Discovery of an X-Ray Quasar Wind Driving the Cold Gas Outflow in the Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxy IRAS F05189-2524

Abstract

We present new XMM-Newton and NuSTAR observations of the galaxy merger IRAS F05189-2524, which is classified as an ultraluminous infrared galaxy and optical Seyfert 2 at z = 0.0426. We test a variety of spectral models that yield a best fit consisting of an absorbed power law with emission and absorption features in the Fe K band. Remarkably, we find evidence for a blueshifted Fe K absorption feature at E = 7.8 keV (rest frame) which implies an ultrafast outflow (UFO) with v _out = 0.11 ± 0.01c. We calculate that the UFO in IRAS F05189-2524 has a mass outflow rate of {\dot{M}}_out} ≳ 1.0 {M}_⊙ yr^-1, a kinetic power of {\dot{E}}_{{K}} ≳ 8% L _AGN, and a momentum rate (or force) of {\dot{P}}_out} ≳ 1.4 {L}_AGN}/c. Comparing the energetics of the UFO to the observed multi-phase outflows at kiloparsec scales yields an efficiency factor of f ∼ 0.05 for an energy-driven outflow. Given the uncertainties, however, we cannot exclude the possibility of a momentum-driven outflow. Comparing IRAS F05189-2524 with nine other objects with observed UFOs and large-scale galactic outflows suggests that there is a range of efficiency factors for the coupling of the energetics of the nuclear and galaxy-scale outflows that likely depend on specific physical conditions in each object.