AEON-z5: A Candidate AGN-driven Outflow Enriching the Circumgalactic Medium at z 5.23

arXiv:2609.08264 · astro-ph.GA · Submitted 2026-09-08 · Read on arXiv

astro-ph.GA

Submitted: 2026-09-08

Updated: 2026-09-08

Comments: 20 pages, 8 figures

License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The gist: The dispersal of chemically enriched gas from galaxies into their surroundings is a key process in galaxy evolution, yet direct observational evidence at z>5 remains scarce.

Terminology

Abstract

The dispersal of chemically enriched gas from galaxies into their surroundings is a key process in galaxy evolution, yet direct observational evidence at z>5 remains scarce. We present AEON-z5, a galaxy at z 5.23 in the COSMOS field comprising a compact continuum-emitting core surrounded by an extended, line-dominated ionized nebula. JWST/NIRCam imaging shows that H α +[N II] and H β +[O III] emission extends to projected radii of >4 kpc - 2-2.5 times the typical effective radius at the host stellar mass - reaching the outer ISM and the inner CGM. F444W grism data reveal a highly asymmetric H α +[N II] profile, which we interpret as a bipolar outflow and decompose into three kinematic components. The dominant component has a flux-weighted velocity offset of +489 km/s and FWHM 630 km/s, with a wing reaching v 84 792 km/s. A tentative detached feature at Δv LOS 2800 km/s, detected at 1.5 σ in the 1D spectrum (2.4 σ in the 2D fit), may trace an outflow clump. These kinematics are most coherently explained by an AGN in the core. For the extended nebula, we derive a velocity curve shifting redward with radius, reaching 200-400 km/s at r p 1.3-2.5 kpc - a trend that may reflect an accelerating outflow, corotating gas, or recycled inflow viewed in projection. Crucially, the measured [N II]/H α ratios imply near-solar N2-based abundances (0.7-1.0 Z), remaining >0.37 Z after allowing for AGN excitation and calibration systematics. The combination of large extent, enrichment, and extreme kinematics identifies AEON-z5 as a candidate snapshot of feedback-driven metal transport, offering a direct view of how early AGN activity may redistribute chemically processed gas into the CGM within the first 1.1 billion years.

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