Unravelling the complex structure of AGN-driven outflows: I. Kinematics
  and sizes
  Outflows driven by active galactic nuclei (AGNs) are often invoked as agents
of the long-sought AGN feedback. Yet, characterizing and quantifying the impact
on their host galaxies has been challenging. We present Gemini Multi-Object
Spectrograph integral field unit data of 6 local (z<0.1) and luminous
(L$_{[OIII]}>10^{42}$ erg s$^{-1}$) Type 2 AGNs. In the first of a series of
papers, we investigate the kinematics and constrain the size of the outflows.
The ionized gas kinematics can be described as a superposition of a
gravitational component that follows the stellar motion and an outflow-driven
component that shows large velocity (up to 600 km s$^{-1}$) and large velocity
dispersion (up to 800 km s$^{-1}$). Using the spatially resolved measurements
of the gas, we kinematically measure the size of the outflow, which is found to
be between 1.3 and 2.1 kpc. Due to the lack of a detailed kinematic analysis,
previous outflow studies likely overestimate their size by up to more than a
factor of 2, depending on how the size is estimated and whether the [OIII] or
H$\alpha$ emission line is used. The relatively small size of the outflows for
all 6 of our objects casts doubts on their potency as a mechanism for negative
AGN feedback.
