2019MNRAS.485.2054S

We have used the Gemini Near-Infrared Integral Field Spectrograph in the J and K bands to map the distribution, excitation, and kinematics of the ionized H II and warm molecular gas H₂, in the inner few 100 pc of six nearby active galaxies: NGC 788, Mrk 607, NGC 3227, NGC 3516, NGC 5506, NGC 5899. For most galaxies, this is the first time that such maps have been obtained. The ionized and H₂ gas show distinct kinematics: while the H₂ gas is mostly rotating in the galaxy plane with low velocity dispersion (σ), the ionized gas usually shows signatures of outflows associated with higher σ values, most clearly seen in the [Fe II] emission line. These two gas species also present distinct flux distributions: the H₂ is more uniformly spread over the whole galaxy plane, while the ionized gas is more concentrated around the nucleus and/or collimated along the ionization axis of its active galactic nucleus (AGN), presenting a steeper gradient in the average surface mass density profile than the H₂ gas. The total H II masses cover the range 2 x 10⁵ - 2 x 10⁷ M_☉, with surface mass densities in the range 3-150 M_☉ pc^–2, while for the warm H₂ the values are 10^3–4 times lower. We estimate that the available gas reservoir is at least ≃ 100 times more massive than needed to power the AGN. If this gas forms new stars the star formation rates, obtained from the Kennicutt-Schmidt scaling relation, are in the range 1-260 x 10^–3 M_☉ yr^–1. But the gas will also - at least in part - be ejected as the observed outflows.