The hydrogen gas outflow in 3C236

Three of these clouds are located, in projection, against the nuclear region on scales of <~40pc, while the fourth is cospatial to the southeast lobe at a projected distance of ~270pc. Their velocities are between 150 and 640km/s blueshifted with respect to the velocity of the disk-related HI. These findings suggest that the outflow is at least partly formed by clouds, as predicted by some numerical simulations, and that it originates already in the inner (few tens of pc) region of the radio galaxy.

Our results indicate that the entire outflow might consist of many clouds, possibly with comparable properties as those clearly detected, but also distributed at larger radii from the nucleus where the lower brightness of the lobe does not allow us to detect them. However, we cannot rule out a diffuse component of the outflow. Because 3C 236 is a low excitation radio galaxy, it is less likely that the optical AGN is able to produce strong radiative winds.

This leaves the radio jet as the main driver for the HI outflow.