We present a study of the cold molecular versus ionized gas distribution in three nearby Seyfert galaxies: NGC, 6860, Mrk, 915, and MCG, -01-24-012. To constrain the cold molecular flux distribution at ∼, 0. 5, --, 0. 8 arcsec (∼, 150, --, 400, pc) scales, we used data from the CO (2–1) emission line, obtained with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). For the ionized gas, we used Hubble Space Telescope hst) narrowband images, centered on the oiii łambdałambda4959, 5007 emission lines. Within the inner kiloparsec of the three galaxies, we observe gaps in the CO emission in regions co-spatial with the oiii flux distribution, similarly to what has recently been observed in other active galaxies. Of our original sample of 13 nearby active galactic nucleus (AGN) sources, 12 objects present the same trend. This indicates that CO molecules might be partially dissociated by AGN radiation or that there is a deficit of cold molecular gas on nuclear scales driven by ionized gas outflows and/or jets. If so, this represents a form of AGN feedback that is not captured when only outflow kinematic properties, such as mass outflow rates, are considered. We also discuss how part of the molecular gas might still be present in hotter H₂ phases, as has already been observed in other objects.
Oliveira et al. (Tue,) studied this question.