GOALS-JWST: Gas Dynamics and Excitation in NGC 7469 Revealed by NIRSpec
Journal article, 2024
We present new JWST NIRSpec integral field spectroscopy (IFS) data for the luminous infrared galaxy NGC 7469, a nearby (70.6 Mpc) active galaxy with a Seyfert 1.5 nucleus that drives a highly ionized gas outflow and a prominent nuclear star-forming ring. Using the superb sensitivity and high spatial resolution of the JWST instrument NIRSpec IFS, we investigate the role of the Seyfert nucleus in the excitation and dynamics of the circumnuclear gas. Our analysis focuses on the [Fe ii], H2, and hydrogen recombination lines that trace the radiation/shocked-excited molecular and ionized interstellar medium around the active galactic nucleus (AGN). We investigate gas excitation through H2/Brγ and [Fe ii]/Paβ emission line ratios and find that photoionization by the AGN dominates within the central 300 pc of the galaxy except in a small region that shows signatures of shock-heated gas; these shock-heated regions are likely associated with a compact radio jet. In addition, the velocity field and velocity dispersion maps reveal complex gas kinematics. Rotation is the dominant feature, but we also identify noncircular motions consistent with gas inflows as traced by the velocity residuals and the spiral pattern in the Paα velocity dispersion map. The inflow is 2 orders of magnitude higher than the AGN accretion rate. The compact nuclear radio jet has enough power to drive the highly ionized outflow. This scenario suggests that the inflow and outflow are in a self-regulating feeding-feedback process, with a contribution from the radio jet helping to drive the outflow.
Author
Marina Bianchin
University of California at Irvine (UCI)
U. Vivian
University of California at Irvine (UCI)
Y. Song
Atacama Large Millimeter-submillimeter Array (ALMA)
European Southern Observatory Santiago
Thomas Lai
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
Raymond P. Remigio
University of California at Irvine (UCI)
Loreto Barcos-Munoz
University of Virginia
National Radio Astronomy Observatory
T. Diaz-Santos
European University Cyprus
Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas (FORTH)
Lee Armus
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
H. Inami
Hiroshima University
K. Larson
Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)
Aaron S. Evans
National Radio Astronomy Observatory
University of Virginia
T. Boker
European Space Agency (ESA)
Justin A. Kader
University of California at Irvine (UCI)
S. T. Linden
University of Massachusetts
V. Charmandaris
Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas (FORTH)
European University Cyprus
University of Crete
M. A. Malkan
University of California
Jeff Rich
Carnegie Observatories
Thomas Bohn
Hiroshima University
Anne M. Medling
University of Toledo
ARC Centre of Excellence for All-sky Astrophysics
S. Stierwalt
Occidental College
J. Mazzarella
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
David Law
Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)
G. Privon
National Radio Astronomy Observatory
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
University of Virginia
Susanne Aalto
Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Astronomy and Plasmaphysics
P. Appleton
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
Michael J.I. Brown
Leiden University
Victorine A. Buiten
Leiden University
Luke Finnerty
University of California
Christopher C. Hayward
Flatiron Institute
Justin Howell
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
K. Iwasawa
Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies
University of Barcelona
F. Kemper
Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies
Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC)
Institute of Space Sciences (ICE) - CSIC
Jason Marshall
Glendale Community College
Jed McKinney
University of Massachusetts
Francisco Muller-Sanchez
University of Memphis
Eric J. Murphy
National Radio Astronomy Observatory
P. van der Werf
Leiden University
David Sanders
University of Hawaii
J. A. Surace
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
Astrophysical Journal
0004-637X (ISSN) 1538-4357 (eISSN)
Vol. 965 2 103Subject Categories
Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology
Atom and Molecular Physics and Optics
DOI
10.3847/1538-4357/ad2a50