Molecular Oxygen in the Nearest QSO Mrk 231

Abstract

We report the detection of an emission feature at the 12 sigma level with FWHM line width of about 450 km s(-1) toward the nearest quasi-stellar object, QSO Mrk 231. Based on observations with the IRAM 30 m telescope and the Northern Extended Millimeter Array Interferometer, the 1(1)-1(0) transition of molecular oxygen is the likely origin of the line with rest frequency close to 118.75 GHz. The velocity of the O-2 emission in Mrk 231 coincides with the red wing seen in CO emission, suggesting that it is associated with the outflowing molecular gas, located mainly at about 10 kpc away from the central active galactic nucleus (AGN). This first detection of extragalactic molecular oxygen provides an ideal tool to study AGN-driven molecular outflows on dynamic timescales of tens of megayears. O-2 may be a significant coolant for molecular gas in such regions affected by AGN-driven outflows. New astrochemical models are needed to explain the implied high molecular oxygen abundance in such regions several kiloparsecs away from the center of galaxies.