GOALS-JWST: Pulling Back the Curtain on the AGN and Star Formation in VV 114
Journal article, 2023
We present results from the James Webb Space Telescope Director’s Discretionary Time Early Release Science program 1328 targeting the nearby, luminous infrared galaxy, VV 114. We use the MIRI and NIRSpec instruments to obtain integral-field spectroscopy of the heavily obscured eastern nucleus (V114E) and surrounding regions. The spatially resolved, high-resolution spectra reveal the physical conditions in the gas and dust over a projected area of 2-3 kpc that includes the two brightest IR sources, the NE and SW cores. Our observations show for the first time spectroscopic evidence that the SW core hosts an active galactic nucleus as evidenced by its very low 6.2 μm and 3.3 μm polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon equivalent widths (0.12 and 0.017 μm, respectively) and mid- and near-IR colors. Our observations of the NE core show signs of deeply embedded star formation including absorption features due to aliphatic hydrocarbons, large quantities of amorphous silicates, as well as HCN due to cool gas along the line of sight. We detect elevated [Fe ii]/Pfα consistent with extended shocks coincident with enhanced emission from warm H2, far from the IR-bright cores and clumps. We also identify broadening and multiple kinematic components in both H2 and fine structure lines caused by outflows and previously identified tidal features.
Author
Jeffrey A. Rich
Carnegie Observatories
Susanne Aalto
Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Astronomy and Plasmaphysics
Aaron S. Evans
National Radio Astronomy Observatory
University of Virginia
V. Charmandaris
University of Crete
Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas (FORTH)
European University Cyprus
G. Privon
University of Florida
National Radio Astronomy Observatory
Thomas Lai
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
H. Inami
Hiroshima University
S. T. Linden
University of Massachusetts
Lee Armus
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
T. Diaz-Santos
Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas (FORTH)
European University Cyprus
P. Appleton
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
Loreto Barcos-Munoz
University of Virginia
T. Boker
European Space Agency (ESA)
K. Larson
Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)
David R. Law
Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)
M. A. Malkan
University of California
Anne M. Medling
University of Toledo
ARC Centre of Excellence for All-sky Astrophysics
Y. Song
National Radio Astronomy Observatory
University of Virginia
U. Vivian
University of California at Irvine (UCI)
Paul P. van der Werf
Leiden University
Thomas Bohn
Hiroshima University
Michael J.I. Brown
Monash University
Luke Finnerty
University of California
Christopher C. Hayward
Flatiron Institute
Justin Howell
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
K. Iwasawa
University of Barcelona
Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies
F. Kemper
Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC)
Institute of Space Sciences (ICE) - CSIC
Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies
J. P. Marshall
Glendale Community College
J. Mazzarella
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
Jed McKinney
University of Massachusetts
Francisco Muller-Sanchez
University of Memphis
Eric J. Murphy
National Radio Astronomy Observatory
David Sanders
University of Hawaii
B. T. Soifer
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
S. Stierwalt
Occidental College
J. A. Surace
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
Astrophysical Journal Letters
2041-8205 (ISSN) 2041-8213 (eISSN)
Vol. 944 2 L50Exploring the Hidden Dusty Nuclei of Galaxies (HIDDeN)
European Research Council (ERC) (789410), 2018-10-01 -- 2023-09-30.
Subject Categories
Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology
Atom and Molecular Physics and Optics
Other Physics Topics
DOI
10.3847/2041-8213/acb2b8