Gas Accretion from a Neighbouring Galaxy Fuels the Low-luminosity Active Galactic Nucleus in NGC 4278

Abstract How a seemingly “dead” host galaxy provides fuel for its active galactic nucleus (AGN) remains an unresolved problem. Using the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST), we present a new high-sensitivity atomic-hydrogen (H i ) observation toward the nearby elliptical galaxy NGC 4278 and its adjacent region. From the observation, we found that external gas accretion from a neighbouring galaxy fuels the low-luminosity AGN in NGC 4278 through tidal interactions. The accreted gas entering NGC 4278 exhibits a rotating gas disk. Moreover, the accreted galaxy has been gas poor and has an H i to stellar mass ratio of about 0.02. Due to the process of gas accretion, it is likely that relativistic jets are generated in the AGN of NGC 4278. The emission of TeV gamma rays in NGC 4278 is likely to be associated with the newly accreted H i gas.