Streaming Motions toward the Supermassive Black Hole in NGC 1097
Robinson, Andrew; Marconi, Alessandro; Axon, David J.; Storchi-Bergmann, Thaisa; Riffel, Rogemar A.; Capetti, Alessandro; Fathi, Kambiz; Winge, Claudia
United States, Brazil, Chile, Italy
Abstract
We have used GMOS-IFU and high-resolution HST-ACS observations to map, in unprecedented detail, the gas velocity field and structure within the 0.7 kpc circumnuclear ring of the SBb LINER/Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 1097. We find clear evidence of radial streaming motions associated with spiral structures leading to the unresolved (<3.5 pc) nucleus, which we interpret as part of the fueling chain by which gas is transported to the nuclear starburst and supermassive black hole.