Program: GN-2006A-C-10

A significant fraction of low-redshift QSOs show strong extended emission over radii of a few tens of kiloparsecs or more. The origin of the gas comprising these highly structured emission-line regions remains an unsolved problem, with suggestions ranging from condensation from cooling flows to interaction between starburst galactic superwinds and the ambient medium. Recent Chandra observations and ground-based optical spectroscopy of the extended emission-line regions (EELRs) around quasars seem to be showing disfavor upon the cooling flow model, but on the other hand, pointing strongly to the direction of the superwind model. There are two main observable signatures unique to the superwind model --- (1) young (< a few tens of Myr) post-starburst age of the host galaxies, and (2) high-speed shocks being a significant ionization mechanism for at least a fraction of the emission-line gas. Here we propose to test the superwind model by using Gemini N GMOS IFU to obtain deep and detailed emission-line spectroscopy of two most luminous EELRs around quasars, on which we also have Chandra data.