Bibcode
Prieto, M. Almudena; Zhao, Hongsheng
Bibliographical reference
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 290, Issue 1, pp. 34-40.
Advertised on:
9
1997
Citations
2
Refereed citations
2
Description
Detailed line profiles from the nebular gas surrounding the radio galaxy
3C 227 are presented. High-resolution spectroscopy around [O iii] 4959-
and 5007-A emission lines, with an unprecedentedly high signal-to-noise
ratio, reveals broad and asymmetric line profiles all across the
nebulae. The average width of the line complex is of the order of 100 km
s^-1, with the mean peak position shifting from red to blue according to
a general rotation pattern. The line profiles were first compared with
the popular bicone models. However, even when extended to include the
effect of radial inflow or outflow, the bicone models fail to match the
observed gas profiles. Instead, a ring model is proposed, in which gas
particles move in several non-intersecting circular orbits in force
balance with the halo potential. The multiple-peaked line complexes seen
at various positions in the nebula are then interpreted as the
contribution of different rings projected in the same line of sight.