A precessing jet from an active galactic nucleus drives gas outflow from a disk galaxy
To reproduce observed galaxy properties, cosmological simulations require that massive galaxies experience feedback from active galactic nuclei, which regulates star formation within those galaxies. However, the energetics and timescales of these feedback processes are poorly constrained. We combined optical, infrared, submillimeter, and radio observations of the active galaxy VV 340a, which is hosting a low-power jet launched from a supermassive black hole at its center. We found that the jet undergoes precession, with a period of (8.2 ± 5.5) × 10<sup>5</sup> years, and drives an outflow of gas at a rate of 19.4 ± 7.9 solar masses per year. The jet shocks the gas, producing highly ionized plasma that extends several kiloparsecs from the nucleus. The outflow ejects sufficient gas from the galaxy to influence its star-formation rate.
Authors
- Archana Aravindan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7578-2412)
- Anne M. Medling (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7421-2944)
- Justin A. Kader (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6650-3757)
- J. M. Mazzarella (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8204-8619)
- Raymond P. Remigio (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0164-8795)
- Christopher C. Hayward (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4073-3236)
- Kirsten L. Larson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3917-6460)
- Hanae Inami (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4268-0393)
- Matthew A. Malkan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6919-1237)
- Gabriela Canalizo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4693-6157)
- Tianmu Gao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1158-6372)
- V. Charmandaris (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2688-1956)
- J. A. Surace
- Christopher J. Agostino (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9505-3310)
- A. Evans (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2638-1334)
- T. Diaz-Santos
- C. Max
- Mateusz Matuszewski (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2821-1750)
- Marina Bianchin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6570-9446)
- G. C. Privon
- Nikolaus Z. Prusinski (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5847-7934)
- Lee A
- V. U
- James D. Neill
- Loreto Barcos-Muñoz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0057-8892)
- Justin H. Howell
- Thomas S.-Y. Lai
- Jeffrey A. Rich
- Rosalie C. McGurk
- David B. Sanders
- Christopher D. Martin
- Sabrina Stierwalt
Institutions
- University of California, Riverside (US)
- Hiroshima University (JP)
- University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (US)
- Australian National University (AU)
- California Institute of Technology (US)
- Space Telescope Science Institute (US)
- University of Arizona (US)
- University of Crete (GR)
- University of California, Los Angeles (US)
- University of California, Santa Cruz (US)
- Carnegie Institution for Science (US)
- European University Cyprus (CY)
- University of California, Irvine (US)
- National Radio Astronomy Observatory (US)
- Atacama Large Millimeter Submillimeter Array (CL)
- W.M. Keck Observatory (US)
- University of Florida (US)
- Worldwide Clinical Trials (United States) (US)
- Carnegie Observatories (US)
- European Southern Observatory (CL)
- Flatiron Health (United States) (US)
- ARC Centre of Excellence for All-sky Astrophysics (AU)
- Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (US)
- Flatiron Institute (US)
- University of Virginia (US)
- Occidental College (US)
- Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas (GR)
- University of Toledo (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Science
- Published
- 2026-01-08
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adp8989
- Primary Topic
- Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00