Spatially resolved observations of the peculiar galaxy NGC 232: AGN winds and stellar populations

We use VLT-MUSE integral field unit data, to study the ionized gas physical properties and kinematics, as well as the stellar populations of the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 232. The data cover a field of view of 60''x60'' at a spatial resolution of ~850 pc. The emission-line profiles have been fitted with two Gaussian components, one associated to the emission of the gas in the disc and the other due to a bi-conical outflow. The spectral synthesis reveals a predominant old stellar population with ages exceeding 2 Gyr, with the largest contributions seen at the nucleus and decreasing outwards. Meanwhile, the young and intermediate age stellar populations exhibit a positive gradient with increasing radius and a circum-nuclear star forming ring with radius of ~0.5 kpc traced by stars younger than 20 Myr, is observed. This, along with the fact that AGN and SF dominated regions present similar gaseous oxygen abundances, suggests a shared reservoir feeding both star formation and the AGN. We have estimated a maximum outflow rate in ionized gas of ~1.26 M_{sun}/yr observed at a distance of ~560 pc from the nucleus. The corresponding maximum kinetic power of the outflow is ~3.4x10^{41} erg/s. This released energy could be sufficient to suppress star formation within the ionization cone, as evidenced by the lower star formation rates observed in this region.