The Astrophysical Journal (Jan 2024)
GOALS-JWST: Gas Dynamics and Excitation in NGC 7469 Revealed by NIRSpec
- Marina Bianchin,
- Vivian U,
- Yiqing Song,
- Thomas S.-Y. Lai,
- Raymond P. Remigio,
- Loreto Barcos-Muñoz,
- Tanio Díaz-Santos,
- Lee Armus,
- Hanae Inami,
- Kirsten L. Larson,
- Aaron S. Evans,
- Torsten Böker,
- Justin A. Kader,
- Sean T. Linden,
- Vassilis Charmandaris,
- Matthew A. Malkan,
- Jeff Rich,
- Thomas Bohn,
- Anne M. Medling,
- Sabrina Stierwalt,
- Joseph M. Mazzarella,
- David R. Law,
- George C. Privon,
- Susanne Aalto,
- Philip Appleton,
- Michael J. I. Brown,
- Victorine A. Buiten,
- Luke Finnerty,
- Christopher C. Hayward,
- Justin Howell,
- Kazushi Iwasawa,
- Francisca Kemper,
- Jason Marshall,
- Jed McKinney,
- Francisco Müller-Sánchez,
- Eric J. Murphy,
- Paul P. van der Werf,
- David B. Sanders,
- Jason Surace
Affiliations
- Marina Bianchin
- ORCiD
- 4129 Frederick Reines Hall, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California , Irvine, CA 92697, USA ; [email protected]
- Vivian U
- ORCiD
- 4129 Frederick Reines Hall, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California , Irvine, CA 92697, USA ; [email protected]
- Yiqing Song
- ORCiD
- European Southern Observatory , Alonso de Córdova, 3107, Vitacura, Santiago 763-0355, Chile; Joint ALMA Observatory , Alonso de Córdova, 3107, Vitacura, Santiago 763-0355, Chile
- Thomas S.-Y. Lai
- ORCiD
- IPAC, California Institute of Technology , 1200 E. California Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
- Raymond P. Remigio
- ORCiD
- 4129 Frederick Reines Hall, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California , Irvine, CA 92697, USA ; [email protected]
- Loreto Barcos-Muñoz
- ORCiD
- National Radio Astronomy Observatory , 520 Edgemont Road, Charlottesville, VA 22903, USA; Department of Astronomy, University of Virginia , 530 McCormick Road, Charlottesville, VA 22903, USA
- Tanio Díaz-Santos
- ORCiD
- Institute of Astrophysics , Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas (FORTH), Heraklion 70013, Greece; School of Sciences, European University Cyprus , Diogenes street, Engomi, 1516 Nicosia, Cyprus
- Lee Armus
- ORCiD
- IPAC, California Institute of Technology , 1200 E. California Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
- Hanae Inami
- ORCiD
- Hiroshima Astrophysical Science Center, Hiroshima University , 1-3-1 Kagamiyama, Higashi-Hiroshima, Hiroshima 739-8526, Japan
- Kirsten L. Larson
- ORCiD
- AURA for the European Space Agency (ESA) , Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Aaron S. Evans
- ORCiD
- National Radio Astronomy Observatory , 520 Edgemont Road, Charlottesville, VA 22903, USA; Department of Astronomy, University of Virginia , 530 McCormick Road, Charlottesville, VA 22903, USA
- Torsten Böker
- ORCiD
- European Space Agency , c/o STScI, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Justin A. Kader
- ORCiD
- 4129 Frederick Reines Hall, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California , Irvine, CA 92697, USA ; [email protected]
- Sean T. Linden
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, University of Massachusetts at Amherst , Amherst, MA 01003, USA
- Vassilis Charmandaris
- ORCiD
- Institute of Astrophysics , Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas (FORTH), Heraklion 70013, Greece; School of Sciences, European University Cyprus , Diogenes street, Engomi, 1516 Nicosia, Cyprus; Department of Physics, University of Crete , Heraklion 71003, Greece
- Matthew A. Malkan
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, 430 Portola Plaza, University of California , Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
- Jeff Rich
- ORCiD
- The Observatories of the Carnegie Institution for Science , 813 Santa Barbara Street, Pasadena, CA 91101, USA
- Thomas Bohn
- ORCiD
- Hiroshima Astrophysical Science Center, Hiroshima University , 1-3-1 Kagamiyama, Higashi-Hiroshima, Hiroshima 739-8526, Japan
- Anne M. Medling
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics & Astronomy and Ritter Astrophysical Research Center, University of Toledo , Toledo, OH 43606, USA; ARC Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions (ASTRO 3D) , Australia
- Sabrina Stierwalt
- ORCiD
- Physics Department, 1600 Campus Road, Occidental College , Los Angeles, CA 90041, USA
- Joseph M. Mazzarella
- ORCiD
- IPAC, California Institute of Technology , 1200 E. California Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
- David R. Law
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- George C. Privon
- ORCiD
- National Radio Astronomy Observatory , 520 Edgemont Road, Charlottesville, VA 22903, USA; Department of Astronomy, University of Virginia , 530 McCormick Road, Charlottesville, VA 22903, USA; Department of Astronomy, University of Florida , Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
- Susanne Aalto
- ORCiD
- Department of Space, Earth and Environment, Chalmers University of Technology , 412 96 Gothenburg, Sweden
- Philip Appleton
- ORCiD
- IPAC, California Institute of Technology , 1200 E. California Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
- Michael J. I. Brown
- Leiden Observatory, Leiden University , PO Box 9513, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands
- Victorine A. Buiten
- ORCiD
- Leiden Observatory, Leiden University , PO Box 9513, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands
- Luke Finnerty
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, 430 Portola Plaza, University of California , Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
- Christopher C. Hayward
- ORCiD
- Center for Computational Astrophysics, Flatiron Institute , 162 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010, USA
- Justin Howell
- ORCiD
- IPAC, California Institute of Technology , 1200 E. California Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
- Kazushi Iwasawa
- ORCiD
- ICREA , Pg. Lluís Companys 23, 08010 Barcelona, Spain; Institut de Ciències del Cosmos (ICCUB), Universitat de Barcelona (IEEC-UB) , Martí i Franquès 1, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
- Francisca Kemper
- ORCiD
- ICREA , Pg. Lluís Companys 23, 08010 Barcelona, Spain; Institut de Ciències de l’Espai (ICE, CSIC) , Can Magrans, s/n, E-08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain; Institut d’Estudis Espacials de Catalunya (IEEC) , E-08034 Barcelona, Spain
- Jason Marshall
- Glendale Community College , 1500 N. Verdugo Road, Glendale, CA 91208, USA
- Jed McKinney
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, University of Massachusetts at Amherst , Amherst, MA 01003, USA
- Francisco Müller-Sánchez
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Materials Science, The University of Memphis , 3720 Alumni Avenue, Memphis, TN 38152, USA
- Eric J. Murphy
- ORCiD
- National Radio Astronomy Observatory , 520 Edgemont Road, Charlottesville, VA 22903, USA
- Paul P. van der Werf
- ORCiD
- Leiden Observatory, Leiden University , PO Box 9513, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands
- David B. Sanders
- ORCiD
- Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii , 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA
- Jason Surace
- ORCiD
- IPAC, California Institute of Technology , 1200 E. California Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad2a50
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 965,
no. 2
p. 103
Abstract
We present new JWST NIRSpec integral field spectroscopy (IFS) data for the luminous infrared galaxy NGC 7469, a nearby (70.6 Mpc) active galaxy with a Seyfert 1.5 nucleus that drives a highly ionized gas outflow and a prominent nuclear star-forming ring. Using the superb sensitivity and high spatial resolution of the JWST instrument NIRSpec IFS, we investigate the role of the Seyfert nucleus in the excitation and dynamics of the circumnuclear gas. Our analysis focuses on the [Fe ii ], H _2 , and hydrogen recombination lines that trace the radiation/shocked-excited molecular and ionized interstellar medium around the active galactic nucleus (AGN). We investigate gas excitation through H _2 /Br γ and [Fe ii ]/Pa β emission line ratios and find that photoionization by the AGN dominates within the central 300 pc of the galaxy except in a small region that shows signatures of shock-heated gas; these shock-heated regions are likely associated with a compact radio jet. In addition, the velocity field and velocity dispersion maps reveal complex gas kinematics. Rotation is the dominant feature, but we also identify noncircular motions consistent with gas inflows as traced by the velocity residuals and the spiral pattern in the Pa α velocity dispersion map. The inflow is 2 orders of magnitude higher than the AGN accretion rate. The compact nuclear radio jet has enough power to drive the highly ionized outflow. This scenario suggests that the inflow and outflow are in a self-regulating feeding–feedback process, with a contribution from the radio jet helping to drive the outflow.
Keywords
- Luminous infrared galaxies
- Galaxy nuclei
- Active galactic nuclei
- Seyfert galaxies
- Galaxy winds
- Galaxy kinematics
