Recently launched AGN-driven outflow in a lensed quiescent galaxy at Cosmic Noon

Abstract

We analyze JWST/NIRSpec IFU spectroscopy of MRG-M0150, a gravitationally lensed, massive quiescent galaxy at z=2.6 from the INQUEST-JWST survey. Thanks to the combination of lensing magnification with JWST's angular resolution, we are able to build spatially resolved maps of the ionized gas spatial distribution, kinematics, and ionization properties in this system. We detect ionized gas emission throughout the galaxy: the lack of residual star formation inferred from line-ratio diagnostic diagrams, together with the decoupling between the gas and stellar kinematics, suggest that the ionized gas is in a wind. We use the 3D gas kinematics modeling code \texttt{MOKA3D} to constrain the geometry and physical properties of the ionized gas wind. We find that the observations are consistent with a biconical wind driven by the low-luminosity AGN at the center of the galaxy, which is detected in X-rays. The wind reaches high velocities of $1000-1400$ km/s, implying that part of the gas may escape the halo. The ionized gas mass outflow rate, (0.6 ± 0.2)~M_⊙~yr⁻¹, is modest but exceeds the upper limit on the residual star formation rate, and it is likely that the wind is multiphase and carries more mass. We show that typical unresolved observations would not detect the wind, suggesting that the incidence of such outflows may be higher than previously recognized. Simple geometric arguments show that the observed outflow must have been launched ≈ 0.45~Myr ago from the time of observation. This evidence suggests that low-level AGN activity is an important mechanism for maintaining quiescence in massive galaxies at cosmic noon, potentially over cosmological timescales.

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BibTeX RIS

BibTeX

@misc{bugiani2026recently,
  title = {{Recently launched AGN-driven outflow in a lensed quiescent galaxy at Cosmic Noon}},
  author = {Letizia Bugiani and Andrew B. Newman and Sirio Belli and Cosimo Marconcini and Pietro Bergamini and Sai Gangula and Claudio Grillo and Andrea Bolamperti and Katherine E. Whitaker and Aliza Beverage and Richard S. Ellis and Amir H. Khoram and Allison Matthews and Marco Lombardi},
  howpublished = {arXiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.33176},
  eprint = {2610.33176},
  archivePrefix = {arXiv},
  url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.33176},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}

RIS

TY  - UNPB
TI  - Recently launched AGN-driven outflow in a lensed quiescent galaxy at Cosmic Noon
AU  - Letizia Bugiani
AU  - Andrew B. Newman
AU  - Sirio Belli
AU  - Cosimo Marconcini
AU  - Pietro Bergamini
AU  - Sai Gangula
AU  - Claudio Grillo
AU  - Andrea Bolamperti
AU  - Katherine E. Whitaker
AU  - Aliza Beverage
AU  - Richard S. Ellis
AU  - Amir H. Khoram
AU  - Allison Matthews
AU  - Marco Lombardi
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/23
PB  - arXiv
DO  - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.33176
UR  - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.33176
AB  - We analyze JWST/NIRSpec IFU spectroscopy of MRG-M0150, a gravitationally lensed, massive quiescent galaxy at z=2.6 from the INQUEST-JWST survey. Thanks to the combination of lensing magnification with JWST's angular resolution, we are able to build spatially resolved maps of the ionized gas spatial distribution, kinematics, and ionization properties in this system. We detect ionized gas emission throughout the galaxy: the lack of residual star formation inferred from line-ratio diagnostic diagrams, together with the decoupling between the gas and stellar kinematics, suggest that the ionized gas is in a wind. We use the 3D gas kinematics modeling code \texttt{MOKA3D} to constrain the geometry and physical properties of the ionized gas wind. We find that the observations are consistent with a biconical wind driven by the low-luminosity AGN at the center of the galaxy, which is detected in X-rays. The wind reaches high velocities of $1000-1400$ km/s, implying that part of the gas may escape the halo. The ionized gas mass outflow rate, (0.6 ± 0.2)~M_⊙~yr^−1, is modest but exceeds the upper limit on the residual star formation rate, and it is likely that the wind is multiphase and carries more mass. We show that typical unresolved observations would not detect the wind, suggesting that the incidence of such outflows may be higher than previously recognized. Simple geometric arguments show that the observed outflow must have been launched ≈ 0.45~Myr ago from the time of observation. This evidence suggests that low-level AGN activity is an important mechanism for maintaining quiescence in massive galaxies at cosmic noon, potentially over cosmological timescales.
ER  -

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