A Multiwavelength View of IC 860: What Is in Action inside Quenching Galaxies ** Herschel is an ESA space observatory with science instruments provided by European-led principal investigator consortia and with important participation from NASA.
Journal article, 2022

We present a multiwavelength study of IC 860, a nearby post-starburst galaxy at the early stage of transitioning from blue and star forming to red and quiescent. Optical images reveal a galaxy-wide, dusty outflow originating from a compact core. We find evidence for a multiphase outflow in the molecular and neutral gas phase from the CO position-velocity diagram and NaD absorption features. We constrain the neutral mass outflow rate to be ∼0.5 M ⊙ yr−1, and the total hydrogen mass outflow rate to be ∼12 M ⊙ yr−1. Neither outflow component seems able to escape the galaxy. We also find evidence for a recent merger in the optical images, CO spatial distribution, and kinematics, and evidence for a buried active galactic nucleus in the optical emission line ratios, mid-IR properties, and radio spectral shape. The depletion time of the molecular gas reservoir under the current star formation rate is ∼7 Gyr, indicating that the galaxy could stay at the intermediate stage between the blue and red sequence for a long time. Thus the timescales for a significant decline in star formation rate (quenching) and gas depletion are not necessarily the same. Our analysis supports the quenching picture where outflows help suppress star formation by disturbing rather than expelling the gas and shed light on possible ongoing activities in similar quenching galaxies.

Author

Yuanze Luo

Johns Hopkins University

Kate Rowlands

Johns Hopkins University

Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)

K. Alatalo

Johns Hopkins University

Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)

Elizaveta Sazonova

Johns Hopkins University

Abdurro’uf

Academia Sinica

Timothy Heckman

Johns Hopkins University

Anne M. Medling

ARC Centre of Excellence for All-sky Astrophysics

University of Toledo

Susana E. Deustua

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

K. Nyland

Naval Research Laboratory

Lauranne Lanz

The College of New Jersey

Andreea O. Petric

Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)

Justin A. Otter

Johns Hopkins University

Susanne Aalto

Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Astronomy and Plasmaphysics

Sabrina Dimassimo

Institute for Defense Analyses

K. Decker French

University of Illinois

J. S. Gallagher III

University of Wisconsin Madison

Joel C. Roediger

National Research Council Canada

Sofia Stepanoff

The College of New Jersey

Astrophysical Journal

0004-637X (ISSN) 1538-4357 (eISSN)

Vol. 938 1 63

Subject Categories

Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology

Atom and Molecular Physics and Optics

Other Chemistry Topics

DOI

10.3847/1538-4357/ac8b7d

More information

Latest update

1/23/2023