Feedback in Emerging extragAlactic Star clusTers, FEAST: JWST spots PAH destruction in NGC 628 during the emerging phase of star formation

We investigate the emergence phase of young star clusters in the nearby spiral galaxy NGC 628. We use JWST NIRCam and MIRI observations to create spatially resolved maps of the Pa\(\alpha\)-1.87 \(\mu\)m and Br\(\alpha\)-4.05 \(\mu\)m hydrogen recombination lines, as well as the 3.3 \(\mu\)m and 7.7...

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Published in:arXiv.org 2024-06
Main Authors: Pedrini, Alex, Adamo, Angela, Calzetti, Daniela, Bik, Arjan, Gregg, Benjamin, Linden, Sean T, Bajaj, Varun, Ryon, Jenna E, Ali, Ahmad A, Bortolini, Giacomo, Correnti, Matteo, Elmegreen, Bruce G, Debra Meloy Elmegreen, Gallagher, John S, Grasha, Kathryn, Gutermuth, Robert A, Johnson, Kelsey E, Melinder, Jens, Messa, Matteo, Östlin, Göran, Sabbi, Elena, Smith, Linda J, Tosi, Monica, Helena Faustino Vieira
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Clusters
Emission
Hydrogen recombinations
James Webb Space Telescope
Morphology
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
Spiral galaxies
Star & galaxy formation
Star clusters
Star formation
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Summary:We investigate the emergence phase of young star clusters in the nearby spiral galaxy NGC 628. We use JWST NIRCam and MIRI observations to create spatially resolved maps of the Pa\(\alpha\)-1.87 \(\mu\)m and Br\(\alpha\)-4.05 \(\mu\)m hydrogen recombination lines, as well as the 3.3 \(\mu\)m and 7.7 \(\mu\)m emission from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). We extract 953 compact HII regions and analyze the PAH emission and morphology at \(\sim\)10 pc scales in the associated photo-dissociation regions (PDRs). While HII regions remain compact, radial profiles help us to define three PAH morphological classes: compact (\(\sim\) 42%), extended (\(\sim\) 34%) and open (\(\sim\) 24%). The majority of compact and extended PAH morphologies are associated with very young star clusters (\(
ISSN:2331-8422