Nuclear Activity in Galaxies: a 3D Perspective from the Nucleus to the Outskirts

    General
    Description

    This project consists of two main research lines. First, the study of quasar-driven outflows in luminous and nearby obscured active galactic nuclei (AGN) and the impact that they have on their massive host galaxies (AGN feedback). To do so, we have been granted time with the Gran Telescopio CANARIAS (GTC) in the optical and near-infrared ranges, with JWST in the mid-infrared, with ALMA in the sub-mm/mm regime and with VLT at radio frequencies. The group is also devoted to obtain and exploit observing time with the JWST and ALMA as part of the GATOS consortium (Galactic Activity, Torus and Outflow Survey) with the aim of characterizing nuclear obscuration and the gas flow cycle in local AGN. Second, the application of integral field spectroscopy to the study of extended objects (active and star forming galaxies) to investigate the triggering of both phenomena. We also contribute to the development of new instruments and data analysis procedures related to 3D observing techniques. In particular, we participate in the development of HARMONI, the first-light high-spatial resolution integral field spectrograph for the ESO Extremely Large Telescope.

    Principal investigator
    Project staff

     

    1. The total budget awarded to this project through external funding sources totals 2.370.500 euros. This only includes projects starting in or after 2020. In 2024 we managed to get a new Juan de La Cierva contract for the group, granted to Marina Bianchin.
    2. Publication of four works from the QSOFEED project (Bessiere et al. 2024; Holden et al. 2024; Speranza et al. 2024). The ultimate goal is to understand the impact of AGN feedback on galaxies.
    3. Giovanna Speranza defended her Ph.D thesis, entitled "Incidence and energetics of AGN winds in the local universe", in February 2024 (Speranza et al. 2021, 2022, 2024). Within the BID4BESt project, another seven papers led by Ph.D students have been published during 2024, in which C. Ramos Almeida participates.
    4. As part of the QSOFEED project we obtained time with ALMA in Cycle 11, as well as with VLT (PI: A. Audibert), and the data from the JWST cycle 2 program 3655 have been observed (PI: C. Ramos Almeida). The GATOS collaboration obtained two successful JWST proposals in cycle 3 (4972 and 5017).
    5. As part of the GATOS collaboration, ten papers have been published, with from one to four members as co-authors.
    6. A new collaboration has been established with ESO to explore the applicability of the technique developed within this project for estimating the outer scale of turbulence in IFS observations corrected with adaptive optics, with MUSE-AO data acquired for analysis in 2025.

    Related publications

    Quantifying Star Formation Activity in the Inner 1 kpc of Local MIR Bright QSOs 2019ApJ...871..190M
    SOFIA/FORCAST resolves 30-40 μm extended dust emission in nearby active galactic nuclei 2019MNRAS.483.3404F
    An imaging spectroscopic survey of the planetary nebula NGC 7009 with MUSE★ 2018A&A...620A.169W
    New active galactic nuclei science cases with interferometry. An incomplete preview 2018ExA....46..413H
    MUSE crowded field 3D spectroscopy in NGC 300. I. First results from central fields 2018A&A...618A...3R
    Nearly all the sky is covered by Lyman-α emission around high-redshift galaxies 2018Natur.562..229W
    Diffuse interstellar bands λ5780 and λ5797 in the Antennae Galaxy as seen by MUSE 2018A&A...615A..33M
    Quantifying the AGN-driven outflows in ULIRGs (QUADROS) - II. Evidencefor compact outflow regions from HST [O III] imaging observations 2018MNRAS.478.1558T
    The origin of the mid-infrared nuclear polarization of active galactic nuclei 2018MNRAS.478.2350L
    The host galaxy of the γ-ray-emitting narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy PKS 1502+036 2018MNRAS.478L..66D
    Resolving the Nuclear Obscuring Disk in the Compton-thick Seyfert Galaxy NGC 5643 with ALMA 2018ApJ...859..144A
    The Emission and Distribution of Dust of the Torus of NGC 1068 2018ApJ...859...99L
    Circumnuclear Star Formation and AGN Activity: Clues from Surface Brightness Radial Profile of PAHs and [{\rm{S}}\,{\rm{IV}}] 2018ApJ...859..124E
    Lyman-continuum leakage as dominant source of diffuse ionized gas in the Antennae galaxy 2018A&A...611A..95W
    Precision Determination of Corotation Radii in Galaxy Disks: Tremaine–Weinberg versus Font–Beckman for NGC 3433 2018ApJ...854..182B
    The largely unconstrained multiphase nature of outflows in AGN host galaxies 2018NatAs...2..176C
    An UXor among FUors: Extinction-related Brightness Variations of the Young Eruptive Star V582 Aur 2018ApJ...853...28A
    Quantifying the AGN-driven outflows in ULIRGs (QUADROS) - I: VLT/Xshooter observations of nine nearby objects 2018MNRAS.474..128R
    Morpho-kinematic properties of field S0 bulges in the CALIFA survey 2018MNRAS.474.1307M
    A 100 kpc nebula associated with the `Teacup' fading quasar 2018MNRAS.474.2302V
    Mapping diffuse interstellar bands in the local ISM on small scales via MUSE 3D spectroscopy. A pilot study based on globular cluster NGC 6397 2017A&A...607A.133W
    ALMA imaging of C2H emission in the disk of NGC 1068 2017A&A...608A..56G
    The ESO Diffuse Interstellar Bands Large Exploration Survey (EDIBLES) . I. Project description, survey sample, and quality assessment 2017A&A...606A..76C
    Nuclear obscuration in active galactic nuclei 2017NatAs...1..679R
    Galaxy-wide radio-induced feedback in a radio-quiet quasar 2017MNRAS.472.4659V
    The Wolf-Rayet star population in the dwarf galaxy NGC 625 2017A&A...603A.130M
    Polarization of the changing-look quasar J1011+5442 2017A&A...604L...3H
    A mid-infrared statistical investigation of clumpy torus model predictions 2017MNRAS.470.2578G
    The infrared to X-ray correlation spectra of unobscured type 1 active galactic nuclei 2017MNRAS.469..110G
    An infrared view of AGN feedback in a type-2 quasar: the case of the Teacup galaxy 2017MNRAS.470..964R
    A comparison between the soft X-ray and [O III] morphologies of active galactic nuclei 2017MNRAS.469.2720G
    Uncovering the host galaxy of the γ-ray-emitting narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy FBQS J1644+2619 2017MNRAS.469L..11D
    The complex, dusty narrow-line region of NGC 4388: gas-jet interactions, outflows and extinction revealed by near-IR spectroscopy 2017MNRAS.465..906R
    Hints on the Gradual Resizing of the Torus in AGNs through Decomposition of Spitzer/IRS Spectra 2017ApJ...841...37G
    Survival of the Obscuring Torus in the Most Powerful Active Galactic Nuclei 2017ApJ...841L..18M
    The dusty tori of nearby QSOs as constrained by high-resolution mid-IR observations 2017MNRAS.468....2M
    Young stellar populations in type II quasars: timing the onset of star formation and nuclear activity 2017MNRAS.466.3887B
    Kinematic Clues to Bar Evolution for Galaxies in the Local Universe: Why the Fastest Rotating Bars are Rotating Most Slowly 2017ApJ...835..279F
    Stellar kinematics across the Hubble sequence in the CALIFA survey: general properties and aperture corrections 2017A&A...597A..48F
    Infrared polarimetry of Mrk 231: scattering off hot dust grains in the central core 2017MNRAS.464.1762L

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