WEAVE First Light Observations: Origin and Dynamics of the Shock Front in Stephan's Quintet
Artikel i vetenskaplig tidskrift, 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

Författare

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

Rijksuniversiteit 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

Universidad de la Laguna

Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias

Kelley Michelle Hess

Chalmers, Rymd-, geo- och miljövetenskap, Onsala rymdobservatorium

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

Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucía (IAA)

R. Kondapally

University of Edinburgh

M. Balcells

Isaac Newton Grp Telescopes

Universidad de la Laguna

Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias

G. S. Couto

Leibniz-Institut Für Astrophysik Potsdam

D. C. Abrams

Isaac Newton Grp Telescopes

D. Aguado

Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias

Universidad de la Laguna

J. A. L. Aguerri

Universidad de la Laguna

Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias

R. Barrena

Universidad de la Laguna

Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias

C. R. Benn

Isaac Newton Grp Telescopes

T. Bensby

Lunds universitet

S. R. Berlanas

Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias

Universidad de 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

Universidad de la Laguna

J. E. Drew

University College London (UCL)

E. L. Escott

Durham University

C. Farina

Isaac Newton Grp Telescopes

Universidad de la Laguna

Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias

M. Fossati

Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)

Universita' degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca

M. Fumagalli

Universita' degli Studi di 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

Rijksuniversiteit Groningen

I. J. Lewis

University of Oxford

M. Longhetti

Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)

J. Mendez-Abreu

Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias

Universidad de 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

Universitat de Barcelona

D. N. A. Murphy

University of Cambridge

S. Pico

Isaac Newton Grp Telescopes

M. M. Pieri

Aix-Marseille Université

A. W. Ridings

Isaac Newton Grp Telescopes

M. Romero-Gomez

Institut d'Estudis Espacials de Catalunya (IEEC)

Universitat de Barcelona

E. Schallig

University of Oxford

T. W. Shimwell

Netherlands Inst Radio Astron

Universiteit Leiden

J. Skvarc

Isaac Newton Grp Telescopes

R. Stuik

NOVA Opt & Infrared Instrumentat Grp ASTRON

Universiteit Leiden

A. Vallenari

Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)

J. M. van der Hulst

Rijksuniversiteit 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 2269-2290

Ämneskategorier (SSIF 2011)

Astronomi, astrofysik och kosmologi

DOI

10.1093/mnras/stae2235

Relaterade dataset

URI: http://portal.was.tng.iac.es/

Mer information

Senast uppdaterat

2024-12-09