A Ringed Dwarf LINER 1 Galaxy Hosting an Intermediate-mass Black Hole with Large-scale Rotation-like Hα Emission

Abstract

We report the discovery of a 20 kpc sized {{H}}α emission in SDSS J083803.68+540642.0, a ringed dwarf galaxy ({M}_V=-17.89 mag) hosting an accreting intermediate-mass black hole at z = 0.02957. Analysis of the Hubble Space Telescope images indicates that it is an early-type galaxy with a featureless low-surface brightness disk ({μ }₀=20.39 mag arcsec^-2 in the V band) and a prominent, relatively red bulge (V - I = 2.03, {R}_{{e}}=0.28 {kpc} or 0.″48) that accounts for ≈81% of the total light in the I band. A circumgalactic ring of a diameter 16 kpc is also detected, with a disperse shape on its south side. The optical emission lines reveal the nucleus to be a broad-line LINER. Our MMT longslit observation indicates that the kinematics of the extended {{H}}α emission is consistent with a rotational gaseous disk, with a mean blueshifted velocity of 162 {km} {{{s}}}^-1 and mean redshifted velocity of 86 {km} {{{s}}}^-1. According to our photoionization calculations, the large-scale {{H}}α emission is unlikely to be powered by the central nucleus or by hot evolved (post-AGB) stars interspersed in the old stellar populations, but by in situ star formation; this is vindicated by the line-ratio diagnostic of the extended emission. We propose that both the ring and large-scale {{H}}α -emitting gas are created by the tidal accretion in a collision—and then merger—with a gas-rich galaxy of a comparable mass.