The Galaxy Activity, Torus, and Outflow Survey (GATOS)

This study analyses JWST MIRI/MRS observations of the infrared (IR) polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) bands in the nuclear (∼0.4″ at 11 μm; ∼75 pc) and circumnuclear regions (inner ∼kpc) of local active galactic nuclei (AGNs) from the Galactic Activity, Torus, and Outflow Survey (GATOS). We examine the PAH properties in the circumnuclear regions of AGNs and the projected direction of AGN-outflows and compare them to those in star-forming regions and the innermost regions of AGNs. This study employs 4.9–28.1 μm sub-arcsecond angular resolution data to investigate the properties of PAHs in three nearby sources (D L ∼ 30 − 40 Mpc). Our findings are aligned with previous JWST studies, demonstrating that the central regions of AGNs display a larger fraction of neutral PAH molecules (i.e. elevated 11.3/6.2 and 11.3/7.7 μm PAH ratios) in comparison to star-forming galaxies. We find that AGNs might affect not only the PAH population in the innermost region, but also in the extended regions up to ∼kpc scales. By comparing our observations to PAH diagnostic diagrams, we find that, in general, regions located in the projected direction of the AGN-outflow occupy similar positions on the PAH diagnostic diagrams as those of the innermost regions of AGNs. Star-forming regions that are not affected by the AGNs in these galaxies share the same part of the diagram as star-forming galaxies. We also examined the potential of the PAH-H 2 diagram to disentangle AGN-versus-star-forming activity. Our results suggest that in Seyfert-like AGNs, the illumination and feedback from the AGN might affect the PAH population at nuclear and kpc scales, particularly with respect to the ionisation state of the PAH grains. However, PAH molecular sizes are rather similar. The carriers of the ionised PAH bands (6.2 and 7.7 μm) are less resilient than those of neutral PAH bands (11.3 μm), which might be particularly important for strongly AGN-host coupled systems. Therefore, caution must be applied when using PAH bands as star-formation rate indicators in these systems even at kpc scales, with the effects of the AGN being more important for ionised ones.

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Publication Details

Journal
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Published
2024-09-19
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202450086
Citations
25
Primary Topic
Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
8.29

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article

The Galaxy Activity, Torus, and Outflow Survey (GATOS)

Lindsay Fuller, D. Esparza-Arredondo, S. Hoenig, C. Packham et al.
25 citations
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae
8.29
article

The Galaxy Activity, Torus, and Outflow Survey (GATOS)

Lindsay Fuller, D. Esparza-Arredondo, S. Hoenig, C. Packham, I. García-Bernete, Cláudio Ricci, Laura Hermosa Muñoz, A. Alonso‐Herrero, C. Ramos Almeida, Alvaro Labiano, N. A. Levenson, E. K. S. Hicks, A. Audibert, S. García‐Burillo, P. F. Roche, R. Davies, M. J. Ward, F. R. Donnan, Lulu Zhang, M. Villar-Martı́n, Masatoshi Imanishi, Thomas Shimizu, E. Lopez-Rodriguez, D. Rigopoulou, Françoise Combes, M. Pereira-Santaella, Andrew J. Bunker, P. Gandhi, Marko Stalevski, E. Bellocchi, O. González-Martín, Mason Leist, David G. Delaney
article en
25 citations

Abstract

This study analyses JWST MIRI/MRS observations of the infrared (IR) polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) bands in the nuclear (∼0.4″ at 11 μm; ∼75 pc) and circumnuclear regions (inner ∼kpc) of local active galactic nuclei (AGNs) from the Galactic Activity, Torus, and Outflow Survey (GATOS). We examine the PAH properties in the circumnuclear regions of AGNs and the projected direction of AGN-outflows and compare them to those in star-forming regions and the innermost regions of AGNs. This study employs 4.9–28.1 μm sub-arcsecond angular resolution data to investigate the properties of PAHs in three nearby sources (D L ∼ 30 − 40 Mpc). Our findings are aligned with previous JWST studies, demonstrating that the central regions of AGNs display a larger fraction of neutral PAH molecules (i.e. elevated 11.3/6.2 and 11.3/7.7 μm PAH ratios) in comparison to star-forming galaxies. We find that AGNs might affect not only the PAH population in the innermost region, but also in the extended regions up to ∼kpc scales. By comparing our observations to PAH diagnostic diagrams, we find that, in general, regions located in the projected direction of the AGN-outflow occupy similar positions on the PAH diagnostic diagrams as those of the innermost regions of AGNs. Star-forming regions that are not affected by the AGNs in these galaxies share the same part of the diagram as star-forming galaxies. We also examined the potential of the PAH-H 2 diagram to disentangle AGN-versus-star-forming activity. Our results suggest that in Seyfert-like AGNs, the illumination and feedback from the AGN might affect the PAH population at nuclear and kpc scales, particularly with respect to the ionisation state of the PAH grains. However, PAH molecular sizes are rather similar. The carriers of the ionised PAH bands (6.2 and 7.7 μm) are less resilient than those of neutral PAH bands (11.3 μm), which might be particularly important for strongly AGN-host coupled systems. Therefore, caution must be applied when using PAH bands as star-formation rate indicators in these systems even at kpc scales, with the effects of the AGN being more important for ionised ones.

Astronomy and AstrophysicsVol. 691
Universidad Complutense de Madrid (ES), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), Space Telescope Science Institute (US), University of Alaska Anchorage (US), Universidad de La Laguna (ES), Collège de France (FR), Durham University (GB), National Institutes of Natural Sciences (JP), The Graduate University for Advanced Studies, SOKENDAI (JP), European University Cyprus (CY), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (FR), Ghent University (BE), Sorbonne Université (FR), University of Oxford (GB), Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (DE), European Space Astronomy Centre (ES), Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (US), Instituto de Física Fundamental (ES), Laboratoire d’Etudes du Rayonnement et de la Matière en Astrophysique et Atmosphères (FR), Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté (FR), Centro de Astrobiología (ES), Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (ES), Spanish National Observatory (ES), Astronomical Observatory (RS), National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (JP), University of Southampton (GB), The University of Texas at San Antonio (US), Universidad Diego Portales (CL), Stanford University (US)
National Science Foundation, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Comunidad de Madrid, Space Telescope Science Institute, National Radio Astronomy Observatory, European Space Agency, European Commission, National Science Council, Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo, Science and Technology Facilities Council, National Institutes of Natural Sciences, European Regional Development Fund, Agencia Estatal de Investigación
Openalex Percentile: Top 2%
Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae
8.29
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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