The CON-quasar stage of IRAS 07251−0248 E

ALMA continuum measurements of the local ultra-luminous galaxy IRAS 07251−0248 E at 667 μm reveal an extremely compact ( R ≲ 27 pc) and bright ( T B ≳ 200 K) nucleus with an absorbing foreground envelope and a surrounding ( R ∼ 75 pc) disk or torus seen nearly face-on. The bright and unresolved nuclear emission implies large optical depths ( τ 667 μm ≳ 0.5, corresponding to N H ≳ 10 25 cm −2 ) of hot dust at ≳500 K. In addition, JWST observations of the source show strong mid-infrared (mid-IR) absorption in the ro-vibrational bands of H 2 O ν 2 = 1 − 0 (5 − 7 μm) and of other species including CO, HCN, C 2 H 2 , CH 4 , and CO 2 , and Herschel /PACS observations exhibit strong and saturated absorption due to OH, H 2 O, CH + , and CH. We propose a model in which the unresolved ALMA submillimeter and JWST mid-IR continua trace the same nuclear source, the former penetrating deep into the nucleus and the latter probing the nuclear photosphere. The continuum model, which includes trapping of photons (the “greenhouse” effect), indicates that the nuclear ( R h ≈ 13 pc) luminosity and luminosity surface density are ∼10 12 L ⊙ and Σ bol ≈ 5 × 10 8 L ⊙ pc −2 , arising from an active galactic nucleus (AGN) so buried that high-ionization lines are completely obscured. The observed mid-IR gas-phase molecular bands probe outflowing gas with velocities of ∼160 km s −1 and are reproduced with the predicted T dust profile, while the far-IR molecular absorption lines are generated in the surrounding thick disk or torus with τ 100 μm ∼ 10. We conclude that IRAS 07251−0248 harbors a compact obscured nucleus (CON) that hides an AGN currently emitting at quasar luminosity. While the observed outflow could be driven by radiation pressure, we favor the scenario of a (partially) energy-conserving hot bubble caught in a very early phase of the expulsion of the highly concentrated gas at the galactic nucleus.