Jet acceleration of the fast molecular outflows in the Seyfert galaxy IC 5063.

Massive outflows driven by active galactic nuclei are widely recognized to have a key role in the evolution of galaxies, by heating the ambient gas, expelling it from the nuclear regions, and thereby affecting the star-formation histories of the galaxy bulges. It has been proposed that the powerful jets of relativistic particles (such as electrons) launched by some active nuclei can both accelerate and heat the molecular gas, which often dominates the mass budgets of the outflows. Clear evidence for this mechanism, in the form of detailed associations between the molecular gas kinematics and features in the radio-emitting jets, has however been lacking. Here we report that the warm molecular hydrogen gas in the western radio lobe of the Seyfert galaxy IC 5063 is moving at high velocities-up to about 600 kilometres per second-relative to the galaxy disk. This suggests that the molecules have been accelerated by fast shocks driven into the interstellar medium by the expanding radio jets. These results demonstrate the general feasibility of accelerating molecular outflows in fast shocks driven by active nuclei.

GRB 030329: 3 years of radio afterglow monitoring.

Radio observations of gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglows are essential for our understanding of the physics of relativistic blast waves, as they enable us to follow the evolution of GRB explosions much longer than the afterglows in any other wave band. We have performed a 3-year monitoring campaign of GRB 030329 with the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescopes and the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope. Our observations, combined with observations at other wavelengths, have allowed us to determine the GRB blast wave physical parameters, such as the total burst energy and the ambient medium density, as well as to investigate the jet nature of the relativistic outflow. Further, by modelling the late-time radio light curve of GRB 030329, we predict that the Low-Frequency Array (30-240 MHz) will be able to observe afterglows of similar GRBs, and constrain the physics of the blast wave during its non-relativistic phase.