Title: Integral Field Spectroscopy of the Extended Emission-Line Region of 3C 249.1
Authors: Hai Fu, Alan Stockton (IfA Hawaii)

We present Gemini Multiobject Spectrograph integral field spectroscopy of the extended emission-line region associated with quasar 3C 249.1. The kinematics of the ionised gas measured from the (O III) lambda 5007 line is rather complex and cannot be explained globally by a simple dynamical model, but some clouds can be modelled individually as having locally linear velocity gradients. The temperatures of the ionised gas appear uniform (varying from ~12000 to 15000 K), while the densities vary from a few tens to a few hundreds cm^-3. The emission mechanism of all of the emission clouds, as indicated by the line-ratio diagnostics, is consistent both with "shock + precursor" and pure photoionisation models. The total mass of the ionised gas is on the order of 10^9 M_Sun. We estimate the bulk kinetic energy and momentum of the extended emission-line region of 2.5*10^57 ergs and 10^50 dyne s, and a dynamical timescale of ~10 Myr. By comparing the injection rates of kinetic energy and momentum of different galactic wind models with the observation, we argue that the emission-line clouds are most likely a direct result from the feedback of the quasar. We also discuss the nature of the extended X-ray emission surrounding the quasar.

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The powerful and distant quasar 3C 249.1 has one of the largest extended emission-line regions (EELRs) known, extending out over tens of kiloparsecs of surrounding space. Astronomers Hai Fu and Alan Stockton of the Institute for Astronomy (University of Hawai'i) recently constructed velocity maps of the gas in the EELR around the quasar (which is at a redshift of z=0.31) using the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph's integral field unit (IFU) on Gemini North. Using diagnostic emission-line ratios, they were able to map the electron temperatures and densities of the extended emission gas and study the mechanisms exciting the gas.

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