Mapping gas accretion and stellar kinematics to sub-kiloparsec scales in NGC 4696 with JWST/NIRSpec

@misc{marquis2026mapping,
  title = {{Mapping gas accretion and stellar kinematics to sub-kiloparsec scales in NGC 4696 with JWST/NIRSpec}},
  author = {Mathieu Marquis and Julie Hlavacek-Larrondo and Olivia Pereira and Michael Reefe and Hyunseop Choi and Jorge Barrera-Ballesteros and Benjamin Vigneron and Ming Sun and Rebecca E.A Canning and Gregory Taylor and Loïc Albert and Francesco d'Eugenio and Megan Donahue and Andrew C Fabian and Gary J Ferland and John S Gallagher and Marie-Lou Gendron-Marsolais and Pierre Guillard and Minghao Guo and Nina Hatch and Ralf Kotulla and Yuan Li and Roberto Maiolino and Allison Man and Michael A Mcdonald and Brian R Mcnamara and Valeria Olivares and Marine Prunier and Christopher S Reynolds and Carter Rhea and Annabelle Richard-Laferrière and Helen R Russell and Philippe Salomé and Prathamesh Tamhane and Auriane Thilloy and Grant R Tremblay and G. Mark Voit and Stephen A Walker},
  howpublished = {HAL},
  year = {2026},
  month = sep,
  doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2608.07732},
  eprint = {2608.07732},
  archivePrefix = {arXiv},
  url = {https://hal.science/hal-05742528v1},
}

TY  - UNPB
TI  - Mapping gas accretion and stellar kinematics to sub-kiloparsec scales in NGC 4696 with JWST/NIRSpec
AU  - Mathieu Marquis
AU  - Julie Hlavacek-Larrondo
AU  - Olivia Pereira
AU  - Michael Reefe
AU  - Hyunseop Choi
AU  - Jorge Barrera-Ballesteros
AU  - Benjamin Vigneron
AU  - Ming Sun
AU  - Rebecca E.A Canning
AU  - Gregory Taylor
AU  - Loïc Albert
AU  - Francesco d'Eugenio
AU  - Megan Donahue
AU  - Andrew C Fabian
AU  - Gary J Ferland
AU  - John S Gallagher
AU  - Marie-Lou Gendron-Marsolais
AU  - Pierre Guillard
AU  - Minghao Guo
AU  - Nina Hatch
AU  - Ralf Kotulla
AU  - Yuan Li
AU  - Roberto Maiolino
AU  - Allison Man
AU  - Michael A Mcdonald
AU  - Brian R Mcnamara
AU  - Valeria Olivares
AU  - Marine Prunier
AU  - Christopher S Reynolds
AU  - Carter Rhea
AU  - Annabelle Richard-Laferrière
AU  - Helen R Russell
AU  - Philippe Salomé
AU  - Prathamesh Tamhane
AU  - Auriane Thilloy
AU  - Grant R Tremblay
AU  - G. Mark Voit
AU  - Stephen A Walker
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/08
PB  - HAL
DO  - 10.48550/arxiv.2608.07732
UR  - https://hal.science/hal-05742528v1
AB  - We present JWST/NIRSpec IFU spectroscopy of the central 618×618 pc^2 (∼3''×3'') of NGC 4696, the BCG in the Centaurus cluster. Leveraging the ∼0.1'' ($20.6$ pc) pixel size of JWST, we resolve a compact circumnuclear rotating disk (radius of ∼120 pc) traced by Paα and H_2 1−0 S(1) emission, which allows a reassessment of the AGN position based on the kinematic centre of this disk. A central Paα velocity dispersion reaching σ∼449 km s^−1 implies a SMBH mass of ∼10^9 M_⊙, corresponding to a sphere of influence of r_inf∼60 pc, resolved by our observations. Position-velocity diagrams reveal an increase from ∼−200 to ∼600 km s^−1 on scales of ∼150 pc (a gradient of $4.7$ km s^−1 pc^−1) and an accretion rate of ∼18 M_⊙ yr^−1 feeding the CND. The Paα emission shows a double-component in the core, with a high-dispersion redshifted component reaching σ∼600 km s^−1. In contrast, MUSE Hα observations covering the ∼10 kpc-scale filamentary structure recover only weak velocity gradients (≲150 km s^−1) within ∼300×300 pc^2 and do not resolve the disk due to larger PSFs and pixel sizes. ALMA CO(2-1) data reveal only compact molecular clumps within a ∼410×410 pc^2 region, with no extended counterpart to the structures traced by Paα and H_2 1−0 S(1). Stellar kinematics show a smooth velocity field and broad dispersion profile, clearly decoupled from both the multiphase gas and the hot ICM probed by XRISM. These results provide a direct, spatially resolved view of gas dynamics within the inner few hundred parsecs, demonstrating the power of JWST/NIRSpec to probe SMBH feeding.
ER  -