The AGN fuelling/feedback cycle in nearby radio galaxies V. The cold atomic gas of NGC 3100 and its group⋆

Maccagni, F. M., Ruffa, Ilaria, Loni, A., Prandoni, I., Ragusa, R., Kleiner, D., Serra, P., Iodice, E. and Spavone, M. 2023. The AGN fuelling/feedback cycle in nearby radio galaxies V. The cold atomic gas of NGC 3100 and its group⋆. Astronomy and Astrophysics 675 , A59. 10.1051/0004-6361/202346521

Preview

PDF - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (4MB) | Preview

Abstract

We present Australia Compact Telescope Array (ATCA) 21 cm observations of the nearby low-excitation radio galaxy (LERG) NGC 3100. This is the brightest galaxy of a loose group and it hosts a young (∼2 Myr) radio source. The ATCA observations reveal for the first time the presence of neutral hydrogen (H I) gas in absorption in the centre of this radio galaxy, and in emission in two low-mass galaxies of the group and in a diffuse dark cloud in the proximity of NGC 3100. The sensitivity to low-column density gas (NHI ∼ 1019 cm−2) allows us to reveal asymmetries in the periphery of most of the H I-detected galaxies, suggesting that tidal interactions may be ongoing. The diffuse cloud does not show a stellar counterpart down to 27 mag arcsec−2 and could be the remnant of these interactions. The analysis of the H I absorption complex in NGC 3100 indicates that the atomic phase of the hydrogen is distributed in the same way as its molecular phase (observed at arcsecond resolution through several carbon monoxide emission lines). We suggest that the interactions occurring within the group are causing turbulent cold gas clouds in the intra-group medium to be slowly accreted towards the centre of NGC 3100. This caused the recent formation of the cold circum-nuclear disc, which is likely sustaining the young nuclear activity.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Physics and Astronomy
Publisher:	EDP Sciences
ISSN:	0004-6361
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	7 March 2024
Date of Acceptance:	2 May 2023
Last Modified:	20 Mar 2024 12:24
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/166989

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item