Search

We discuss the environment of local hard X-ray selected active galaxies, with reference to two independent group catalogues. We find that the fraction of these AGN in S0 host galaxies decreases strongly as a function of galaxy group size (halo mass) - which contrasts with the increasing fraction of galaxies of S0 type in denser environments. However, there is no evidence for an environmental dependence of AGN in spiral galaxies. Because most AGN are found in spiral galaxies, this dilutes the signature of environmental dependence for the population as a whole. We argue that the differing results for AGN in disk-dominated and bulge-dominated galaxies is related to the source of the gas fuelling the AGN, and so may also impact the luminosity function, duty cycle, and obscuration. We find that there is a significant difference in the luminosity function for AGN in spiral and S0 galaxies, and tentative evidence for some difference in the fraction of obscured AGN., accepted for publication in MNRAS. 12 pages with 10 figures

et al., We examine the stellar velocity dispersions (σ) of a sample of 48 galaxies, 35 of which are spirals, from the Palomar nearby galaxy survey. It is known that for ultra-luminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs) and merger remnants, the σ derived from the near-infrared CO band heads is smaller than that measured from optical lines, while no discrepancy between these measurements is found for early-type galaxies. No such studies are available for spiral galaxies – the subject of this paper. We used cross-dispersed spectroscopic data obtained with the Gemini Near-Infrared Spectrograph, with spectral coverage from 0.85 to 2.5 μm, to obtain σ measurements from the 2.29 μm CO band heads (σCO) and the 0.85 μm calcium triplet (σCaT). For the spiral galaxies in the sample, we found that σCO is smaller than σCaT, with a mean fractional difference of 14.3 per cent. The best fit to the data is given by σopt = (46.0 ± 18.1) + (0.85 ± 0.12)σCO. This ‘σ-discrepancy’ may be related to the presence of warm dust, as suggested by a slight correlation between the discrepancy and the infrared luminosity. This is consistent with studies that have found no σ-discrepancy in dust-poor early-type galaxies, and a much larger discrepancy in dusty merger remnants and ULIRGs. That σCO is lower than σopt may also indicate the presence of a dynamically cold stellar population component. This would agree with the spatial correspondence between low-σCO and young/intermediate-age stellar populations that has been observed in spatially resolved spectroscopy of a handful of galaxies., RAR acknowledges support from FAPERGS (project no. 12/1209-6) and CNPq (project no. 470090/2013-8). LCH acknowledges support from the Kavli Foundation, Peking University, and grant no. XDB09030102 (Emergence of Cosmological Structures) from the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. ARA acknowledges CNPq for partial support to this work through grant 307403/2012-2. LM thanks CNPq through grant 305291/2012-2. LC acknowledges support from the Special Visiting Researcher Fellowship (PVE 313945/2013-6) under the Brazilian Scientific Mobility Program ‘Ciencias sem Fronteiras’. RR acknowledges funding from FAPERGs (ARD 11/1758-5) and CNPq (PeP 304796/2011-5). CRA is supported by a Marie Curie Intra European Fellowship within the 7th European Community Framework Programme (PIEF-GA-2012-327934) and by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICINN) through project PN AYA2010-21887-C04.04.

We map the kinematics of the inner (200 pc) narrow-line region (NLR) of the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 1068 using the instrument NIFS and adaptative optics at the Gemini North Telescope. Channel maps and position-velocity diagrams are presented at a spatial resolution of $\sim$ 10 pc and spectral resolution $\sim$ 5300 in the emission lines [Fe II] {\lambda} 1.644 {\mu}m, H$_2$ {\lambda} 2.122 {\mu}m and Br{\gamma}. The [Fe II] emission line provides a better coverage of the NLR outflow than the previously used [O III] {\lambda} 5007 emission line, extending beyond the area of the bi-polar cone observed in Br{\gamma} and [O III]. This is mainly due to the contribution of the redshifted channels to the NE of the nucleus, supporting its origin in a partial ionized zone with additional contribution from shocks of the outflowing gas with the galactic disc. We modeled the kinematics and geometry of the [Fe II] emitting gas finding good agreement with the data for outflow models with conical and lemniscate (or hourglass) geometry. We calculate a mass outflow rate $1.9^{+1.9}_{-0.7}$ M$_{\odot}~$yr$^{-1}$ but a power for the outflow of only 0.08% L$_{Bol}$. The molecular (H$_2$) gas kinematics is completely distinct from that of [Fe II] and Br{\gamma}, showing radial expansion in an off-centered $\sim$ 100 pc radius ring in the galaxy plane. The expansion velocity decelerates from $\sim$ 200 km/s in the inner border of the ring to approximately zero at the outer border where our previous studies found a 10 Myr stellar population.

We present a revised measurement of the mass of the central black hole (Mbh) in the Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 4151. The new stellar dynamical mass measurement is derived by applying an axisymmetric orbit-superposition code to near-infrared integral field data obtained using adaptive optics with the Gemini NIFS spectrograph. When our models attempt to fit both the NIFS kinematics and additional low spatial resolution kinematics, our results depend sensitively on how chi-squared is computed--probably a consequence of complex bar kinematics that manifest immediately outside the nuclear region. The most robust results are obtained when only the high spatial resolution kinematic constraints in the nuclear region are included in the fit. Our best estimates for the BH mass and H-band mass-to-light ratio are Mbh~(3.76+/-1.15)E7 Msun (1-sigma error) and M/L(H-band)~0.34+/-0.03 Msun/Lsun (3-sigma error), respectively (the quoted errors reflect the model uncertainties). Our BH mass measurement is consistent with estimates from both reverberation mapping (3.57[+0.45/-0.37]E7 Msun) and gas kinematics (3.0[+0.75/-2.2]E7 Msun; 1-sigma errors), and our best-fit mass-to-light ratio is consistent with the photometric estimate of M/L(H-band)=0.4+/-0.2 Msun/Lsun. The NIFS kinematics give a central bulge velocity dispersion sigma_c=116+/-3 km/s, bringing this object slightly closer to the M-sigma relation for quiescent galaxies. Although NGC 4151 is one of only a few Seyfert 1 galaxies in which it is possible to obtain a direct dynamical BH mass measurement--and thus, an independent calibration of the reverberation mapping mass scale--the complex bar kinematics makes it less than ideally suited for this purpose., 21 pages, 15 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ

We present two-dimensional gaseous kinematics of the inner 1.1 x 1.6kpc^2 of the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC2110, from optical spectra obtained with the GMOS integral field spectrograph on the Gemini South telescope at a spatial resolution of 100pc. Gas emission is observed over the whole field-of-view, with complex - and frequently double - emission-line profiles. We have identified four components in the emitting gas, according to their velocity dispersion (sigma), which we refer to as: (1) warm gas disk (sigma = 100-220km/s); (2) cold gas disk (sigma = 60-90km/s); (3) nuclear component (sigma = 220-600km/s); and (4) northern cloud (sigma = 60-80km/s). Both the cold and warm disk components are dominated by rotation and have similar gas densities, but the cold gas disk has lower velocity dispersions and reaches higher rotation velocities. We attribute the warm gas disk to a thick gas layer which encompasses the cold disk as observed in some edge-on spiral galaxies. After subtraction of a rotation model from the cold disk velocity field, we observe excess blueshifts of 50km/s in the far side of the galaxy as well as similar excess redshifts in the near side. These residuals can be interpreted as due to nuclear inflow in the cold gas, with an estimated ionized gas mass inflow rate of 2.2 x 10^(-2)Msun/yr. We have also subtracted a rotating model from the warm disk velocity field and found excess blueshifts of 100km/s to the SW of the nucleus and excess redshifts of 40km/s to the NE, which we attribute to gas disturbed by an interaction with a nuclear spherical outflow. This nuclear outflow is the origin of the nuclear component observed within the inner 300pc and it has a mass outflow rate of 0.9Msun/yr. In a region between 1" and 4" north of the nucleus we find a new low sigma component of ionized gas which we attribute to a high latitude cloud photoionized by the nuclear source., 17 pages, 13 figures, 1 table; accepted for publication in MNRAS

We have mapped the gaseous kinematics and the emission-line flux distributions and ratios from the inner ~680pc radius of the Seyfert 1 galaxy Mrk79, using two-dimensional (2D) near-IR J- and Kl-band spectra obtained with the Gemini instrument NIFS at a spatial resolution of ~100pc and velocity resolution of ~40km/s. The molecular hydrogen flux distribution presents two spiral arms extending by ~700pc, one to the north and another to the south of the nucleus, with an excitation indicating heating by X-rays from the central source. The low velocity dispersion (sigma~50km/s) and rotation pattern supports a location of the H2 gas in the disk of the galaxy. Blueshifts observed along the spiral arm in the far side of the galaxy and redshifts in the spiral arm in the near side, suggest that the spiral arms are feeding channels of H2 to the inner 200pc. From channel maps along the H2 l2.1218um emission-line profile we estimate a mass inflow rate of ~4E-3 M_Sun/year, which is one order of magnitude smaller than the mass accretion rate necessary to power the AGN of Mrk79. The emission from the ionized gas (traced by Pabeta and [FeII]l1.2570um emission lines) is correlated with the radio jet and with the narrow-band [OIII] flux distribution. Its kinematics shows both rotation and outflows to the north and south of the nucleus. The ionized gas mass outflow rate through a cross section with radius ~320pc located at a distance of ~455pc from the nucleus is 3.5 MSun/year, which is much larger than the AGN mass accretion rate, indicating that most of the outflowing gas originates in the interstellar medium surrounding the galaxy nucleus, which is pushed away by a nuclear jet., Accepted by MNRAS

We present 1.3 and 3.6cm radio continuum images and a HCO+ spectrum of the massive star forming region G75.78+0.34 obtained with the Very Large Array (VLA) and with the Berkley Illinois Maryland Association (BIMA) interferometer. Three structures were detected in the continuum emission: one associated to the well known cometary HII region, plus two more compact structures located at 6" east and at 2" south of cometary HII region. Using the total flux and intensity peak we estimated an electron density of ~1.5x10^4 cm^{-3}, an emission measure of ~6x10^{7} cm^{-6} pc, a mass of ionized gas of ~3 M_Sun and a diameter of 0.05 pc for the cometary HII region, being typical values for an ultracompact HII region. The HCO^+ emission is probably originated from the molecular outflows previously observed in HCN and CO., Comment: Accepted by Advances in Astronomy

We use near-infrared spectroscopic data from the inner few hundred parsecs of a sample of 47 active galaxies to investigate possible correlations between the stellar velocity dispersion (sigma_star), obtained from the fit of the K-band CO stellar absorption bands, and the gas velocity dispersion (sigma) obtained from the fit of the emission-line profiles of [SIII]0.953um, [Fe II]1.257um, [FeII]1.644um and H_2 2.122um. While no correlations with sigma_star were found for H_2 and [SIII], a good correlation was found for the two [Fe II] emission lines, expressed by the linear fit sigma_star = 95.4\pm16.1 + (0.25\pm0.08)sigma_[Fe II]. Excluding barred objects from the sample a better correlation is found between sigma_star and sigma_[FeII], with a correlation coefficient of R=0.80 and fitted by the following relation: sigma_\star = 57.9\pm23.5 + (0.42\pm0.10)sigma_[FeII]. This correlation can be used to estimate $\sigma_\star$ in cases it cannot be directly measured and the [FeII] emission lines are present in the spectra, allowing to obtain the mass of the supermassive black hole (SMBH) from the M-\sigma_\star relation. The scatter from a one-to-one relationship between sigma_star and its value derived from sigma_[FeII] using the equation above for our sample is 0.07dex, which is smaller than that obtained in previous studies which use \sigma_[OIII] in the optical as a proxy for sigma_star. The use of sigma_[Fe\,II] in the near-IR instead of sigma_[OIII] in the optical is a valuable option for cases in which optical spectra are not available or are obscured, as is the case of many AGN., Comment: accepted for publication in MNRAS

We have used the Gemini Near-infrared Integral Field Spectrograph (NIFS) to map the age distribution of the stellar population in the inner 400 pc of the Seyfert 2 galaxy Mrk 1157 (NGC 591), at a spatial resolution of 35 pc. We have performed wavelet and principal component analysis in the data in order to remove instrumental signatures. An old stellar population component (age > 5 Gyr) is dominant within the inner ~ 130 pc which we attribute to the galaxy bulge. Beyond this region, up to the borders of the observation field, young to intermediate age components (0.1--0.7 Gyr) dominate. As for Mrk 1066, previously studied by us, we find a spatial correlation between this intermediate age component and a partial ring of low stellar velocity dispersions (sigma*). Low-sigma* nuclear rings have been observed in other active galaxies and our results for Mrk 1157 and Mrk 1066 reveal that they are formed by intermediate age stars. Such age is consistent with a scenario in which the origin of the low-sigma* rings is a past event which triggered an inflow of gas and formed stars which still keep the colder kinematics of the gas from which they have formed. No evidence for the presence of an unresolved featureless continuum and hot dust component -- as found in Mrk1066 -- are found for Mrk 1157.

We present images for the 3.5 mm continuum and HCN(J=1-0) hyperfine line emission from the surroundings of the HII regions G75.78+0.34 and G75.77+0.34 obtained with the Berkeley Illinois Maryland Association (BIMA) interferometer using the D configuration at a spatial resolution of 18 arcsec and spectral sampling of 0.34 km/s. The continuum emission of both objects is dominated by free-free emission from the ionized gas surrounding the exciting stars. Dust emission may contribute only a small fraction of the 3.5 mm continuum from G75.78+0.34 and is negligible for G75.77+0.34. The high spectral resolution reached by BIMA allowed us to separate the emission from each hyperfine transition (F=1-1, F=2-1 and F=0-1), as well as to construct velocity channel maps along each emission-line profile. The HCN flux distributions are similar to those observed for the CO emission, but with some knots of high intensities indicating that the HCN traces high density clouds not seen in CO. The HCN hyperfine line ratios for both HII regions differ from those predicted theoretically for Local Thermodynamic Equilibrium (LTE), probably due to scattering of radiation processes. The velocity channels shows that the HCN emission of G75.78+0.34 follows the bipolar molecular outflows previously observed in CO. For G75.77+0.34, the outflowing gas contributes only a small fraction of the HCN emission., 8 pages, 7 figures, 1 table. Accepted by MNRAS

We present integral field spectroscopy of the inner 350 pc of the Mrk1066 obtained with Gemini NIFS at a spatial resolution of 35 pc. This high spatial resolution allowed us to observe, for the first time in this galaxy, an unresolved dust concentration with mass 0.014 M_Sun, which may be part of the dusty torus. The emission-line fluxes are elongated in PA=135/315deg in agreement with the [OIII] and radio images and, except for the H lines, are brighter to the north-west than to the south-east. The H emission is stronger to the south-east, where we find a large region of star-formation. The strong correlation between the radio emission and the highest emission-line fluxes indicates that the radio jet plays a fundamental role at these intensity levels. The H2 flux is more uniformly distributed and has an excitation temperature of 2100 K. Its origin appears to be circumnuclear gas heated by X-rays from the AGN. The [FeII] emission also is consistent with X-ray heating, but with additional emission due to excitation by shocks in the radio jet. The coronal-line emission of [CaVIII] and [SIX] are unresolved by our observations indicating a distribution within 18pc from the nucleus. The reddening ranges from E(B-V) ~ 0 to E(B-V) ~ 1.7 with the highest values defining a S-shaped structure along PA ~ 135/315deg. The emission-line ratios are Seyfert-like within the ionization cone indicating that the line emission is powered by the central active nucleus in these locations. Low ionization regions are observed away from the ionization cone, and may be powered by the diffuse radiation field which filters through the ionization cone walls. Two regions at 0.5 arcsec south-east and at 1 arcsec north-west of the nucleus show starburst-like line ratios, attributed to additional emission from star forming regions., 14 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

I briefly describe a simple routine for emission-line profiles fitting by Gaussian curves or Gauss-Hermite series. The PROFIT (line-PROfile FITting) routine represent a new alternative for use in fits data cubes, as those from Integral Field Spectroscopy or Fabry-Perot Interferometry, and may be useful to better study the emission-line flux distributions and gas kinematics in distinct astrophysical objects, such as the central regions of galaxies and star forming regions. The PROFIT routine is written in IDL language and is available at http://www.ufsm.br/rogemar/software.html. The PROFIT routine was used to fit the [Fe II]1.257um emission-line profiles for about 1800 spectra of the inner 350 pc of the Seyfert galaxy Mrk1066 obtained with Gemini NIFS and shows that the line profiles are better reproduced by Gauss-Hermite series than by the commonly used Gaussian curves. The two-dimensional map of the h_3 Gauss-Hermite moment shows its highest absolute values in regions close to the edge of the radio structure. These high values may be originated in an biconical outflowing gas associated with the radio jet - previously observed in the optical [O III] emission. The analysis of this kinematic component indicates that the radio jet leaves the center of the galaxy with the north-west side slightly oriented towards us and the south-east side away from us, being partially hidden by the disc of the galaxy., Comment: Accepted for publication Astrophysics & Space Science - 7 pges; 4 Figs

We discuss two‐dimensional mapping of the near‐infrared emission‐line intensity distributions and kinematics of the narrow‐line region (NLR) of NGC 4151, obtained with the Gemini Near‐Infrared Integral Field Spectrograph, with a projected spatial resolution of ≈8 pc. The ionized gas intensity distribution follows the projected bi‐cone morphology observed in previous optical narrow‐band images, and its kinematics reveal outflows along the bi‐cone. We propose a kinematic model in which the gas in the NLR moves at a velocity of ≈600 km s−1 up to ∼100 pc from the nucleus. A completely distinct morphology and kinematic structure is observed for the molecular gas, which avoids the region of the bi‐cone and has velocities close to systemic, and is consistent with an origin in the galaxy plane. The molecular gas thus traces the AGN feeding, while the ionized gas traces its feedback.

We have used the Gemini NIFS to map the gas kinematics of the inner 200x500pc of the Seyfert galaxy NGC4151 in the Z, J, H and K bands at a resolving power 5000 and spatial resolution of 8pc. The ionised gas emission is most extended along the known ionisation bi-cone at position angle PA=60-240deg, but is observed also along its equatorial plane. This indicates that the AGN ionizes gas beyond the borders of the bi-cone, within a sphere with 1arcsec radius around the nucleus. The ionised gas has three kinematic components: (1) one observed at the systemic velocity and interpreted as originating in the galaxy disk; (2) one outflowing along the bi-cone, with line-of-sight velocities between -600 and 600 km/s and strongest emission at +/-(100-300)km/s; (3) and another component due to the interaction of the radio jet with ambient gas. The mass outflow rate, estimated to be 1 M_Sun/yr along each cone, exceeds the inferred black hole accretion rate by a factor of 100. There is no evidence in our data for the gradual acceleration followed by gradual deceleration proposed by previous modelling of the [OIII] emitting gas. The molecular gas exhiibits distinct kinematics relative to the ionised gas. Its emission arises in extended regions approximately perpendicular to the axis of the bi-cone and along the axis of the galaxy's stellar bar, avoiding the innermost ionised regions. It does not show an outflowing component, being observed only at velocities very close to systemic, and is thus consistent with an origin in the galaxy plane. This hot molecular gas may only be the tracer of a larger reservoir of colder gas which represents the AGN feeding., Comment: Accepted by MNRAS. Please contact the authors for a higher resolution version

We have used a near-infrared nuclear spectrum (covering the Z, J, H and K bands) of the nucleus of NGC 4151 obtained with the Gemini Near-infrared Integral Field Spectrograph (NIFS) and adaptive optics, to isolate and constrain the properties of a near-IR unresolved nuclear source whose spectral signature is clearly present in our data. The near-IR spectrum was combined with an optical spectrum obtained with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph which was used to constrain the contribution of a power-law component. After subtraction of the power-law component, the near-IR continuum is well fitted by a blackbody function, with $T=1285\pm50 $K, which dominates the nuclear spectrum -- within an aperture of radius 0$\farcs$3 -- in the near-IR. We attribute the blackbody component to emission by a dusty structure, with hot dust mass $M_{\rm HD}=(6.9\pm 1.5) \times10^{-4} {\rm M_\odot}$, not resolved by our observations, which provide only an upper limit for its distance from the nucleus of 4 pc. If the reddening derived for the narrow-line region also applies to the near-IR source, we obtain a temperature $T=1360\pm50 $K and a mass $M_{\rm HD}=(3.1\pm 0.7) \times10^{-4} {\rm M_\odot}$ for the hot dust. This structure may be the inner wall of the dusty torus postulated by the Unified Model or the inner part of a dusty wind originating in the accretion disk., Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure; ApJ, 698, 1767

Apresentamos mapas bidimensionais (2D) para os fluxos e razões de linhas de emissão, cinemática do gás e das estrelas na região central (≈ 100 − 300 pc de raio em torno do núcleo) das galáxias Seyfert ESO428-G14, NGC7582, NGC4051 e NGC4258 a partir de dados espectroscópicos obtidos com a Unidade de Campo Integral (IFU) do instrumento GNIRS (Gemini Near-Infrared Spectrograph) e com o instrumento NIFS (Near-infrared Integral Field Spectrograph) instaladas nos telescópios Gemini. Obtivemos medidas da cinemática estelar a partir de ajustes das bandas de absorção do CO em λ ≈ 2, 3 μm por templates estelares e mapas para as distribuições e cinemática do gás a partir de ajustes de curvas gaussianas aos perfis das linhas de emissão. A alta resolução espectral dos dados ainda nos permitiu obter a “tomografia” do gás a partir de cortes ao longo dos perfis das linhas, fornecendo um mapeamento “tridimensional”. Os campos de velocidades das estrelas são dominados por rotação no disco da galáxia. Modelamos estes campos através de rotação num potencial de Plummer. O campo de velocidades de NGC4051 é bem representado pelo modelo e apresenta um potencial gravitacional bastante concentrado, atribu´ıdo ao bojo. NGC7582 apresenta algumas distorções no campo de velocidades que não são bem representadas pelo modelo, as quais podem ser atribuídas a uma barra nuclear presente nesta galáxia. Para NGC4258 tivemos que incluir, além do potencial do bojo, uma componente para o potencial gravitacional do buraco negro supermassivo, uma vez que seu raio de influência está resolvido, o que é confirmado pelo aumento do valor da dispersão de velocidades estelar (σ*) dentro de 11 pc do núcleo. Os mapas de σ* em NGC4051 e NGC7582 apresentam regiões de baixos valores imersas num bojo de maiores valores. Estes baixos valores de σ* foram atribuídos a estrelas jovens, formadas a partir de um gás frio recentemente acretado à região nuclear, as quais ainda preservam a cinemática do gás que as formou. Os campos de velocidades do gás apresentam componentes que diferem de rotação pura. Em ESO428-G14 e NGC7582 estas componentes são observadas como outflows do núcleo. Para ESO428-G14 os outflows são devido á interação entre o jato rádio e o meio interestelar (ISM) circundante. Já em NGC7582 os outflows são atribuídos a ventos do disco de acreção. Em NGC4051 observamos inflows em direção ao núcleo ao longo de braços espirais nucleares. Em geral, observamos também que o gás emissor de H2 apresenta cinemática diferente da observada para o gás ionizado – enquanto que o H2 está mais restrito ao plano das galáxias, onde componentes de rotação são importantes, o gás de maior ionização estende-se a altas latitudes galáticas, onde são mais importantes os movimentos de outflows. A partir das distribuições de fluxos e razões de linhas concluímos que a emissão de H2 observada em NGC4051 é principalmente devida a excitação por raios X oriundos do núcleo, enquanto que em ESO428-G14 o mecanismo de excitação dominante é a interação do jato rádio com o ISM. A emissão do [Fe ii] em ESO428-G14 também é produzida por choques devido ao jato rádio. Determinamos massas de H2 quente que variam de 72 a 2700 M e de Hii entre 1,4×105 e 3,9×106M, as quais são comparáveis a valores publicados na literatura. Estimamos também as taxas de outflow e de inflow para NGC7582 e NGC4051, respectivamente. Obtivemos uma taxa de outflow de MHII ≈ 6, 3 × 10−2M ano−1 para o hidrogênio ionizado e de MH2 ≈ 8, 3 × 10−5M ano−1 para o H2 quente. Para NGC4051 obtivemos uma taxa de inflow de ˙MH2 ≈ 8 × 10−5M ano−1 para o H2 quente, a qual é aproximadamente 100 vezes menor do que o valor necessário para produzir a emissão observada. Concluímos que a taxa de inflow total de gás molecular deve ser muito maior, considerando que estamos amostrando apenas uma pequena parcela do gás molecular presente na região nuclear das galáxias ativas – o gás molecular quente. A principal inovação do presente trabalho é a riqueza de detalhes com que foi mapeada a distribuição e cinemática do gás, bem como a cinemática das estrelas na região central de galáxias Seyfert, com resoluções espaciais sem precedentes na literatura. Tal resolução espacial, combinada com a alta resolução espectral, permitiram uma comparação detalhada entre os mapas de emissão em rádio com os mapas de fluxo, razão de fluxos e principalmente da cinemática “tridimensional”. Através deste trabalho foi possível, pela primeira vez em comprimentos de onda infravermelho, mapear um inflow de gás molecular em uma galáxia ativa dentro dos 300 pc. Contribuímos também para o primeiro mapeamento de inflows no ótico nestas mesmas escalas. We present two-dimensional (2D) maps for emission line fluxes and ratios, gaseous kinematics and stellar kinematics for the central regions of the Seyfert galaxies ESO428-G14, NGC7582, NGC4051 and NGC4258 using spectroscopic data obtained with the Gemini Near-Infrared Spectrograph (GNIRS) Integral Field Unit (IFU) and with the Near-infrared Integral Field Spectrograph (NIFS) at the Gemini telescopes. We have obtained measurements for the stellar kinematics by fitting the CO absorption bandheads around ≈ 2, 3 μm by stellar templates and have obtained maps for the gaseous distribution and kinematics from the fit of gaussian curves to the emission-line profiles. The high spectral resolution of the data allowed us to obtain a gaseous “tomography” by performing cuts in velocity bins along the emission line profiles, which provide a “tri-dimensional” map of the gas emission. The stellar velocity fields are dominated by rotation in the galactic disk. We have modelled these velocities by circular orbits in a Plummer potential. The velocity field of NGC4051 is well reproduced by the model and presents a highly concentrated gravitational potential, atributed to a compact stellar bulge. NGC7582 presents some distortions in its velocity field, which are not reproduced by the model and are atributed to a nuclear bar observed in this galaxy. For NGC4258 we needed to include, besides the bulge potential, the supermassive black hole potential, since its sphere of influence is resolved in our observations, what is confirmed by the increase in the stellar velocity dispersions (σ*) within 11 pc from the nucleus. The σ* maps for NGC4051 and NGC7582 present regions of low values immersed in a background of higher values. These low ∗ values were atributed to young stars, formed from cold gas recently accreted to the nuclear region, which still preserve the kinematics of the gas from which they have formed. The gaseous velocity fields present components that differ from pure rotation. For ESO428-G14 and NGC7582 these components are outflows from the nucleus. The outflows for ESO428-G14 are due to the interaction of the radio jet with the circumnuclear interstellar medium (ISM) and for NGC7582 the outflows are atributed to winds from the accretion disk. For NGC4051 we observe inflows towards the nucleus along nuclear spiral arms. We also observe that in general, the H2 emitting gas presents a distinct kinematics from that of the ionized gas – while the H2 is restricted to the galactic plane, where rotation is important, the higher ionization gas extends to high galactic latitudes, where the outflows are more important. From the flux distributions and line ratios we conclude that the H2 emission in NGC4051 is dominated by X rays heating, while for ESO428-G14 the main excitation mechanism is shocks due to the radio jet. The [Fe ii] emission observed in ESO428- G14 is also dominated by excitation by the radio jet. We have obtained masses for the hot H2 gas varying from 72 to 2700 M⊙ and for the ionized gas (Hii) varying from 1.4×105 to 3.9×106M⊙, which are in agreement with previously published values for active galaxies. We also derive thegas outflow and inflow rates for NGC7582 and NGC4051, respectively. For NGC7582 we obtained an outflow rate of MHII ≈ 6, 3 × 10−2M yr−1 for the ionized hydrogen and of MH2 ≈ 8, 3×10−5M yr−1 for the hot H2. For NGC4051 the hot H2 inflow rate is MH2 ≈ 8 × 10−5M yr−1, which is approximately 100 times smaller than the value necessary to produce the observed emission. We conclude that the total inflow rate of molecular gas must be much higher, as we are sampling only a small part of the molecular gas present in the nuclear region of the active galaxies – the hot emitting gas.

Aims: We derive the age and metallicity of circumnuclear star formation regions (CNSFRs) located in the spiral galaxies NGC6951 and NGC1097, and investigate the cause of the very low equivalent widths of emission lines found for these regions. Methods: We used optical two-dimensional spectroscopic data obtained with Gemini GMOS-IFUs and a grid of photoionization models to derive the the metallicities and ages of CNSFRs. Results: We find star formation rates in the range 0.002-0.14 Msun/yr and oxygen abundance of 12+log(O/H)~8.8 dex, similar to those of most metal-rich nebulae located in the inner region of galactic disks. Conclusions: We conclude that the very low emission-line equivalent widths observed in CNSFRs are caused by the ``contamination'' of the continuum by (1) contribution of the underlying bulge continuum combined with (2) contribution from previous episodes of star formation at the CNSFRs., Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics

We analyse two-dimensional near-IR K-band spectra from the inner 660x315 pc^2 of the Seyfert galaxy NGC7582 obtained with the Gemini GNIRS IFU. The nucleus harbors an unresolved source well reproduced by a blackbody of temperature T 1050 K, which we attribute to emission by circumnuclear dust located closer than 25 pc from the nucleus, with total mass of ~3x10^{-3}M_Sun. Surrounding the nucleus, we observe a ring of active star formation with radius of ~190 pc, an age of ~5 Myr. The radiation of the young stars in the ring accounts for at least 80 % of the ionization observed in the Brgamma emitting gas, the remaining being due to radiation emitted by the active nucleus. The stellar kinematics reveals: (1) a distorted rotation pattern in the radial velocity field with kinematic center apparently displaced from the nuclear source by a few tens of parsecs; (2) a high velocity dispersion in the bulge of sigma=170 km/s; (3) a partial ring of sigma=50 km/s interpreted as due to stars formed from cold gas in a previous burst of star formation. The kinematics of the ionized gas shows an additional blueshifted component with velocities > 100 km/s interpreted as due to an outflow along the ionization cone. The mass outflow rate in the ionized gas was estimated as ~0.05 M_Sun/yr, which is one order of magnitude larger than the accretion rate to the AGN. The flux distribution and kinematics of the hot molecular gas, traced by the H2l2.22um emission line, suggests that most of this gas is in the galactic plane. An excess blueshift along PA~-70 can be interpreted as an inflow towards the nucleus. An AGN-Starburst connection in the nucleus of NGC7582 is supported by the ratio between the mass accretion rate and the star formation rate in the circumnuclear region of ~0.26%, which is close to the Magorrian relation., 16 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

We present two-dimensional (2D) stellar and gaseous kinematics of the inner ~130x180 pc^2 of the Narrow Line Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC4051 at a sampling of 4.5 pc, from near-infrared K-band spectroscopic observations obtained with the Gemini's Near-infrared Integral Field Spectrograph (NIFS). The turnover of the stellar rotation curve at only ~55 pc from the nucleus, revealing a highly concentrated gravitational potential. The stellar velocity dispersion of the bulge is ~60 km/s -- implying on a nuclear black hole mass of ~10^6 M_sun -- within which patches of lower velocity dispersion suggest the presence of regions of more recent star formation. The Brgamma emission-line shows no rotation as well as no blueshifts or redshifts in excess of 30 km/s, and is thus not restricted to the galaxy plane. The [CaVIII] coronal region is compact but resolved, extending over the inner 75 pc. It shows the highest blueshifts -- of up to -250 km/s, and the highest velocity dispersions, interpreted as due to outflows from the active nucleus, supporting an origin close to the nucleus. Subtraction of the stellar velocity field from the gaseous velocity field has allowed us to isolate non-circular motions observed in the H_2 emitting gas. The most conspicuous kinematic structures are two nuclear spiral arms. We interpret these structures as inflows towards the nucleus, a result similar to those of previous studies in which we have found streaming motions along nuclear spirals in ionized gas using optical IFU observations. We have calculated the mass inflow rate along the nuclear spiral arms, obtaining $\dot{M}_{H_2} ~ 4x10^{-5} M_Sun/yr, value ~100 times smaller than the accretion rate necessary to power the active nucleus., Comment: paper accepted for publication in MNRAS, 17 pages, 10 figures

We report the discovery of gas streaming motions along nuclear spiral arms towards the LINER nucleus of the galaxy NGC 6951. The observations, obtained using the GMOS integral field spectrograph on the Gemini North telescope, yielded maps of the flux distributions and gas kinematics in the Halpha, [NII]6584 and [SII]6717,31 emission lines of the inner 7x5 arcsec^2 of the galaxy. This region includes a circumnuclear star-forming ring with radius 500pc, a nuclear spiral inside the ring and the LINER nucleus. The kinematics of the ionized gas is dominated by rotation, but subtraction of a kinematic model of a rotating exponential disk reveals deviations from circular rotation within the nuclear ring which can be attributed to (1) streaming motions along the nuclear spiral arms and (2) a bipolar outflow which seems to be associated to a nuclear jet. On the basis of the observed streaming velocities and geometry of the spiral arms we estimate a mass inflow rate of ionized gas of 3x10^(-4) Msun/yr, which is of the order of the accretion rate necessary to power the LINER nucleus of NGC 6951. Similar streaming motions towards the nucleus of another galaxy with LINER nucleus -- NGC 1097 -- have been reported by our group in a previous paper. Taken together, these results support a scenario in which nuclear spirals are channels through which matter is transferred from galactic scales to the nuclear region to feed the supermassive black hole., 25 pages, 6 eps figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

In recent observations by the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) as part of a campaign to discover locations and kinematics of AGN outflows, we found that Mrk 509 contains a 3'' (~2100 pc) linear filament in its central region. Visible in both optical continuum and [O III] imaging, this feature resembles a check mark of several knots of emission that travel northwest to southeast before jutting toward the nucleus from the southwest. Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS/HST) observations along the inner portion of the filament reveal redshifted velocities, indicating that the filament is inflowing. We present further observations of the nucleus in Mrk 509 using the Gemini Near-Infrared Integral Field Spectrograph, from which we conclude that this structure cannot be related to previously studied, typical narrow line region outflows and instead embodies the remains of an ongoing minor merger with a gas-rich dwarf galaxy, therefore providing a great opportunity to study the fueling of an AGN by a minor merger in progress.

We present 2D gas kinematics and excitation of the inner 300 pc of the Seyfert galaxy ESO428-G14 at a sampling of 14 pc^2, from near-IR spectroscopic observations at R~6000 obtained with the IFU of the Gemini Near-Infrared Spectrograph. From measurements of fluxes and profiles of the emission lines [FeII]lambda1.257, Pa_beta, H_2lambda2.121 and Br_gamma, we construct 2D maps of line intensities and ratios, radial velocities and velocity dispersions. Emission lines "tomography" is provided by velocity slices obtained across the line profiles, which allows the mapping of not only of peak velocities but including also the wings. We compare these maps with a previously published high spatial resolution radio map and find a tight relation between the radio structure and the emission-line flux distributions and kinematics, revealing that the radio-jet plays a fundamental role not only in shaping the NLR but also in the imprint of its kinematics. Blueshifts of up to 400 km/s and velocity dispersions of up to 150 km/s are observed in association with the radio jet at position angle PA=129, which is also the PA of the photometric major axis of the galaxy. The [FeII] shows the largest blueshifts and velocity dispersions and its flux distribution is concentrated along the jet, while the H_2 shows the lowest velocity dispersions and has additional flux contribution from regions beyond the jet. We use the 2D velocity dispersion maps to estimate upper limits to the contribution of the radio jet to the excitation of [FeII] and H_2 which may reach 90% for [FeII] and 80% for H_2 in the jet region. The [FeII]/Pa_beta emission-line ratios and the association of the [FeII] flux distribution and kinematics with the radio structure supports a stronger contribution of the radio jet to the [FeII] excitation than to that of H_2., 13 pages, accepted for publication in MNRAS

We present two-dimensional (2D) near-infrared spectra of the inner 300×300 pc2 of the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 5929 at a spatial resolution of ~20 pc obtained with the Gemini Near infrared Integral Field Spectrograph (NIFS). We present 2D maps for the emission line flux distributions and kinematics and report the discovery of a linear structure ~300 pc in extent and of ~50 pc in width oriented perpendicular to the radio jet, showing broadened emission-line profiles.While over most of the field the emission-line profiles have full-widths-at-half-maximum (FWHM) of ~210 km/s, at a linear structure perpendicular do the radio jet the emission-line FWHMs are twice this value, and are due to two velocity components, one blueshifted and the other redshifted relative to the systemic velocity. We attribute these velocities to an outflow from the nucleus which is launched perpendicular to the radio jet. We reported the detection of this peculiar outflow in Riffel, Storchi-Bergmann & Riffel (2014a), where more details of the analysis can be found. Since, NGC 5929 has a Type 2 nucleus, this detection implies that: (1) both ionizing radiation and relativistic particles are escaping through holes in the torus perpendicular to the radio jet; and/or (2) the torus is also outflowing, as proposed by recent models of tori as winds from the outer parts of an accretion flow; or (3) the torus is absent in NGC 5929.At other locations the gas kinematics is dominated by rotation in a disk, although some evidences of interaction of the radio jet with the emitting gas are seen as a broadening of the line profiles at the locations of the radio structures.The flux distributions for the [P ii], [Fe ii], H i and H2 emission lines show that the line emission is more extended along the PA = 60/240^, extending to up to 1.5” to both sides of the nucleus, while to the perpendicular direction (PA = -30/150^) the emission is extended to 0.7” from the nucleus. The flux distributions of all emission lines show a good correlation with radio the radio structures, with the two peak of emission associated to the soutwestern and northeastern radio knots. Some differences are observed among distinct emission lines. While the [Fe ii] and H2 emission peak at the location of the soutwestern radio structure at 0.6” from the nucleus, the H i recombination lines present the their highest fluxes at the location of the northeastern radio hotspot at 0.5” from the nucleus. Another difference is that the H2 emission is less collimated than that for other lines, being more extended perpendicularly to the radio jet. A detailed analysis of the line emission and kinematics will be presented in Riffel, Storchi-Bergmann & Riffel (2014b).

We used near-IR integral field spectroscopy, obtained with Gemini NIFS and GNIRS integral field units (IFUs), to map the ionized and molecular flux distributions and kinematics in the central few hundreds of parsecs of Seyfert galaxies. We conclude that the molecular gas emission can be considered a tracer of the feeding of the AGN, while the emission of the ionized gas a tracer of its feedback.

We present two-dimensional (2D) gas kinematics and excitation of the inner 300 pc of the Seyfert galaxy ESO428-G14 at a sampling of 14 pc2, from near-infrared spectroscopic observations at R=5900 obtained with the Integral Field Unit of the Gemini Near-Infrared Spectrograph. Blue-shifts of up to 400 km s−1 and velocity dispersions of up to 150 km s−1, are observed in association with the radio jet running from SE to NW along position angle 129°. Both X-rays emitted by the active galactic nucleus and shocks produced by the radio jet can excite the H2 and [Fe ii] emission lines. We use the 2D velocity dispersion maps we estimate upper limits of 90% to the contribution of the radio jet to the excitation of [Fe ii]λ1.257μm, and of 80% to the excitation of H2λ2.121μm in the jet region.

We report the observation of an outflow perpendicular to the radio jet in near-infrared integral field spectra of the inner 250 pc of the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 5929. The observations were obtained with the Gemini Near infrared Integral Field Spectrograph at a spatial resolution of ~20 pc and spectral resolution R~5300 and reveal a region 50 pc wide crossing the nucleus and extending by 300 pc perpendicularly to the known radio jet in this galaxy. Along this structure - which we call SE-NW strip - the emission-line profiles show two velocity components, one blueshifted and the other redshifted by -150 km/s and 150 km/s, respectively, relative to the systemic velocity. We interpret these two components as due to an outflow perpendicular to the radio jet, what is supported by low frequency radio emission observed along the same region. We attribute this feature to the interaction of ambient gas with an "equatorial outflow" predicted in recent accretion disk and torus wind models. Perpendicularly to the SE-NW strip, thus approximately along the radio jet, single component profiles show blueshifts of ~-150 km/s to the north-east and similar redshifts to the south-west, which can be attributed to gas counter-rotating relative to the stellar kinematics. More double-peaked profiles are observed in association with the two radio hot-spots, attributed to interaction of the radio jet with surrounding gas., Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJL; 5 pages

We study the kinematics and excitation mechanisms of H2 and [Fe II] lines in a sample of 67 emission-line galaxies with Infrared Telescope Facility SpeX near-infrared (NIR, 0.8-2.4 micrometers) spectroscopy together with new photoionisation models. H2 emission lines are systematically narrower than narrow-line region (NLR) lines, suggesting that the two are, very likely, kinematically disconnected. The new models and emission-line ratios show that the thermal excitation plays an important role not only in active galactic nuclei but also in star forming galaxies. The importance of the thermal excitation in star forming galaxies may be associated with the presence of supernova remnants close to the region emitting H2 lines. This hypothesis is further supported by the similarity between the vibrational and rotational temperatures of H2. We confirm that the diagram involving the line ratios H2 2.121/Br_gamma and [Fe II] 1.257/Pa_beta is an efficient tool for separating emission-line objects according to their dominant type of activity. We suggest new limits to the line ratios in order to discriminate between the different types of nuclear activity.

Universidade Federal deSanta Maria, CCNE -Departamento ´isica LARIE, CampusUniversit´ario, 97150-900 Santa Maria RS, BrazilAbstract. In this paper we present some preliminary results of a 3-mm (86 GHz) radio con-tinuum survey of selected Seyfert galaxies made with the Berkley-Maryland Illinois MillimeterArray (BIMA) in D configuration. The images shown here have spatial resolutions of about twoarcminutes after gaussian tapering. At this observing wavelength, we expect to have a negligiblenon-thermal emission as the spectra is certainly dominated by free-free radio emission. We havemeasured flux densities and 3 mm luminosities which agree with a thermal blackbody spectraexpected from data obtained with the IRAS satellite at wavelengths shorter than 80 µm. Datais presented for NGC3982, NGC5597, NGC5253, NGC1667, and NGC2997 and the main as-trophysical consequences of such studies are discussed in this poster. We also argue that radiocontinuum at millimeter wavelengths is a better observational tool to study the star-formationin active galaxies than conventional infrared photometry.

We report the first two-dimensional mapping of the stellar population and non-stellar continua within the inner 180 pc (radius) of NGC 1068 at a spatial resolution of 8 pc, using integral field spectroscopy in the near-infrared. We have applied the technique of spectral synthesis to data obtained with the instrument NIFS and the adaptive optics module ALTAIR at the Gemini North Telescope. Two episodes of recent star formation are found to dominate the stellar population contribution: the first occurred 300 Myr ago, extending over most of the nuclear region; the second occurred just 30 Myr ago, in a ring-like structure at ~100 pc from the nucleus, where it is coincident with an expanding ring of H2 emission. Inside the ring, where a decrease in the stellar velocity dispersion is observed, the stellar population is dominated by the 300 Myr age component. In the inner 35 pc, the oldest age component (age > 2Gyr) dominates the mass, while the flux is dominated by black-body components with temperatures in the range 700 < T < 800 K which we attribute to the dusty torus. We also find some contribution from black-body and power-law components beyond the nucleus which we attribute to dust emission and scattered light.

Previous studies of the central region of active galaxies show that the molecular and ionized gas have distinct kinematics and flux distributions, with the former dominated by quiescent kinematics characteristic of rotation in the galactic plane and the latter with more disturbed kinematics and apparently extending to larger galactic latitudes. These results suggest that the molecular gas can be a tracer of the feeding of the AGN and the ionized gas a tracer of its feedback (e.g., Riffel et al. 2009, 2008, 2006; Storchi-Bergmann et al. 2009a, b). In the present study we use Gemini NIFS integral field observations of the inner 700×700 pc2 of the Seyfert galaxy Mrk 1066 at a spatial resolution of ~ 35 pc to investigate if the above scenario is also valid for this galaxy.

The goal of this work is to map the gas excitation and kinematics in the inner ~ 2 kiloparsecs of the radio-galaxy Arp 102B. Though being classified as an E0 galaxy, Arp 102B shows a nuclear gas spiral (Fathi et al., in preparation). Previous studies of the gas kinematics in nuclear spirals have led to the conclusion that these structures usually trace gas inflows (Fathi et al. 2006; [Storchi-Bergmann et al. 2007; [Riffel et al. 2008). We have used integral field spectroscopy obtained with GMOS instrument of the Gemini North telescope to investigate the nature of the nuclear spiral arms. The spectra cover the wavelength range 4400–7300 Å over a field of view of 5.″5 × 3.″9 (2.7 kpc × 1.9 kpc).

We present two-dimensional stellar and gaseous kinematics of the inner 119× 255 pc of the LINER/Seyfert 1 galaxy M 81 on the basis of observations obtained with the Integral Field Unit of the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS-IFU) on the Gemini North telescope at a spatial resolution of ∼ 10 pc, over the wavelength range 5600–7000 A. Our goal is to map the gas-streaming motions toward the nucleus suggested by the presence of a dusty nuclear spiral previously observed in HST images (Simoes Lopes et al. 2007). Such structures have been shown to be associated with inward gas motions in previous studies by our group (Fathi et al. 2006; Storchi-Bergmann et al. 2007). The gaseous velocity centroids and velocity dispersions were obtained by fitting Gaussians to the [N ii]λ6584 emission line. The Penalized Pixel Fitting (pPXF) technique (Cappellari & Emsellem 2004) was employed to obtain the stellar velocity centroids and velocity dispersions. In order to isolate non-circular motions, a residual map was constructed by subtracting the stellar from the gaseous velocity centroid. After subtraction, there are mostly blueshifts in the gas on the far side of the galaxy and a few small redshifts on the near side, suggesting inflow if the gas is in the plane of the galaxy. Alternatively, part of the gas may be outflowing to high latitudes, perpendicularly toward the plane. As a novel approach to map features of the gaseous velocity field, we applied the method of principal component analysis (PCA) to our data (Steiner et al. 2009). The result is the separation of the information into a system of uncorrelated coordinates ordered by principal components of decreasing variance. The second principal component shows double peaks in the Hα+[N ii] emission lines, with the blue and red peaks slightly blueshifted and slightly redshifted by ∼ 80 km s−1 , respectively, relative to the systemic velocity. We interpret this as due to a compact bipolar outflow or rotation that is not resolved in the data. The third, fourth, and sixth principal components reveal a compact gas disk (∼17 pc in diameter) in rotation around the nucleus. A detailed discussion on the emission-line flux distribution and excitation, as well as more details on the stellar and gaseous kinematics will be presented in a forthcoming paper.

Several models have predicted that stars could form inside galactic outflows and that this would be a new major mode of galaxy evolution. Observations of galactic outflows have revealed that they host large amounts of dense and clumpy molecular gas, which provide conditions suitable for star formation. We have investigated the properties of the outflows in a large sample of galaxies by exploiting the integral field spectroscopic data of the large MaNGA-SDSS4 galaxy survey. We find that star formation occurs inside at least half of the galactic outflows in our sample. We also show that even if star formation is prominent inside many other galactic outflows, this may have not been revealed as the diagnostics are easily dominated by the presence of even faint AGN and shocks. If very massive outflows typical of distant galaxies and quasars follow the same scaling relations observed locally, then the star formation inside high-z outflows can be up to several 100 Msun/yr and could contribute substantially to the early formation of the spheroidal component of galaxies. Star formation in outflows can also potentially contribute to establishing the scaling relations between black holes and their host spheroids. Moreover, supernovae exploding on large orbits can chemically enrich in-situ and heat the circumgalactic and intergalactic medium. Finally, young stars ejected on large orbits may also contribute to the reionization of the Universe., Comment: 23 pages, 16 figures, 2 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRAS. Replaced with accepted version

We report on the determination of electron densities, and their impact on the outflow masses and rates, measured in the central few hundred parsecs of 11 local luminous active galaxies. We show that the peak of the integrated line emission in the AGN is significantly offset from the systemic velocity as traced by the stellar absorption features, indicating that the profiles are dominated by outflow. In contrast, matched inactive galaxies are characterised by a systemic peak and weaker outflow wing. We present three independent estimates of the electron density in these AGN, discussing the merits of the different methods. The electron density derived from the [SII] doublet is significantly lower than than that found with a method developed in the last decade using auroral and transauroral lines, as well as a recently introduced method based on the ionization parameter. The reason is that, for gas photoionized by an AGN, much of the [SII] emission arises in an extended partially ionized zone where the implicit assumption that the electron density traces the hydrogen density is invalid. We propose ways to deal with this situation and we derive the associated outflow rates for ionized gas, which are in the range 0.001--0.5 M$_{\odot}$yr$^{-1}$ for our AGN sample. We compare these outflow rates to the relation between $\dot{M}_{out}$ and $L_{AGN}$ in the literature, and argue that it may need to be modified and rescaled towards lower mass outflow rates., accepted by MNRAS; 30 pages (the last 8 of which are extra figures in an appendix). This is an update of the original version posted

We carried out a detailed analysis of the central 350 pc of the galaxy NGC 5643. We aimed to probe the conditions and mechanisms behind the gas emission. For that, high spatial resolution optical and near-infrared integral field spectroscopy data were analyzed. Detailed studies in the nearby Universe, as the current, provide further evidence of how AGN-driven phenomena impact the gas of galaxies. Realizamos uma análise detalhada dos 350 parsecs centrais da galáxia NGC 5643. Nosso objetivo foi investigar as condições e mecanismos por trás da emissão do gás. Para isso, foram analisados dados de espectroscopia de campo integral de alta resolução espacial no óptico e infravermelho próximo. Estudos detalhados no Universo local, como o atual, nos fornecem mais evidências de como os fenômenos associados a AGNs impactam o gás das galáxias.

Nesse trabalho, foi feito o tratamento e a análise de cubos de dados de 8 núcleos ativos de galáxias próximos, no óptico e no infravermelho. O tratamento e a análise de todos os cubos de dados foram feitos utilizando-se uma série de metodologias específicas, muitas das quais foram desenvolvidas nos últimos anos pelo grupo de trabalho do autor. A análise de todos os cubos de dados foi feita com quatro objetivos principais: análise da fenomenologia geral nos arredores do AGN com a Tomografia PCA; análise das populações estelares, da emissão térmica de poeira e do featureless continuum nos arredores do AGN com uma síntese espectral feita com o software Starlight; análise da cinemática estelar e do gás ao redor do buraco negro central e, em alguns casos, simulação com o objetivo de se determinar a massa do buraco negro; análise dos mecanismos de excitação e ionização do gás ou da emissão de hidrogênio molecular. In this work, we have treated and analyzed data cubes of 8 nearby active galactic nuclei, in the optical and in the infrared. All data cube treatment and analysis were performed using a series of specific methodologies, many of which were developed in the last few years by the author\'s working group. The analysis of all data cubes was performed with four main objectives: analysis of the general phenomenology of the AGN environment, using PCA Tomography; analysis of the stellar populations, of the thermal emission from dust and of the featureless continuum in the vicinity of the AGN, with a spectral synthesis performed with the Starlight software; analysis of the stellar and gas kinematics around the central black hole and, in some cases, simulations with the purpose of determining the mass of the black hole; analysis of the excitation and ionization mechanisms of the gas or of the emission from molecular hydrogen.