Astronomy Colloquium

Wednesday, February 3, 2021

12:00pm to 1:00pm

Online Event

Circumnuclear Molecular Disks: Role in AGN Fueling and Feedback

Francoise Combes, Professor, Paris Observatory, College de France,

The gas inflows directly fueling AGN are now traceable with current high-resolution observations with ALMA and NOEMA. Dynamical mechanisms are essential to exchange angular momentum and drive the gas to the super-massive black hole. While at 100pc scale, the gas is sometimes stalled in nuclear rings, recent observations reaching ~10pc scale (or 50mas), inside the sphere of influence of the black hole, may bring smoking gun evidence of fueling, within a randomly oriented nuclear molecular disk. Observations of AGN feedback will be presented, together with the suspected responsible mechanisms. Molecular outflows are frequently detected in active galaxies, and the ALMA and NOEMA resolution gives clues to their origin, either radiative of kinetic AGN mode, or starburst. When driven by AGN with near escape velocity, these outflows are
therefore a clear way to moderate or suppress star formation.

To view this talk, please visit: https://youtu.be/_sym_Iu7cNM

PLEASE NOTE TIME CHANGE TO 12:00PM (NOON) PACIFIC STANDARD TIME FOR THIS TALK

For more information, please contact Mansi Kasliwal by email at [email protected] or visit https://www.astro.caltech.edu/.

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