Sub-KPC Stellar Kinematics of AGN as Revealed by Isaac (VLT/ANTU) Spectroscopy

Abstract

This study is part of the ‘Dynamics of Embedded Bars and Connections with AGN’ (DEBCA) project whose main goal is to provide new insights on the fueling processes of AGN. For that purpose the DEBCA team plans to observe and compare to numerical simulations a sample of 12 galaxies: Seyfert (1 or 2) or not, with or without double-bars. Fueling the central activity of AGN is a long-standing dilemma. Various ‘fueling engines’ have been proposed so far: e.g. nuclear bars nested in large-scale bars, or nuclear spirals. As the processes involved in these phenomena (bars, gas flows, accretion, ...) are dynamical with different time-scales, morphological studies have not brought definite answers yet. This issue clearly requires a kinematic study as well. Figure 1 shows the stellar kinematics of NGC 1097, as extracted from long slit observations of the CO bandheads (≈2.3 μm). The slit was aligned along the major and minor axis of the nuclear bar (which has an extent of ≈ 10″). Note the unusual central dip in the dispersion profiles. Papers presenting the whole data set analysis are in preparation.