Description
How AGN (Active Galactic Nuclei) feedback operates is an unsolved mystery plaguing astronomy. AGN outflows could explain how this feedback operates. To investigate this, we use [OIII] as a tracer of ionised outflows. [OIII] has been connected to radio emission and with radio surveys deeper than ever before we can ask: What physical process causes this connection?
A unique instrument which can guide us closer to the answer is the International LOFAR Telescope (ILT). Using the LOFAR Two-meter Sky Survey Deep Fields at 144 MHz, I compare the [OIII] outflow properties and kinematics of 115 radio-detected AGN at z < 0.83 to 83 radio non-detected AGN. We discover 67% of radio-detected AGN host an outflow compared to 45% of radio non-detected AGN, indicating that radio-detected AGN are more likely to host an [OIII] outflow. We observe a stronger broad, blueshifted component in the radio-detected AGN, implying a profound link between low-frequency radio emission and [OIII] outflows.
To understand the origin of the radio emission, we harness widefield Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) processing and imaging by incorporating the international stations of the ILT into the data reduction process. These sub-arcsecond images give us crucial insight into the radio morphology, taking our understanding of the connection between [OIII] and radio to an exciting new level. I will present the first 0.3” resolution image at 144 MHz of the Boötes Deep Field and link sub-arcsecond radio morphologies to [OIII] outflows.
