A high angular resolution view of the PAH emission in Seyfert galaxies using JWST/MRS data
A high angular resolution view of the PAH emission in Seyfert galaxies using JWST/MRS data
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are carbon-based molecules that are ubiquitous in a variety of astrophysical objects and environments. In this work we use JWST/MIRI MRS spectroscopy of three Seyferts to compare their nuclear PAH emission with that of star-forming (SF) regions. This study represents the first of its kind to use sub-arcsecond angular resolution data of local luminous Seyferts (Lbol > 1044.46 erg s-1) with a wide wavelength coverage (4.9-28.1 μm). We present an analysis of their nuclear PAH properties by comparing the observed ratios with PAH diagnostic model grids derived from theoretical spectra. Our results show that a suite of PAH features is present in the innermost parts of luminous Seyfert galaxies (~0.45 at 12 μm; in the inner ~142-245 pc). We find that the nuclear regions of active galactic nuclei (AGN) lie at different positions of the PAH diagnostic diagrams, whereas the SF regions are concentrated around the average values of SF galaxies. In particular, we find that the nuclear PAH emission mainly originates in neutral PAHs. In contrast, PAH emission originating in the SF regions favours ionised PAH grains. The observed PAH ratios in the nuclear region of the AGN-dominated galaxy NGC 6552 indicate the presence of larger PAH molecules compared with those of the SF regions. Therefore, our results provide evidence that the AGN have a significant impact on the ionisation state (and probably the size) of the PAH grains on scales of ~142-245 pc.
Galaxies: ISM, Galaxies: Seyfert, Galaxies: active, ISM: molecules, Infrared: galaxies
García-Bernete, I.
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Rigopoulou, D.
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Alonso-Herrero, A.
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Donnan, F. R.
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Roche, P. F.
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Pereira-Santaella, M.
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Labiano, A.
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Peralta de Arriba, L.
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Izumi, T.
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Ramos Almeida, C.
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Shimizu, T.
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Hönig, S.
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García-Burillo, S.
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Rosario, D. J.
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Ward, M. J.
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Bellocchi, E.
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Hicks, E. K. S.
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Fuller, L.
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Packham, C.
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1 October 2022
García-Bernete, I.
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Rigopoulou, D.
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Alonso-Herrero, A.
ae11bfb3-7ba7-43a3-a071-8fac055b6f62
Donnan, F. R.
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Roche, P. F.
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Pereira-Santaella, M.
273d2fb4-ea55-4bd1-9031-37bf7a2cda75
Labiano, A.
59c841a1-579a-40e1-a87b-76e643147522
Peralta de Arriba, L.
96d176c6-d734-40e7-a194-af535f17bc44
Izumi, T.
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Ramos Almeida, C.
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Shimizu, T.
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Hönig, S.
be0bb8bc-bdac-4442-8edc-f735834f3917
García-Burillo, S.
56a7c385-47c0-4550-ba26-f939f36d071a
Rosario, D. J.
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Ward, M. J.
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Bellocchi, E.
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Hicks, E. K. S.
fd8dcd79-878b-45f9-bc29-ba28dc1ad846
Fuller, L.
f4c81f7b-ff4e-4c93-bf50-d89282ea73be
Packham, C.
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García-Bernete, I., Rigopoulou, D., Alonso-Herrero, A., Donnan, F. R., Roche, P. F., Pereira-Santaella, M., Labiano, A., Peralta de Arriba, L., Izumi, T., Ramos Almeida, C., Shimizu, T., Hönig, S., García-Burillo, S., Rosario, D. J., Ward, M. J., Bellocchi, E., Hicks, E. K. S., Fuller, L. and Packham, C.
(2022)
A high angular resolution view of the PAH emission in Seyfert galaxies using JWST/MRS data.
Astronomy & Astrophysics, 666 (id.L5), [L5].
(doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202244806).
Abstract
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are carbon-based molecules that are ubiquitous in a variety of astrophysical objects and environments. In this work we use JWST/MIRI MRS spectroscopy of three Seyferts to compare their nuclear PAH emission with that of star-forming (SF) regions. This study represents the first of its kind to use sub-arcsecond angular resolution data of local luminous Seyferts (Lbol > 1044.46 erg s-1) with a wide wavelength coverage (4.9-28.1 μm). We present an analysis of their nuclear PAH properties by comparing the observed ratios with PAH diagnostic model grids derived from theoretical spectra. Our results show that a suite of PAH features is present in the innermost parts of luminous Seyfert galaxies (~0.45 at 12 μm; in the inner ~142-245 pc). We find that the nuclear regions of active galactic nuclei (AGN) lie at different positions of the PAH diagnostic diagrams, whereas the SF regions are concentrated around the average values of SF galaxies. In particular, we find that the nuclear PAH emission mainly originates in neutral PAHs. In contrast, PAH emission originating in the SF regions favours ionised PAH grains. The observed PAH ratios in the nuclear region of the AGN-dominated galaxy NGC 6552 indicate the presence of larger PAH molecules compared with those of the SF regions. Therefore, our results provide evidence that the AGN have a significant impact on the ionisation state (and probably the size) of the PAH grains on scales of ~142-245 pc.
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Accepted/In Press date: 20 September 2022
e-pub ahead of print date: 30 September 2022
Published date: 1 October 2022
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
IGB and DR acknowledge support from STFC through grant ST/S000488/1. DR acknowledges support from the University of Oxford John Fell Fund. AL acknowledges support by grant PIB2021-127718NB-100 by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation/State Agency of Research (MCIN/AEI). AAH, LPdA and SGB acknowledge support from grant PGC2018-094671-B-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033 and by ERDF A way of making Europe. SGB acknowledges support from the research project PID2019-106027GA-C44 of the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación. EB acknowledges the María Zambrano program of the Spanish Ministerio de Universidades funded by the Next Generation European Union and is also partly supported by grant RTI2018-096188-B-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033. CRA acknowledges support from grant PID2019-106027GB-C42, funded by MICINN-AEI/10.13039/501100011033, from EUR2020-112266, funded by MICINN-AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and the European Union NextGenerationEU/PRTR, and from the Consejería de Economía, Conocimiento y Empleo del Gobierno de Canarias and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) under grant ProID2020010105, ACCISI/FEDER, UE. The authors also thank J. Álvarez-Márquez for discussions. This work is based on observations made with the JWST. The authors acknowledge the MIRI comissioning, ERO and ERS teams for developing their observing program with a zero–exclusive–access period. The authors are extremely grateful to the JWST helpdesk for their constant and enthusiastic support. Finally, we thank the anonymous referee for their useful comments.
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©
Keywords:
Galaxies: ISM, Galaxies: Seyfert, Galaxies: active, ISM: molecules, Infrared: galaxies
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 471896
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/471896
ISSN: 0004-6361
PURE UUID: 394dde9f-b1f1-44d8-9335-7e88466ff76a
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Date deposited: 22 Nov 2022 17:39
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 22:55
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Contributors
Author:
I. García-Bernete
Author:
D. Rigopoulou
Author:
A. Alonso-Herrero
Author:
F. R. Donnan
Author:
P. F. Roche
Author:
M. Pereira-Santaella
Author:
A. Labiano
Author:
L. Peralta de Arriba
Author:
T. Izumi
Author:
C. Ramos Almeida
Author:
T. Shimizu
Author:
S. García-Burillo
Author:
D. J. Rosario
Author:
M. J. Ward
Author:
E. Bellocchi
Author:
E. K. S. Hicks
Author:
L. Fuller
Author:
C. Packham
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