Kavli Affiliate: Roberto Maiolino
| Summary:
We present JWST/NIRSpec IFU spectroscopy of the central $618times618$ pc$^2$ ($sim3”times3”$) of NGC 4696, the BCG in the Centaurus cluster. Leveraging the $sim0.1”$ ($20.6$ pc) pixel size of JWST, we resolve a compact circumnuclear rotating disk (radius of $sim120$ pc) traced by Pa$α$ and H$_2$ 1$-$0 S(1) emission, which allows a reassessment of the AGN position based on the kinematic centre of this disk. A central Pa$α$ velocity dispersion reaching $σsim449$ km s$^-1$ implies a SMBH mass of $sim10^9$ M$_odot$, corresponding to a sphere of influence of $r_mathrminfsim60$ pc, resolved by our observations. Position-velocity diagrams reveal an increase from $sim-200$ to $sim600$ km s$^-1$ on scales of $sim150$ pc (a gradient of $4.7$ km s$^-1$ pc$^-1$) and an accretion rate of $sim18$ M$_odot$ yr$^-1$ feeding the CND. The Pa$α$ emission shows a double-component in the core, with a high-dispersion redshifted component reaching $σsim600$ km s$^-1$. In contrast, MUSE H$α$ observations covering the $sim10$ kpc-scale filamentary structure recover only weak velocity gradients ($lesssim150$ km s$^-1$) within $sim300times300$ pc$^2$ and do not resolve the disk due to larger PSFs and pixel sizes. ALMA CO(2-1) data reveal only compact molecular clumps within a $sim410times410$ pc$^2$ region, with no extended counterpart to the structures traced by Pa$α$ and H$_2$ 1$-$0 S(1). Stellar kinematics show a smooth velocity field and broad dispersion profile, clearly decoupled from both the multiphase gas and the hot ICM probed by XRISM. These results provide a direct, spatially resolved view of gas dynamics within the inner few hundred parsecs, demonstrating the power of JWST/NIRSpec to probe SMBH feeding.
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