Massive dusty multiphase outflow in local merger shows no sign of slowing on kiloparsec scales

¹ Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Oslo P.O. Box 1029 Blindern 0315 Oslo, Norway
² Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, College Hill Armagh BT61 9DG, UK
³ INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera Via Brera 28 20121 Milano, Italy
⁴ Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia Augusto Righi, Università degli Studi di Bologna via Gobetti 93/2 40129 Bologna, Italy
⁵ INAF – Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio di Bologna Via Gobetti 101 40129 Bologna, Italy

^★ Corresponding author: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Received: 23 July 2025
Accepted: 8 January 2026

Abstract

We use ALMA CO(1-0) observations and VLT/MUSE rest-frame optical data of the ultraluminous infrared galaxy (ULIRG) IRAS20100-4156 at z = 0.1297 to characterize its powerful outflow in multiple phases using tracers of cold molecular, ionized, and neutral atomic gas and dust as well. Our analysis uses the correspondence with the stellar velocity field to split the complex emission line profiles of the CO(1-0) line into components in gravitational and non-gravitational motion. We find a massive (8 × 10⁹ M_⊙) molecular outflow containing about 40% of the total molecular gas mass in the system. The outflow shows a bi-conical morphology centered on the brightest galaxy in the merger, oriented along its minor axis and extending to ∼5 kpc. This outflow has a characteristic velocity of 170 km/s, an outflow mass rate of 700 M_⊙/yr, a depletion time of 16 Myr, and energetics consistent with star formation as a driver. The neutral atomic and ionized gas phases traced by NaI absorption and Hα emission show counterparts to the blueshifted cold molecular outflow but are only 15% and 3% as massive. None of the three gas phases show any signs of slowing down over the extent at which we detected the outflow, suggesting an acceleration mechanism acting on the outflowing gas at kpc scales. We also detect 3.5 × 10⁷ M_⊙ of dust, traced by optical extinction in the MUSE data, in the blueshifted outflowing cold molecular gas. The ionization state of the non-outflowing gas is consistent with star formation, while the outflowing component shows shock-like ionization. We conclude that the multiphase outflow in IRAS20100-4156 originates in the southeast nucleus of the merger and is driven by the starburst activity there, with radiation pressure likely playing a significant role in its acceleration.