Virtually every galaxy in the Universe is believed to possess a supermassive black hole (SMBH) at its center, although only a small fraction of these, known as active galactic nuclei (AGN), are feeding on surrounding gas in a process that results in the expulsion of radiation from the nucleus. These radiation emanating from the accretion disks of AGN drive powerful outflows of gas across the electromagnetic spectrum. Outflows likely play a critical role in regulating star formation within a galaxy and balancing the coevolutionary growth of galaxies and their SMBHs, but elucidating the role of AGN-driven feedback in a galaxy requires an in-depth study of its gas population and kinematics on both nuclear and global scales.

NGC 3227 is a nearby Seyfert 1 galaxy with a rich history of AGN-driven feeding and feedback resulting in observable multiphase outflows in the narrow line region (NLR). In conjunction with photoionization models, we use [O III] imaging and spectroscopy from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and the Apache Point Observatory 3.5-meter telescope, along with molecular CO(2–1) data from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), to create a spatially-resolved mass outflow rate for ionized and molecular gas within 5′′ of the nucleus. We use this outflow rate to create the first spatially resolved estimation of the time over which the cold gas reservoirs are evacuated, thereby defining the duration of continuous AGN activity. Our results show that removal of cold gas reservoirs due to mass outflows in the inner ∼ 400 pc of this moderate-luminosity Seyfert galaxy can be accomplished in 10^(6.0) − 10^(7.6) years, which is comparable to the duty cycle timescale describing the duration of continuous AGN activity and signifies that AGN outflows are an critical regulators of AGN feedback processes in this galaxy. These results will inform future multiphase, spatially-resolved studies of nearby AGN, from which we intend to extrapolate properties of feedback mechanisms and timescales across cosmic time and AGN luminosity.