Speaker
Julia Scharwaechter
(Observatoire de Paris, LERMA)
Description
A detailed knowledge of the properties of the multi-phase ISM is crucial for constraining models of AGN accretion and feedback. Both accretion and jet feedback are possible energy sources for driving shocks and turbulence in the molecular gas component.
Our recent study of the near-infrared molecular hydrogen (H_2) emission in the central ~300 pc of NGC 1275 (Perseus A) suggests a scenario in which shock-excited H_2 enters into the nuclear region in the form of one or more streamers and settles into a disk at R < 50 pc. This disk shows signs of an ionization structure and is likely to be the outer part of an accretion disk. I will discuss the relative role of accretion and jet feedback in powering the observed H_2 emission in NGC 1275 and draw a comparison with other H_2-luminous radio galaxies. I will also present a new black hole mass estimate for NGC 1275, which is derived from the disk kinematics.
Author
Julia Scharwaechter
(Observatoire de Paris, LERMA)