AstroFIt 2 – COFUND fellow since October 1, 2016
Project ended on August 31, 2019.
INAF Research Centre: Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera
Email: claudia.cicone at inaf.it
Twitter: @claudiacicone
In the media:
- Parola al vento (Media INAF, 1/3/2018)
- Identikit di galassie piccole e vicine con Allsmog (Media INAF, 18/5/2017)
- Release of CO(2-1) spectra from the APEX Low-redshift Legacy Survey for MOlecular Gas (ALLSMOG) (ESO archive, 17/5/2017)
Papers/Publications:
- The Molecular Gas in the NGC 6240 Merging Galaxy System at the Highest Spatial Resolution (The Astrophysical Journal, 20/2/2020)
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An extremely X-ray weak blazar at z = 5 (Astronomy & Astrophysics, 6/9/2019)
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Testing the blast-wave AGN feedback scenario in MCG-03-58-007 (MNRAS, 13/8/2019)
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A near-infrared study of the multiphase outflow in the type-2 quasar J1509+0434 (MNRAS, 20/5/2019)
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Evidence for a clumpy disc-wind in the star-forming Seyfert 2 galaxy MCG–03–58–00 (MNRAS, 7/12/2018)
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MAGNUM survey: A MUSE-Chandra resolved view on ionized outflows and photoionization in the Seyfert galaxy NGC 1365 (Astronomy & Astrophysics, 6/9/2018)
- ALMA [CI]3P1 −3 P0 observations of NGC 6240: a puzzling molecular outflow, and the role of outflows in the global αCO factor of (U)LIRGs (The Astrophysical Journal, 18/7/2018)
- A new powerful and highly variable disk wind in an AGN-star forming galaxy, the case of MCG-03-58-007 (MNRAS, 3/7/2018)
- Swift data hint at a binary Super Massive Black Hole candidate at sub–parsec separation (MNRAS, 28/6/2018)
- Molecular gas in two companion cluster galaxies at z = 1.2 (Astronomy & Astrophysics, 6/6/2018)
- Rest-frame UV-to-optical spectroscopy of APM 08279+5255 BAL classification and black hole mass estimates (Astronomy & Astrophysics, 27/4/2018)
- The largely unconstrained multiphase nature of outflows in AGN host galaxies (Nature Astronomy 2, 27/2/2018)
- On the discovery of fast molecular gas in the UFO/BAL quasar APM 08279+5255 at z=3.912 (Astronomy & Astrophysics, 21/9/2017)
- Quasar outflows at z > 6: the impact on the host galaxies (MNRAS, 12/7/2017)
- AGN feedback on molecular gas reservoirs in quasars at z ∼ 2.4 (Astronomy & Astrophysics, 6/7/2017)
- The final data release of ALLSMOG: a survey of CO in typical local low-M* star-forming galaxies (Astronomy & Astrophysics, 3/5/2017)
- AGN wind scaling relations and the co-evolution of black holes and galaxies (Astronomy & Astrophysics, 16/2/2017)
- ALMA Observations Show Major Mergers Among the Host Galaxies of Fast-growing, High-redshift Supermassive Black Holes (The Astrophysical Journal, 6/2/2017)
Project title: COURAGE – Cold OUtflows Ruffling the AGn Environment
Abstract:
The aim of my research is to test models of galaxy evolution invoking internal feedback mechanisms to regulate and, in extreme cases, rapidly suppress star formation in galaxies. A multi-wavelength observational approach, combining insights from the radio/millimeter to the X-ray bands, will be adopted to investigate multi-phase energetic outflows that can be the manifestation of “radiative-mode” feedback from active galactic nuclei (AGN).
My study builds on the recent discovery that fast (vmax ≥ 1000 km s-1), massive (Mgas ≥ 108 MSun) kpcscale outflows of molecular gas may be ubiquitous in galaxies hosting starbursts and/or powerful AGNs. In my previous works I have shown that the mass-loss rates, kinetic powers and momentum rates are significantly boosted when the AGN dominates the bolometric luminosity of the host galaxy. The inference is that the energetic output of the AGN can undermine even the coldest and densest phase of the interstellar medium (ISM) that directly fuels star formation, resulting in a potentially dramatic feedback on galaxy evolution. A plausible mechanism for the coupling between the AGN radiation and the cold ISM may be provided by ultra-fast highionization
winds originating from the accretion disk and observable in the X-ray, which can efficiently transfer kinetic energy to the ISM and drive the large-scale molecular flows observed at millimeter wavelengths.
My project aims at providing answers to the most pressing open questions in this field, and develops around three main themes: (i) the physical properties of molecular outflows; (ii) the outflow acceleration mechanism and (iii) the AGN feedback at high redshift. A central point of this investigation will be tracking the AGN feedback from the nuclear scales, where the whole process is believed to originate through hot winds visible in the X-ray, to the kpc-scales of the host galaxy, where the back-reaction on the cold ISM can be observed in the form of extended molecular outflows. Such analysis requires the use of observations at both Xray and mm/radio wavelengths. For the former, the expertise available at my host INAF institution will play a crucial role. For the latter, I note that a total of 6h of ALMA time, 12h of JVLA time and 22h of NOEMA time have already been allocated to this project (PI: Cicone).