The Resolved Outflow from 3C 48

Abstract

We investigate the properties of the high-velocity outflow driven by the young radio jet of 3C 48, a compact-steep-spectrum source. We use the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph on board the Hubble Space Telecope to obtain (1) low-resolution UV and optical spectra and (2) multi-slit medium-resolution spectra of the ionized outflow. With supporting data from ground-based spectrographs, we are able to accurately measure the ratios of diagnostic emission lines such as [O III] λ5007, [O III] λ3727, [N II] λ6548, Hα, Hβ, [Ne V] λ3425, and [Ne III] λ3869. We fit the observed emission-line ratios using a range of ionization models, powered by active galactic nucleus (AGN) radiation and shocks, produced by the MAPPINGS code. We have determined that AGN radiation is likely the dominant ionization source. The outflow's density is estimated to be in the range n = 10³-10⁴ cm^-3, the mass is ~6 × 10⁶ M _⊙, and the metallicity is likely equal to or higher than solar. Compared with the typical outflows associated with more evolved radio jets, this young outflow is denser, less massive, and more metal rich. Multi-slit observations allow us to construct a two-dimensional velocity map of the outflow that shows a wide range of velocities with distinct velocity components, suggesting a wide-angle clumpy outflow.

Based in part on observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555. These observations are associated with program GO-11574. Some of the data presented herein were obtained at the W. M. Keck Observatory, which is operated as a scientific partnership among the California Institute of Technology, the University of California and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The Observatory was made possible by the generous financial support of the W. M. Keck Foundation. Some of the observations included were obtained at the Gemini Observatory, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under a cooperative agreement with the NSF on behalf of the Gemini partnership: the National Science Foundation (United States), the National Research Council (Canada), CONICYT (Chile), the Australian Research Council (Australia), Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação (Brazil) and Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación Productiva (Argentina).