Using long slit emission-line spectra we detect a fast outflow of ionized gas, with velocities up to 1000 km/s, in the nearby powerful radio galaxy 3C 293 (z = 0.045). The fast outflow is located about 1 kpc east of the nucleus, in a region of enhanced radio emission due to the presence of a distorted radio jet. We present results that indicate that this fast outflow is caused by a jet-ISM interaction. The kinematics of the outflowing ionized gas are very similar to those of a fast outflow of neutral hydrogen gas in this galaxy, suggesting that both outflows are the result of the same driving mechanism. While the mass of the outflowing ionized gas is about 1 x 10e5 M_sun, the total HI mass involved in the neutral outflow is about 100 times higher (10e7 M_sun). This shows that, despite the high energies that must be involved in driving the outflow, most of the gas remains, or becomes again, neutral. Other outflows of ionized gas, although not as pronounced as in the region of the enhanced radio emission, are also seen in various other regions along the axis of the inner radio jets. The regular kinematics of the emission-line gas along the major axis of the host galaxy reveal a rotating ionized gas disk 30 kpc in extent.Comment: 15 pages, 10 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS. A full resolution version can be found at http://www.astro.rug.nl/~emonts/MF268rv.pd

We report the detection of very broad H i absorption against the central regions of the radio galaxy 3C 293. The absorption profile, obtained with the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope, has a full width at zero intensity of about 1400 km s Ϫ1, and most of this broad absorption (∼1000 km s Ϫ1) is blueshifted relative to the systemic velocity. This absorption represents a fast outflow of neutral gas from the central regions of this active galactic nucleus. Possible causes for such an outflow are discussed. We favor the idea that the interaction between the radio jet and the rich interstellar medium produces this outflow. Some of the implications of this scenario are considerebd.

The nearby radio galaxy 3C 293 is one of a small group of objects where extreme outflows of neutral hydrogen have been detected. However, due to the limited spatial resolution of previous observations, the exact location of the outflow was not able to be determined. In this Letter, we present new higher resolution Very Large Array observations of the central regions of this radio source and detect a fast outflow of H i with a full width at zero intensity velocity of Δv ∼ 1200 km s−1 associated with the inner radio jet, approximately 0.5 kpc west of the central core. We investigate possible mechanisms which could produce the observed H i outflow and conclude that it is driven by the radio jet. However, this outflow of neutral hydrogen is located on the opposite side of the nucleus to the outflow of ionized gas previously detected in this object. We calculate a mass outflow rate in the range of 8–50 M⊙ yr−1 corresponding to a kinetic energy power injected back into the interstellar medium of 1.38 × 1042 − 1.00 × 1043 erg s−1 or 0.01–0.08 per cent of the Eddington luminosity. This places it just outside the range required by some galaxy evolution simulations for negative feedback from the AGN to be effective in halting star formation within the galaxy.