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.
radio continuum: ISM
galaxies: groups: individual: Stephan's Quintet
techniques: imaging spectroscopy
galaxies: interactions
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
Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias
University of La Laguna
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
Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
R. Kondapally
University of Edinburgh
M. Balcells
Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias
Isaac Newton Group
University of La Laguna
G. S. Couto
Leibniz Association
D. C. Abrams
Isaac Newton Group
D. Aguado
University of La Laguna
Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias
J. A. L. Aguerri
University of La Laguna
Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias
R. Barrena
Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias
University of La Laguna
C. R. Benn
Isaac Newton Group
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 Group
R. Carrera
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
P. J. Concepcion
Isaac Newton Group
G. B. Dalton
University of Oxford
Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC)
G. D'Ago
University of Cambridge
K. Dee
Isaac Newton Group
L. Dominguez-Palmero
Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias
University of La Laguna
Isaac Newton Group
J. E. Drew
University College London (UCL)
E. L. Escott
Durham University
C. Farina
Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias
Isaac Newton Group
University of La Laguna
M. Fossati
University of Milano-Bicocca
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
M. Fumagalli
University of Milano-Bicocca
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
E. Gafton
Isaac Newton Group
F. J. Gribbin
Isaac Newton Group
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
University of La Laguna
Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias
A. Mercurio
University of Salerno
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
A. Molaeinezhad
University of Cambridge
E. Molinari
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
M. Monguio
Dribia Data Research
University of Barcelona
D. N. A. Murphy
University of Cambridge
S. Pico
Isaac Newton Group
M. M. Pieri
Aix Marseille University
A. W. Ridings
Isaac Newton Group
M. Romero-Gomez
University of Barcelona
Centre Tecnològic de Telecomunicacions de Catalunya (CTTC)
E. Schallig
University of Oxford
T. W. Shimwell
Leiden University
Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON)
J. Skvarc
Isaac Newton Group
R. Stuik
Leiden University
NOVA
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 Canterbury
University of Cambridge
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/