WEAVE First Light Observations: Origin and Dynamics of the Shock Front in Stephan's Quintet
Journal article, 2024
We present a detailed study of the large-scale shock front in Stephan's Quintet, a by-product of past and ongoing interactions. Using integral-field spectroscopy from the new William Herschel Telescope Enhanced Area Velocity Explorer (WEAVE), recent 144 MHz observations from the LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey, and archival data from the Very Large Array and JWST, we obtain new measurements of key shock properties and determine its impact on the system. Harnessing the WEAVE large integral field unit's field of view (90 x 78 arcsec(2)), spectral resolution (R similar to 2500), and continuous wavelength coverage across the optical band, we perform robust emission-line modelling and dynamically locate the shock within the multiphase intergalactic medium with higher precision than previously possible. The shocking of the cold gas phase is hypersonic, and comparisons with shock models show that it can readily account for the observed emission-line ratios. In contrast, we demonstrate that the shock is relatively weak in the hot plasma visible in X-rays (with Mach number of M similar to 2-4), making it inefficient at producing the relativistic particles needed to explain the observed synchrotron emission. Instead, we propose that it has led to an adiabatic compression of the medium, which has increased the radio luminosity 10-fold. Comparison of the Balmer line-derived extinction map with the molecular gas and hot dust observed with JWST suggests that pre-existing dust may have survived the collision, allowing the condensation of H-2 - a key channel for dissipating the shock energy.
techniques: imaging spectroscopy
galaxies: interactions
galaxies: groups: individual: Stephan's Quintet
radio continuum: ISM
Author
Arnaudova
University of Hertfordshire
S. Das
University of Hertfordshire
D. J. B. Smith
University of Hertfordshire
M. J. Hardcastle
University of Hertfordshire
N. Hatch
University of Nottingham
S. C. Trager
University of Groningen
R. J. Smith
Durham University
A. B. Drake
University of Hertfordshire
J. C. McGarry
University of Hertfordshire
S. Shenoy
University of Hertfordshire
J. P. Stott
Lancaster University
J. H. Knapen
University of La Laguna
Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias
Kelley Michelle Hess
Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Onsala Space Observatory
K. J. Duncan
University of Edinburgh
A. Gloudemans
NSF's National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory (NOIRLab)
P. N. Best
University of Edinburgh
R. Garcia-Benito
Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA)
R. Kondapally
University of Edinburgh
M. Balcells
Isaac Newton Grp Telescopes
University of La Laguna
Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias
G. S. Couto
Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam
D. C. Abrams
Isaac Newton Grp Telescopes
D. Aguado
Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias
University of La Laguna
J. A. L. Aguerri
University of La Laguna
Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias
R. Barrena
University of La Laguna
Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias
C. R. Benn
Isaac Newton Grp Telescopes
T. Bensby
Lund University
S. R. Berlanas
Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias
University of La Laguna
D. Bettoni
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
D. Cano-Infantes
Isaac Newton Grp Telescopes
R. Carrera
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
P. J. Concepcion
Isaac Newton Grp Telescopes
G. B. Dalton
University of Oxford
STFC
G. D'Ago
University of Cambridge
K. Dee
Isaac Newton Grp Telescopes
L. Dominguez-Palmero
Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias
Isaac Newton Grp Telescopes
University of La Laguna
J. E. Drew
University College London (UCL)
E. L. Escott
Durham University
C. Farina
Isaac Newton Grp Telescopes
University of La Laguna
Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias
M. Fossati
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
University of Milano-Bicocca
M. Fumagalli
University of Milano-Bicocca
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
E. Gafton
Isaac Newton Grp Telescopes
F. J. Gribbin
Isaac Newton Grp Telescopes
S. Hughes
University of Cambridge
A. Iovino
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
S. Jin
University of Groningen
I. J. Lewis
University of Oxford
M. Longhetti
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
J. Mendez-Abreu
Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias
University of La Laguna
A. Mercurio
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
Univ Salerno
A. Molaeinezhad
University of Cambridge
E. Molinari
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
M. Monguio
Dribia Data Res SL
University of Barcelona
D. N. A. Murphy
University of Cambridge
S. Pico
Isaac Newton Grp Telescopes
M. M. Pieri
Aix Marseille University
A. W. Ridings
Isaac Newton Grp Telescopes
M. Romero-Gomez
Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC)
University of Barcelona
E. Schallig
University of Oxford
T. W. Shimwell
Netherlands Inst Radio Astron
Leiden University
J. Skvarc
Isaac Newton Grp Telescopes
R. Stuik
NOVA Opt & Infrared Instrumentat Grp ASTRON
Leiden University
A. Vallenari
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
J. M. van der Hulst
University of Groningen
N. A. Walton
University of Cambridge
C. C. Worley
University of Cambridge
University of Canterbury
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
0035-8711 (ISSN) 1365-2966 (eISSN)
Vol. 535 3 2269-2290Subject Categories (SSIF 2011)
Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology
DOI
10.1093/mnras/stae2235
Related datasets
URI: http://portal.was.tng.iac.es/