Outflow of H_2_ gas from NGC3256

In these regions, gas outflows driven by starburst and active galactic nuclear activity are believed to play a crucial role in the evolution of these galaxies. However, to fully understand this process it is essential to resolve the morphology and kinematics of such outflows.

Using near-infrared integral-field spectroscopy obtained with SINFONI on the Very Large Telescope, we detect a kpc-scale structure of high-velocity molecular hydrogen (H_2_) gas associated with the deeply buried secondary nucleus of the infrared-luminous merger-galaxy NGC 3256. We show that this structure is most likely the hot component of a molecular outflow, which was recently also detected in the cold molecular gas through CO emission.