DOI:
10.1051/0004-6361/201628997
IAA authors:
Herrero-Illana, R.;Pérez-Torres, M.A.;Alberdi, A.
Authors:
Costagliola, F.;Herrero-Illana, R.;Lohfink, A.;Pérez-Torres, M.;Aalto, S.;Muller, S.;Alberdi, A.
Journal:
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Abstract:
<p>Context. Galaxies which strongly deviate from the radio-far infrared (FIR) correlation are of great importance for studies of galaxy evolution as they may be tracing early, short-lived stages of starbursts and active galactic nuclei (AGNs). The most extreme FIR-excess galaxy NGC 1377 has long been interpreted as a young dusty starburst, but millimeter observations of CO lines revealed a powerful collimated molecular outflow which cannot be explained by star formation alone.<br />
Aims: This paper aims to determine the nature of the energy source in the nucleus of NGC 1377 and to study the driving mechanism of the collimated CO outflow.<br />
Methods: We present new radio observations of NGC 1377 at 1.5 and 10 GHz obtained with the Jansky Very Large Array (JVLA) and Chandra X-ray observations. The observations are compared to synthetic starburst models to constrain the properties of the central energy source.<br />
Results: We obtained the first detection of the cm radio continuum and X-ray emission in NGC 1377. We found that the radio emission is distributed in two components, one on the nucleus and another offset by 4.5 arcsec to the south-west. We confirm the extreme FIR-excess of the galaxy, with a q<sub>FIR</sub> ≃ 4.2, which deviates by more than 7σ from the radio-FIR correlation. Soft X-ray emission is detected on the off-nucleus component. From the radio emission we estimated for a young (〈10 Myr) starburst a star formation rate (SFR) of 〈0.1 M<sub>☉</sub> yr<sup>-1</sup>. Such a SFR is not sufficient to power the observed IR luminosity and to drive the CO outflow.<br />
Conclusions: We found that a young starburst cannot reproduce all the observed properties of the nucleus of NGC 1377. We suggest that the galaxy may be harboring a radio-quiet, obscured AGN of 10<sup>6</sup>M<sub>☉</sub>, accreting at near-Eddington rates. We speculate that the off-nucleus component may be tracing an hot-spot in the AGN jet.</p>
URL:
https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/#abs/2016A&A...594A.114C/abstract
Keywords:
radio continuum: galaxies;X-rays: galaxies;galaxies: active;galaxies: starburst;galaxies: jets;galaxies: individual: NGC 1377;Astrophysics - Astrophysics of Galaxies