Speaker
Description
Galaxy evolution is tightly connected to Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN), through feedback processes in which gas accretion onto the supermassive black hole drives powerful multiphase outflows. Detailed studies in the local Universe are crucial to resolve the physical scales and gas phases involved, enabling a comprehensive view of AGN-host interactions.
I will present first results from the MIRACLE (Mid-IR Activity of Circumnuclear Line Emission) program, combining JWST/MIRI, MUSE, and ALMA observations of seven nearby Seyfert galaxies. Thanks to JWST’s spatial resolution (50-150 pc), we probe atomic and molecular gas in the dusty circumnuclear regions of these sources, and assess the impact of AGN activity on their host galaxies.
Focusing on NGC 1365, we trace the ionized outflow up to kiloparsec scales and constrain its energetics and effects on star formation (SF). By combining mid-IR diagnostics with advanced photoionization and kinematic models, we reproduce ~60 optical and mid-IR emission lines, disentangling AGN- and SF-driven components and providing robust estimates of gas density, ionization, extinction, and outflow mass. Our results demonstrate that classical methods, which rely on strong assumptions about ionization state, average density, and extinction correction, can underestimate the outflow mass by up to an order of magnitude. This marks the first time such a detailed, physically grounded approach has been applied to spatially resolved AGN-driven outflows, providing a new benchmark for future studies.