The Astrophysical Journal Letters (Jan 2023)
PHANGS–JWST First Results: The Influence of Stellar Clusters on Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Nearby Galaxies
- Daniel A. Dale,
- Médéric Boquien,
- Ashley T. Barnes,
- Francesco Belfiore,
- Frank Bigiel,
- Yixian Cao,
- Rupali Chandar,
- Jérémy Chastenet,
- Mélanie Chevance,
- Sinan Deger,
- Oleg V. Egorov,
- Kathryn Grasha,
- Brent Groves,
- Hamid Hassani,
- Kiana F. Henny,
- Ralf S. Klessen,
- Kathryn Kreckel,
- J. M. Diederik Kruijssen,
- Kirsten L. Larson,
- Janice C. Lee,
- Adam K. Leroy,
- Daizhong Liu,
- Eric J. Murphy,
- Erik Rosolowsky,
- Karin Sandstrom,
- Eva Schinnerer,
- Jessica Sutter,
- David A. Thilker,
- Elizabeth J. Watkins,
- Bradley C. Whitmore,
- Thomas G. Williams
Affiliations
- Daniel A. Dale
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Wyoming , Laramie, WY 82071, USA ; [email protected]
- Médéric Boquien
- ORCiD
- Centro de Astronomía (CITEVA), Universidad de Antofagasta , Avenida Angamos 601, Antofagasta, Chile
- Ashley T. Barnes
- ORCiD
- Argelander-Institut für Astronomie, Universität Bonn , Auf dem Hügel 71, D-53121, Bonn, Germany
- Francesco Belfiore
- ORCiD
- INAF—Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory , Largo E. Fermi 5, I-50125 Florence, Italy
- Frank Bigiel
- ORCiD
- Argelander-Institut für Astronomie, Universität Bonn , Auf dem Hügel 71, D-53121, Bonn, Germany
- Yixian Cao
- ORCiD
- Max-Planck-Institut für Extraterrestrische Physik (MPE) , Giessenbachstr. 1, D-85748 Garching, Germany
- Rupali Chandar
- ORCiD
- Ritter Astrophysical Research Center, University of Toledo , Toledo, OH 43606, USA
- Jérémy Chastenet
- ORCiD
- Sterrenkundig Observatorium, Universiteit Gent , Krijgslaan 281 S9, B-9000 Gent, Belgium
- Mélanie Chevance
- ORCiD
- Institut für Theoretische Astrophysik, Zentrum für Astronomie der Universität Heidelberg , Albert-Ueberle-Strasse 2, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Sinan Deger
- ORCiD
- TAPIR, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, CA 91125 USA
- Oleg V. Egorov
- ORCiD
- Astronomisches Rechen-Institut, Zentrum für Astronomie der Universität Heidelberg , Mönchhofstr. 12-14, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Kathryn Grasha
- ORCiD
- Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Australian National University , Canberra, ACT 2611, Australia; ARC Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions (ASTRO 3D) , Australia
- Brent Groves
- ORCiD
- International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research, University of Western Australia , 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia
- Hamid Hassani
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, University of Alberta , Edmonton, AB T6G 2E1, Canada
- Kiana F. Henny
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Wyoming , Laramie, WY 82071, USA ; [email protected]
- Ralf S. Klessen
- ORCiD
- Institut für Theoretische Astrophysik, Zentrum für Astronomie der Universität Heidelberg , Albert-Ueberle-Strasse 2, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany; Universität Heidelberg , Interdisziplinäres Zentrum für Wissenschaftliches Rechnen, Im Neuenheimer Feld 205, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Kathryn Kreckel
- ORCiD
- Astronomisches Rechen-Institut, Zentrum für Astronomie der Universität Heidelberg , Mönchhofstr. 12-14, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- J. M. Diederik Kruijssen
- ORCiD
- Cosmic Origins Of Life (COOL) Research DAO, coolresearch.io.
- Kirsten L. Larson
- ORCiD
- AURA for the European Space Agency (ESA), Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Janice C. Lee
- ORCiD
- Gemini Observatory/NSF NOIRLab , 950 N. Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA
- Adam K. Leroy
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The Ohio State University , 140 West 18th Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
- Daizhong Liu
- ORCiD
- Max-Planck-Institut für Extraterrestrische Physik (MPE) , Giessenbachstr. 1, D-85748 Garching, Germany
- Eric J. Murphy
- ORCiD
- National Radio Astronomy Observatory , 520 Edgemont Road, Charlottesville, VA 22903, USA
- Erik Rosolowsky
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, University of Alberta , Edmonton, AB T6G 2E1, Canada
- Karin Sandstrom
- ORCiD
- Center for Astrophysics & Space Sciences, Department of Physics, University of California San Diego , 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
- Eva Schinnerer
- ORCiD
- Max Planck Institut für Astronomie , Königstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg, Germany
- Jessica Sutter
- ORCiD
- Center for Astrophysics & Space Sciences, Department of Physics, University of California San Diego , 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
- David A. Thilker
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, The Johns Hopkins University , Baltimore, MD 21218 USA
- Elizabeth J. Watkins
- ORCiD
- Astronomisches Rechen-Institut, Zentrum für Astronomie der Universität Heidelberg , Mönchhofstr. 12-14, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Bradley C. Whitmore
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Thomas G. Williams
- ORCiD
- Max Planck Institut für Astronomie , Königstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg, Germany; Sub-department of Astrophysics, Department of Physics, University of Oxford , Keble Road, Oxford OX1 3RH, UK
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/aca769
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 944,
no. 2
p. L23
Abstract
We present a comparison of theoretical predictions of dust continuum and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emission with new JWST observations in three nearby galaxies: NGC 628, NGC 1365, and NGC 7496. Our analysis focuses on a total of 1063 compact stellar clusters and 2654 stellar associations previously characterized by the Hubble Space Telescope in the three galaxies. We find that the distributions and trends in the observed PAH-focused infrared colors generally agree with theoretical expectations, and that the bulk of the observations is more aligned with models of larger, ionized PAHs. These JWST data usher in a new era of probing interstellar dust and studying how the intense radiation fields near stellar clusters and associations play a role in shaping the physical properties of PAHs.
Keywords
