The Astrophysical Journal Letters (Jan 2023)
PHANGS–JWST First Results: Mapping the 3.3 μm Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Vibrational Band in Nearby Galaxies with NIRCam Medium Bands
- Karin M. Sandstrom,
- Jérémy Chastenet,
- Jessica Sutter,
- Adam K. Leroy,
- Oleg V. Egorov,
- Thomas G. Williams,
- Alberto D. Bolatto,
- Médéric Boquien,
- Yixian Cao,
- Daniel A. Dale,
- Janice C. Lee,
- Erik Rosolowsky,
- Eva Schinnerer,
- Ashley. T. Barnes,
- Francesco Belfiore,
- F. Bigiel,
- Mélanie Chevance,
- Kathryn Grasha,
- Brent Groves,
- Hamid Hassani,
- Annie Hughes,
- Ralf S. Klessen,
- J. M. Diederik Kruijssen,
- Kirsten L. Larson,
- Daizhong Liu,
- Laura A. Lopez,
- Sharon E. Meidt,
- Eric J. Murphy,
- Mattia C. Sormani,
- David A. Thilker,
- Elizabeth J. Watkins
Affiliations
- Karin M. Sandstrom
- ORCiD
- Center for Astrophysics & Space Sciences, Department of Physics, University of California , San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, San Diego, CA 92093, USA [email protected]
- Jérémy Chastenet
- ORCiD
- Sterrenkundig Observatorium, Ghent University , Krijgslaan 281-S9, B-9000 Gent, Belgium
- Jessica Sutter
- ORCiD
- Center for Astrophysics & Space Sciences, University of California , San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, San Diego, CA 92093, USA
- Adam K. Leroy
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The Ohio State University , 140 West 18th Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
- Oleg V. Egorov
- ORCiD
- Astronomisches Rechen-Institut, Zentrum für Astronomie der Universität Heidelberg , Mönchhofstraße 12-14, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Thomas G. Williams
- ORCiD
- Sub-department of Astrophysics, Department of Physics, University of Oxford , Keble Road, Oxford OX1 3RH, UK; Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie , Königstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg, Germany
- Alberto D. Bolatto
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy and Joint Space-Science Institute, University of Maryland , College Park, MD 20742, USA
- Médéric Boquien
- ORCiD
- Centro de Astronomía (CITEVA), Universidad de Antofagasta , Avenida Angamos 601, Antofagasta, Chile
- Yixian Cao
- ORCiD
- Max-Planck-Institut für Extraterrestrische Physik (MPE) , Giessenbachstraße 1, D-85748 Garching, Germany
- Daniel A. Dale
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Wyoming , Laramie, WY 82071, USA
- Janice C. Lee
- ORCiD
- Gemini Observatory/NSF’s NOIRLab , 950 N. Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ, USA; Steward Observatory, University of Arizona , 933 N. Cherry Ave, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
- Erik Rosolowsky
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, University of Alberta , Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2E1, Canada
- Eva Schinnerer
- ORCiD
- Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie , Königstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg, Germany
- 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
- F. Bigiel
- ORCiD
- Argelander-Institut für Astronomie, Universität Bonn , Auf dem Hügel 71, D-53121 Bonn, Germany
- Mélanie Chevance
- ORCiD
- Universität Heidelberg , Zentrum für Astronomie, Institut für Theoretische Astrophysik, Albert-Ueberle-Straße 2, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany; Cosmic Origins Of Life (COOL) Research DAO
- 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 , 7 Fairway, Crawley, 6009 WA, Australia
- Hamid Hassani
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, University of Alberta , Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2E1, Canada
- Annie Hughes
- ORCiD
- IRAP, Université de Toulouse , CNRS, CNES, UPS, (Toulouse), France
- Ralf S. Klessen
- ORCiD
- Universität Heidelberg , Zentrum für Astronomie, Institut für Theoretische Astrophysik, Albert-Ueberle-Straße 2, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany; Universität Heidelberg , Interdisziplinäres Zentrum für Wissenschaftliches Rechnen, Im Neuenheimer Feld 205, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- J. M. Diederik Kruijssen
- ORCiD
- Cosmic Origins Of Life (COOL) Research DAO
- Kirsten L. Larson
- ORCiD
- AURA for the European Space Agency (ESA), Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Daizhong Liu
- ORCiD
- Max-Planck-Institut für Extraterrestrische Physik (MPE) , Giessenbachstraße 1, D-85748 Garching, Germany
- Laura A. Lopez
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The Ohio State University , 140 West 18th Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210, USA; Center for Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics , 191 West Woodruff Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210, USA; Flatiron Institute , Center for Computational Astrophysics, NY 10010, USA
- Sharon E. Meidt
- ORCiD
- Sterrenkundig Observatorium, Ghent University , Krijgslaan 281-S9, B-9000 Gent, Belgium
- Eric J. Murphy
- ORCiD
- National Radio Astronomy Observatory , 520 Edgemont Road, Charlottesville, VA 22903, USA
- Mattia C. Sormani
- ORCiD
- Universität Heidelberg , Zentrum für Astronomie, Institut für Theoretische Astrophysik, Albert-Ueberle-Straße 2, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- 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 , Mönchhofstraße 12-14, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/acb0cf
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 944,
no. 2
p. L7
Abstract
We present maps of the 3.3 μ m polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emission feature in NGC 628, NGC 1365, and NGC 7496 as observed with the Near-Infrared Camera imager on JWST from the PHANGS–JWST Cycle 1 Treasury project. We create maps that isolate the 3.3 μ m PAH feature in the F335M filter (F335M _PAH ) using combinations of the F300M and F360M filters for removal of starlight continuum. This continuum removal is complicated by contamination of the F360M by PAH emission and variations in the stellar spectral energy distribution slopes between 3.0 and 3.6 μ m. We modify the empirical prescription from Lai et al. to remove the starlight continuum in our highly resolved galaxies, which have a range of starlight- and PAH-dominated lines of sight. Analyzing radially binned profiles of the F335M _PAH emission, we find that between 5% and 65% of the F335M intensity comes from the 3.3 μ m feature within the inner 0.5 r _25 of our targets. This percentage systematically varies from galaxy to galaxy and shows radial trends within the galaxies related to each galaxy’s distribution of stellar mass, interstellar medium, and star formation. The 3.3 μ m emission is well correlated with the 11.3 μ m PAH feature traced with the MIRI F1130W filter, as is expected, since both features arise from C–H vibrational modes. The average F335M _PAH /F1130W ratio agrees with the predictions of recent models by Draine et al. for PAHs with size and charge distributions shifted toward larger grains with normal or higher ionization.
Keywords
- Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
- Interstellar dust
- Medium band photometry
- James Webb Space Telescope
