Extreme Emission Line Outflows in the GPS Source 4C 12.50 (PKS 1345+12)

Abstract

We present high resolution spectra (0.7 Å/pix) of the GPS source 4C 12.50 with large spectral coverage (~4500 Å) taken with the 4.2 m William Herschel Telescope, La Palma. The slit was aligned along PA 160° to include the nucleus and emission line region to the NW. An asymmetric halo extending 20 kpc NW and 12 kpc SE from the nucleus is clearly seen. At the position of the nucleus we observe unusually broad forbidden emission line components (broadest component: FWHM ~ 2000 km s^–1), blue shifted by up to 2000 km s^–1 with respect to the halo of the galaxy and HI absorption. We interpret this as material in outflow. We measure E(B–V) = 1.44 for the broadest, most kinematically disturbed component, corresponding to an actual Hβ flux 130 times brighter than that measured. We calculate an upper limit for the mass of the line emitting gas of order 10⁶ M_⊙ for both the intermediate and broad components. Our results are consistent with 4C 12.50 being a young radio source.