Active Galactic Nuclei and STaR fOrmation in Nearby Galaxies (AGNSTRONG). II: Results for Jetted Type-I AGNs with Strong Ionized Gas Outflows

TL;DR

The paper investigates how AGN jets and ionized outflows relate to star formation in nearby type-I AGNs and the role of feedback. It combines new JCMT/SCUBA-2 sub-mm observations with archival data for 42 AGNs, using FIR/sub-mm SED fitting to derive SFRs while correcting for jet contamination, and employs radio and outflow indicators to identify jet-dominated (jetted) systems. It finds that jetted Type-I AGNs lie above the star-forming main sequence, suggesting a positive link between jet activity and star formation, while dust content and Eddington ratio alone do not explain the trend; stronger radio emission correlates with higher sSFR, indicating possible positive feedback. The results highlight a complex, multifaceted AGN feedback mechanism and its impact on galaxy evolution, emphasizing the need to jointly consider jets, outflows, and star formation.

Abstract

We investigate the correlation between ionized gas outflows, jets, and star formation in a sample of 42 local type-I active galactic nuclei (AGNs) exhibiting significant [O III] outflows. This study uses both new submillimeter (sub-mm) observations and archival data from the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope. Our analysis, which includes a correction for jet emission in the sub-mm bands, fitting spectral energy distribution, and analyzing spectra, enables us to derive star-formation rates (SFRs) through various methods. By comparing radio power and SFRs, we select a sub-sample of jetted AGNs of which radio emission is mostly from the jets. We find that jetted AGNs predominantly lie above the main sequence of star-forming galaxies, suggesting a correlation between jet activity and star formation. By comparing dust extinction, we demonstrate that jetted AGNs do not have more dust which is the fuel of both star formation and AGN activity. Therefore, this correlation is more likely to arise from AGN feedback. We also find that the Eddington ratio does not impact the specific SFRs (sSFRs) of our sample. Additionally, for jetted AGNs, stronger radio emission corresponds to higher sSFRs, suggesting that jet emission may promote star formation, i.e., positive feedback. Our results not only shed light on the feedback mechanisms of AGNs but also underscore the complex interplay between black hole activity and star formation in galaxy evolution.

Figures (2)

• Figure 1: Distribution of $\log\ \sigma_{\rm [OIII]}'/M_*^{1/4}$ as a function of radio luminosity normalized by stellar mass (from https://www.sdss3.org/dr10/spectro/galaxy_mpajhu.php). Here, $M_*^{1/4}$ serves as a proxy for stellar velocity dispersion. Gray dots represent our parent sample of AGNs with $z<0.3$rakshit_census_2018. The red points our sample of 42 type-I AGNs investigated in this study, while the black circles highlight objects with new SCUBA-2 observations. Blue stars are targets for which archival SCUBA-2 data are available. The green dashed line and dotted line show thresholds of $L_{\rm 1.4GHz}/M_{*}{\rm >10^{29.5}\ erg\ s^{-1}\ M_{\odot}^{-1} }$ and ${\rm log}\ \sigma'_{\rm [OIII]}/M_*^{1/4}{\rm >-0.4\ km\ s^{-1}\ M_{\odot}^{-1/4}}$, indicative of objects with high radio luminosity and strong ionized gas outflows, respectively.
• Figure 2: Optical $gri$-composite images for our sample of 42 objects from the SDSS database, with overlays of FIRST contours illustrating levels at $\rm 3~rms$ (dashed lines), $\rm 9~rms$, $\rm 27~rms$, and $\rm 81~rms$ (all solid lines) at $\mathrm{1.4~GHz}$. The IDs and names of the targets, positioned in the upper-right corner of each panel, correspond directly to those listed in Table \ref{['tab:1ObsInfo']}. The objects with IDs 1-21 are newly observed with SCUBA-2. The main beam sizes of FIRST are depicted in the lower-left corner of each panel. Additionally, the redshift of each target is displayed in the lower-right corner of each panel. The field of view of each panel is $\mathrm{80\ arcsec \times 80\ arcsec}$. The scale bar of 10 arcsec is shown in the upper-left corner of each panel.