GOALS-JWST: The Warm Molecular Outflows of the Merging Starburst Galaxy NGC 3256

Abstract We present James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) integral-field spectrograph observations of NGC 3256, a local infrared-luminous late-stage merging system with two nuclei roughly 1 kpc apart, both of which have evidence of cold molecular outflows. Using JWST/NIRSpec and Mid-Infrared Instrument data sets, we investigate this morphologically complex system on spatial scales of &lt;100 pc, where we focus on the warm molecular H 2 gas surrounding the nuclei. We detect collimated outflowing warm H 2 gas originating from the southern nucleus, though we do not find significant outflowing H 2 gas surrounding the northern nucleus. We measure maximum intrinsic outflow velocities of ∼1000 km s −1 , which extend out to a distance of 0.7 kpc. Based on H 2 S(7)/S(1) ratios, we find a larger fraction of warmer gas near the southern nucleus, which decreases with increasing distance from the nucleus, signifying the southern nucleus as a primary source of H 2 heating. The gas mass of the warm H 2 outflow component is estimated to be M warm ,out = (1.4 ± 0.2) × 10 6 M ⊙ , as much as 6% of the cold H 2 mass estimated using Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array CO data. The outflow timescale is about 7 × 10 5 yr, resulting in a mass outflow rate <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:msub> <mml:mover accent="true"> <mml:mi>M</mml:mi> <mml:mo>̇</mml:mo> </mml:mover> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>warm</mml:mi> <mml:mo>,</mml:mo> <mml:mi>out</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> <mml:mo>=</mml:mo> <mml:mn>2.0</mml:mn> <mml:mo>±</mml:mo> <mml:mn>0.8</mml:mn> <mml:mspace width="0.25em"/> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>M</mml:mi> <mml:mo>⊙</mml:mo> </mml:msub> <mml:mspace width="0.25em"/> <mml:msup> <mml:mi>yr</mml:mi> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>−</mml:mo> <mml:mn>1</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msup> </mml:math> and kinetic power P warm,out ∼ 4 × 10 41 erg s −1 . Lastly, regions within our 3.″0 × 3.″0 NIRSpec data, where the outflowing gas reside show high [Fe ii ]/Pa β and H 2 /Br γ line ratios, indicate enhanced mechanical heating caused by the outflows. The fluxes and ratios of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in these regions are not significantly different compared to those elsewhere in the disk, suggesting the outflows may not significantly alter the PAH ionization state or grain size.

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Journal
The Astrophysical Journal
Published
2024-11-29
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad87d3
Citations
9
Primary Topic
Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
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article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
2.98

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article

GOALS-JWST: The Warm Molecular Outflows of the Merging Starburst Galaxy NGC 3256

Thomas S. -Y. Lai, Sabrina Stierwalt, Justin A. Kader, D. B. Sanders et al.
9 citations
The Astrophysical Journal
Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
2.98
article

GOALS-JWST: The Warm Molecular Outflows of the Merging Starburst Galaxy NGC 3256

Thomas S. -Y. Lai, Sabrina Stierwalt, Justin A. Kader, D. B. Sanders, U Vivian, Cláudio Ricci, Aditya Togi, J. M. Mazzarella, Justin Howell, Victorine A. Buiten, S. Aalto, L. Armus, Christopher C. Hayward, George C. Privon, Kirsten L. Larson, Torsten Boeker, Hanae Inami, Matthew A. Malkan, Sean T. Linden, Thomas Bohn, V. Charmandaris, Yiqing Song, Francisco Müller-Sánchez, P. van der Werf, A. Evans, J. Surace, Marina Bianchin, T. Díaz-Santos, Loreto Barcos-Muñoz
article en
9 citations

Abstract

Abstract We present James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) integral-field spectrograph observations of NGC 3256, a local infrared-luminous late-stage merging system with two nuclei roughly 1 kpc apart, both of which have evidence of cold molecular outflows. Using JWST/NIRSpec and Mid-Infrared Instrument data sets, we investigate this morphologically complex system on spatial scales of &lt;100 pc, where we focus on the warm molecular H 2 gas surrounding the nuclei. We detect collimated outflowing warm H 2 gas originating from the southern nucleus, though we do not find significant outflowing H 2 gas surrounding the northern nucleus. We measure maximum intrinsic outflow velocities of ∼1000 km s −1 , which extend out to a distance of 0.7 kpc. Based on H 2 S(7)/S(1) ratios, we find a larger fraction of warmer gas near the southern nucleus, which decreases with increasing distance from the nucleus, signifying the southern nucleus as a primary source of H 2 heating. The gas mass of the warm H 2 outflow component is estimated to be M warm ,out = (1.4 ± 0.2) × 10 6 M ⊙ , as much as 6% of the cold H 2 mass estimated using Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array CO data. The outflow timescale is about 7 × 10 5 yr, resulting in a mass outflow rate <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:msub> <mml:mover accent="true"> <mml:mi>M</mml:mi> <mml:mo>̇</mml:mo> </mml:mover> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>warm</mml:mi> <mml:mo>,</mml:mo> <mml:mi>out</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> <mml:mo>=</mml:mo> <mml:mn>2.0</mml:mn> <mml:mo>±</mml:mo> <mml:mn>0.8</mml:mn> <mml:mspace width="0.25em"/> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>M</mml:mi> <mml:mo>⊙</mml:mo> </mml:msub> <mml:mspace width="0.25em"/> <mml:msup> <mml:mi>yr</mml:mi> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>−</mml:mo> <mml:mn>1</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msup> </mml:math> and kinetic power P warm,out ∼ 4 × 10 41 erg s −1 . Lastly, regions within our 3.″0 × 3.″0 NIRSpec data, where the outflowing gas reside show high [Fe ii ]/Pa β and H 2 /Br γ line ratios, indicate enhanced mechanical heating caused by the outflows. The fluxes and ratios of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in these regions are not significantly different compared to those elsewhere in the disk, suggesting the outflows may not significantly alter the PAH ionization state or grain size.

The Astrophysical JournalVol. 977(1)
Hiroshima University (JP), Leiden University (NL), California Institute of Technology (US), Space Telescope Science Institute (US), University of Hawaii System (US), Texas State University (US), University of Crete (GR), University of California, Los Angeles (US), European University Cyprus (CY), Peking University (CN), University of California, Irvine (US), National Radio Astronomy Observatory (US), Atacama Large Millimeter Submillimeter Array (CL), University of Florida (US), McCormick (United States) (US), Kavli Institute for Theoretical Sciences (CN), Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté (FR), European Southern Observatory (CL), Flatiron Health (United States) (US), Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (US), Flatiron Institute (US), University of Virginia (US), Chalmers University of Technology (SE), Occidental College (US), Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas (GR), Universidad Diego Portales (CL), University of Memphis (US)
National Science Foundation, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Space Telescope Science Institute, National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Flatiron Health, Nuclear Safety and Security Commission, Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, Vetenskapsrådet, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo, National Science and Technology Council, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, National Institutes of Natural Sciences, Astrophysics Division
Openalex Percentile: Top 9%
Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
2.98
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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