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Evidence for Mass Outflow from the Nucleus of M101: Knots, Rings, and a Geyser
Hα on-line and off-line CCD images of M101 obtained with theCanada-France-Hawaii 3.6 m telescope show the presence of two Hαbright, filled knots paired linearly across the nucleus in a north-southorientation. The knots are centered 2.4" (85 pc, assuming a distance toM101 of 7.4 Mpc) from the nucleus and lie roughly perpendicular to aneast-west molecular bar. Each knot in turn is connected to an elongated,photoionized ring lying parallel along the bar. The eastern ring,connected to the southern knot, reaches outward in a well-defined 500 x200 pc oval. The 700 x 300 pc western ring, connected to the northernknot, is more broken and dissipated in the middle. An arc containingblue stars and/or significant Hα absorption lies along thesouthern side of a dust lane extending from the nucleus westward alongthe bar. Hubble Space Telescope Planetary Camera image data show pocketsof star-forming regions to the east and to the south of the nucleuswhich are associated with the knot and ring in that half. The imagingdata, together with velocity data obtained with the Coude' feedspectrometer at Kitt Peak National Observatory show that the knots andrings are likely a bipolar outflow originating from a velocity <100km s^-1^ "geyser" which has a period of approximately 22 million yearsand is located in the nucleus. The geyser may be caused by a mass <10^6^ M_sun_ black hole orbiting within the nucleus, sweeping materialfrom the molecular bar.
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