33, 00040 Monteporzio Catone, Rome, Italy
²⁰ School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK
²¹ Kavli Institute for Cosmology, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA, UK
²² Cavendish Laboratory - Astrophysics Group, University of Cambridge, 19 JJ Thompson Avenue, Cambridge CB3 0HE, UK
²³ INAF – Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica Milano, Via A. Corti 12, 20133 Milano, Italy

Received: 28 March 2024
Accepted: 3 July 2024

Abstract

We present spatially resolved VLT/SINFONI spectroscopy with adaptive optics of type-2 active galactic nuclei (AGN) from the SINFONI Survey for Unveiling the Physics and Effect of Radiative feedback (SUPER), which targeted X-ray bright (L_{2 − 10 keV} ≳ 10⁴² erg s⁻¹) AGN at cosmic noon (z ∼ 2). Our analysis of the rest-frame optical spectra unveils ionised outflows in all seven examined targets, as traced via [O III]λ5007 line emission, moving at v ≳ 600 km s⁻¹. These outflows are clearly spatially resolved in six objects and extend on 2–4 kpc scales, but they are marginally resolved in the remaining one object. Interestingly, these SUPER type-2 AGN are all heavily obscured sources (N_H ≳ 10²³ cm⁻²) and host faster ionised outflows than their type-1 counterparts within the same range of bolometric luminosity (L_bol ∼ 10^{44.8 − 46.5} erg s⁻¹). SUPER has hence provided observational evidence that the dichotomy of type-1 to type-2 at z ∼ 2 might not be driven simply by projection effects, but might reflect two distinct obscuring life stages of active galaxies, as predicted by evolutionary models. Within this picture, SUPER type-2 AGN might be undergoing the blow-out phase, where the large amount of obscuring material efficiently accelerates large-scale outflows via radiation pressure on dust, eventually unveiling the central active nucleus and signaling the start of the bright, unobscured type-1 AGN phase. Moreover, the velocities of the overall population of ionised outflows detected in SUPER are comparable with the escape speed of their dark matter haloes, and they are in general high enough to reach distances of 30–50 kpc from the centre. These outflows are hence likely to sweep away the gas (at least) out of the baryonic disk and/or to heat the host gas reservoir, thus reducing and possibly quenching star formation.