IC 485:a new candidate disk-maser galaxy at $\sim$100 Mpc distance. Milliarcsecond resolution study of the galaxy nucleus and of the $H_{2}O$ megamaser

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ladu, E., Tarchi, A., Castangia, P., Surcis, G., Braatz, J. A., Panessa, F., Pesce, D.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2023
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866911767207084032
author Ladu, E.
Tarchi, A.
Castangia, P.
Surcis, G.
Braatz, J. A.
Panessa, F.
Pesce, D.
author_facet Ladu, E.
Tarchi, A.
Castangia, P.
Surcis, G.
Braatz, J. A.
Panessa, F.
Pesce, D.
contents Masers are a unique tool to investigate the emitting gas in the innermost regions of AGNs and to map accretion disks and tori orbiting around supermassive black holes. IC485, which is classified as a LINER or Seyfert galaxy, hosts a bright water maser whose nature is still under debate. Indeed, this might be either a nuclear disk maser, a jet/outflow maser, or even the very first `inclined water maser disk'. We aim to investigate the nature of the maser by determining the location and the distribution of the maser emission at mas resolution and by associating it with the main nuclear components of IC485. In a broader context, this work might also provide further information for better understanding the physics and the disk/jet geometry in LINER or Seyfert galaxies. We observed in 2018 the nuclear region of IC485 in continuum and spectral-line mode with the VLBA and the EVN at L, C, and K bands (linear scales from ~3 to 0.2 pc). We detected 2 water maser components separated in velocity by 472 km/s, with one centred at the systemic velocity of the nuclear region and the other at a red-shifted velocity. We measured for the first time the absolute positions of these components with an accuracy of ~0.1 mas. Assuming a maser associated with an edge-on disk in Keplerian rotation, the estimated enclosed mass is M_BH = 1.2 x 10^7 M_sun, consistent with the expected mass for a SMBH in a LINER or Seyfert galaxy. The linear distribution of the maser components and a comparison with the high sensitivity GBT spectrum strongly suggest that the bulk of the maser emission is associated with an edge-on accretion disk. This makes IC485 a new candidate for a disk-maser galaxy at the distance of 122 Mpc. In particular, thanks to the upcoming radio facilities (e.g., the SKA and the ngVLA) IC485 will play an important role in our understanding of AGNs in an unexplored volume of Universe.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2310_08998
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle IC 485:a new candidate disk-maser galaxy at $\sim$100 Mpc distance. Milliarcsecond resolution study of the galaxy nucleus and of the $H_{2}O$ megamaser
Ladu, E.
Tarchi, A.
Castangia, P.
Surcis, G.
Braatz, J. A.
Panessa, F.
Pesce, D.
Astrophysics of Galaxies
Masers are a unique tool to investigate the emitting gas in the innermost regions of AGNs and to map accretion disks and tori orbiting around supermassive black holes. IC485, which is classified as a LINER or Seyfert galaxy, hosts a bright water maser whose nature is still under debate. Indeed, this might be either a nuclear disk maser, a jet/outflow maser, or even the very first `inclined water maser disk'. We aim to investigate the nature of the maser by determining the location and the distribution of the maser emission at mas resolution and by associating it with the main nuclear components of IC485. In a broader context, this work might also provide further information for better understanding the physics and the disk/jet geometry in LINER or Seyfert galaxies. We observed in 2018 the nuclear region of IC485 in continuum and spectral-line mode with the VLBA and the EVN at L, C, and K bands (linear scales from ~3 to 0.2 pc). We detected 2 water maser components separated in velocity by 472 km/s, with one centred at the systemic velocity of the nuclear region and the other at a red-shifted velocity. We measured for the first time the absolute positions of these components with an accuracy of ~0.1 mas. Assuming a maser associated with an edge-on disk in Keplerian rotation, the estimated enclosed mass is M_BH = 1.2 x 10^7 M_sun, consistent with the expected mass for a SMBH in a LINER or Seyfert galaxy. The linear distribution of the maser components and a comparison with the high sensitivity GBT spectrum strongly suggest that the bulk of the maser emission is associated with an edge-on accretion disk. This makes IC485 a new candidate for a disk-maser galaxy at the distance of 122 Mpc. In particular, thanks to the upcoming radio facilities (e.g., the SKA and the ngVLA) IC485 will play an important role in our understanding of AGNs in an unexplored volume of Universe.
title IC 485:a new candidate disk-maser galaxy at $\sim$100 Mpc distance. Milliarcsecond resolution study of the galaxy nucleus and of the $H_{2}O$ megamaser
topic Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2310.08998