A high angular resolution view of the PAH emission in Seyfert galaxies using JWST/MRS data

García-Bernete, I.; Rigopoulou, D.; Alonso‐Herrero, A.; Donnan, Fergus R.; Roche, P. F.; Pereira-Santaella, M.; Labiano, Á.; Arriba, L. Peralta de; Izumi, Teruo; Almeida, C. Ramos; Shimizu, T.; Hönig, S. F.; García‐Burillo, S.; Rosario, D. J.; Ward, M. J.; Bellocchi, E.; Hicks, E. K. S.; Fuller, Lindsay; Packham, C.

doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202244806

Cited by 26 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 61 publications

(65 reference statements)

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“…Ricci et al 2017). We also include a slightly more distant galaxy, NGC 7319 (D∼100 Mpc), as it is an obscured type AGN, which was observed as part of the Early Release Observations (Program ID 2732, PI K. M. Pontoppidan;Pontoppidan et al 2022), which is publicly available in the JWST archive (these data were already presented in Pereira-Santaella et al 2022;García-Bernete et al 2022d). The main properties of the sample are summarized in Table 1.…”

Section: Targets and Observationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Galaxy Activity, Torus, and Outflow Survey (GATOS)

García‐Burillo

Alonso‐Herrero

Almeida

et al. 2021

A&A

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We present the first results of the Galaxy Activity, Torus, and Outflow Survey (GATOS), a project aimed at understanding the properties of the dusty molecular tori and their connection to the host galaxy in nearby Seyfert galaxies. Our project expands the range of active galactic nuclei (AGN) luminosities and Eddington ratios covered by previous surveys of Seyferts conducted by the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA), allowing us to study the gas feeding and feedback cycle in a combined sample of 19 Seyferts. We used ALMA to obtain new images of the emission of molecular gas and dust using the CO(3–2) and HCO+(4–3) lines as well as their underlying continuum emission at 870 μm with high spatial resolutions (0.1″ ∼ 7 − 13 pc) in the circumnuclear disks (CND) of ten nearby (D < 28 Mpc) Seyfert galaxies selected from an ultra-hard X-ray survey. Our new ALMA observations detect 870 μm continuum and CO line emission from spatially resolved disks located around the AGN in all the sources. The bulk of the 870 μm continuum flux can be accounted for by thermal emission from dust in the majority of the targets. For most of the sources, the disks show a preponderant orientation perpendicular to the AGN wind axes, as expected for dusty molecular tori. The median diameters and molecular gas masses of the tori are ∼42 pc and ∼6 × 105 M⊙, respectively. We also detected the emission of the 4–3 line of HCO+ in four GATOS targets. The order of magnitude differences found in the CO/HCO+ ratios within our combined sample point to a very different density radial stratification inside the dusty molecular tori of these Seyferts. We find a positive correlation between the line-of-sight gas column densities responsible for the absorption of X-rays and the molecular gas column densities derived from CO toward the AGN in our sources. Furthermore, the median values of both column densities are similar. This suggests that the neutral gas line-of-sight column densities of the dusty molecular tori imaged by ALMA significantly contribute to the obscuration of X-rays. The radial distributions of molecular gas in the CND of our combined sample show signs of nuclear-scale molecular gas deficits. We also detect molecular outflows in the sources that show the most extreme nuclear-scale gas deficits in our sample. These observations find for the first time supporting evidence that the imprint of AGN feedback is more extreme in higher luminosity and/or higher Eddington ratio Seyfert galaxies.

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Section: Targets and Observationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Galaxy Activity, Torus, and Outflow Survey (GATOS)

García‐Burillo

Alonso‐Herrero

Almeida

et al. 2021

A&A

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“…The commissioning targets included spatially unre-solved (point) sources, namely stars with different effective temperatures, as well as spatially resolved sources, such as galaxies and planetary nebulae; and it has since been the topic of a variety of scientific works (e.g. Yang et al 2022;García-Bernete et al 2022;Miles et al 2022;Álvarez-Márquez et al 2023;Lau et al 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

JWST MIRI/MRS in-flight absolute flux calibration and tailored fringe correction for unresolved sources

Gasman¹,

Argyriou²,

C.³

et al. 2023

A&A

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Context. The Medium Resolution Spectrometer (MRS) is one of the four observing modes of JWST/MIRI. Using JWST in-flight data of unresolved (point) sources, we can derive the MRS absolute spectral response function (ASRF) starting from raw data. Spectral fringing, caused by coherent reflections inside the detector arrays, plays a critical role in the derivation and interpretation of the MRS ASRF. The fringe corrections implemented in the current pipeline are not optimal for non-extended sources, and a high density of molecular features particularly inhibits an accurate correction. Aims. In this paper we present an alternative way to calibrate the MIRI/MRS data. Firstly, we derive a fringe correction that accounts for the dependence of the fringe properties on the MIRI/MRS pupil illumination and detector pixel sampling of the point spread function. Secondly, we derive the MRS ASRF using an absolute flux calibrator observed across the full 5 to 28 µm wavelength range of the MRS. Thirdly, we apply the new ASRF to the spectrum of a G dwarf and compare it with the output of the JWST/MIRI default data reduction pipeline. Finally, we examine the impact of the different fringe corrections on the detectability of molecular features in the G dwarf and K giant. Methods. The absolute flux calibrator HD 163466 (A-star) was used to derive tailored point source fringe flats at each of the default dither locations of the MRS. The fringe-corrected point source integrated spectrum of HD 163466 was used to derive the MRS ASRF using a theoretical model for the stellar continuum. A cross-correlation was run to quantify the uncertainty on the detection of CO, SiO, and OH in the K giant and CO in the G dwarf for different fringe corrections. Results. The point-source-tailored fringe correction and ASRF are found to perform at the same level as the current corrections, beating down the fringe contrast to the sub-percent level in the G dwarf in the longer wavelengths, whilst mitigating the alteration of real molecular features. The same tailored solutions can be applied to other MRS unresolved targets. Target acquisition is required to ensure the pointing is accurate enough to apply this method. A pointing repeatability issue in the MRS limits the effectiveness of the tailored fringe flats is at short wavelengths. Finally, resulting spectra require no scaling to make the sub-bands match, and a dichroic spectral leak at 12.2 micron is removed.

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“…Therefore, from a color-color diagram point of view, this source could be an AGN in an SF galaxy. Such systems have recently been shown to resemble SFG PAH emissions (Donnan et al 2023;García-Bernete et al 2022;Lai et al 2022) if the effect of AGN radiation fields on the excitation of PAHs in nuclear SF regions is not particularly strong (e.g., Lai et al 2022). However, we do not find any X-ray detection associated with this source, and its F356W−F444W NIRCam color (−0.21 mag ± 0.01) is not consistent with the W1−W2 >0.8 AGN selection criterion (see, e.g., Stern et al 2012).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

PAH Emission from Star-forming Galaxies in JWST Mid-infrared Imaging of the Lensing Cluster SMACS J0723.3-7327

Langeroodi

Hjorth

2023

ApJL

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The mid-infrared spectra of star-forming galaxies (SFGs) are characterized by characteristic broad polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emission features at 3–20 μm. As these features are redshifted, they are predicted to dominate the flux at specific mid-infrared wavelengths, leading to substantial redshift-dependent color variations in broadband photometry. The advent of JWST for the first time allows the study of this effect for normal SFGs. Based on spectral energy distribution templates, we here present tracks in mid-infrared (4.4, 7.7, 10, 15, and 18 μm) color–color diagrams describing the redshift dependence of SFG colors. In addition, we present simulated color–color diagrams by populating these tracks using the cosmic star formation history and the star formation rate function. Depending on redshift, we find that SFGs stand out in the color–color diagrams by several magnitudes. We provide the first observational demonstration of this effect for galaxies detected in the JWST Early Release Observations of the field toward the lensing cluster SMACS J0723.3−7327. While the distribution of detected galaxies is consistent with the simulations, the numbers are substantially boosted by lensing effects. The PAH emitter with the highest spectroscopic redshift, detected in all bands, is a multiply imaged galaxy at z = 1.45. There is also a substantial number of cluster members that do not exhibit PAH emission except for one SFG at z = 0.38. Future wider-field observations will further populate mid-infrared color–color diagrams and provide insight into the evolution of typical SFGs.

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A high angular resolution view of the PAH emission in Seyfert galaxies using JWST/MRS data

Cited by 26 publications

References 61 publications

The Galaxy Activity, Torus, and Outflow Survey (GATOS)

The Galaxy Activity, Torus, and Outflow Survey (GATOS)

JWST MIRI/MRS in-flight absolute flux calibration and tailored fringe correction for unresolved sources

PAH Emission from Star-forming Galaxies in JWST Mid-infrared Imaging of the Lensing Cluster SMACS J0723.3-7327

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