KCWI Discovery of a Spatially Resolved Kpc-Scale Ionized Outflow in NGC 1275

Abstract

We present new Keck Cosmic Web Imager observations of the central few kiloparsecs of NGC 1275, the brightest cluster galaxy of the Perseus Cluster. These integral field spectroscopic data reveal a warm-ionized outflow traced by H$β$ and the [O III] doublet extending out to $\sim2.5$ kpc from the nucleus. The warm-ionized outflow has an [O III]-derived $v_{50}$ of up to $\sim570$ km/s, $w_{80}$ of up to $3780$ km/s, and H$β$-derived outflowing mass of $(2.7 \pm 0.3)\times 10^6$ M$_\odot$. Our H$β$-derived warm-ionized outflowing mass rate of 2.7$\pm$0.7 M$_\odot$ yr$^{-1}$ is comparable to the estimated cold molecular disk accretion rate of 1$-$10 M$_\odot$ yr$^{-1}$, which could be a sign of self-regulation between the pc-scale cold gas feeding the active galactic nucleus (AGN) and the warm wind accelerated out to kpc scales. In the host galaxy, we detect an enhancement in the [O III] / H$β$ ratio in the direction of the receding jet, which may imply jet interaction with the host interstellar medium. The outflow component also shows a clear enhancement of [O III] / H$β$ that positively correlates with $w_{80}$ and $v_{50}$, indicative of AGN influence and/or fast shocks. Both the outflow and host galaxy [O III] / H$β$ ratio decrease with increasing distance from the center, showing that the influence of the AGN is confined to the central $\sim2$ kpc. These results are the first resolved measurements of a kpc-scale ionized wind in NGC 1275 and provide a view into how both jets and winds contribute to the feedback cycles in complex cool core cluster systems.