Gemini Near-Infrared Field Spectrograph Observations of the Seyfert 2 Galaxy Mrk 3: Feeding and Feedback on Galactic and Nuclear Scales

Abstract

We explore the kinematics of the stars, ionized gas, and warm molecular gas in the Seyfert 2 galaxy Mrk 3 (UGC 3426) on nuclear and galactic scales with Gemini Near-Infrared Field Spectrograph observations, previous Hubble Space Telescope data, and new long-slit spectra from the Apache Point Observatory (APO) 3.5 m telescope. The APO spectra are consistent with our previous suggestion that a galactic-scale gas/dust disk at P.A. = 129°, offset from the major axis of the host S0 galaxy at P.A. = 28°, is responsible for the orientation of the extended narrow-line region. The disk is fed by an H i tidal stream from a gas-rich spiral galaxy (UGC 3422) ∼100 kpc to the NW of Mrk 3 and is ionized by the active galactic nucleus (AGN) to a distance of at least ∼20″ (∼5.4 kpc) from the central supermassive black hole (SMBH). The kinematics within at least 320 pc of the SMBH are dominated by outflows with radial (line-of-sight) velocities up to 1500 km s −1 in the ionized gas and 500 km s −1 in the warm molecular gas, consistent with in situ heating, ionization, and acceleration of ambient gas to produce the narrow-line region outflows. There is a disk of ionized and warm molecular gas within ∼400 pc of the SMBH that has reoriented close to the stellar major axis but is counterrotating, consistent with claims of external fueling of AGNs in S0 galaxies.