We present powderday (available at https://github.com/dnarayanan/powderday), a flexible, fast, open-source dust radiative transfer package designed to interface with both idealized and cosmological ...galaxy formation simulations. powderday builds on fsps stellar population synthesis models, and hyperion dust radiative transfer, and employs yt to interface between different software packages. We include our stellar population synthesis modeling on the fly, allowing significant flexibility in the assumed stellar physics and nebular line emission. The dust content follows either simple observationally motivated prescriptions (i.e., constant dust-to-metals ratios, or dust-to-gas ratios that vary with metallicity), direct modeling from galaxy formation simulations that include dust physics, as well as a novel approach that includes the dust content via learning-based algorithms from the simba cosmological galaxy formation simulation. Active galactic nuclei (AGNs) can additionally be included via a range of prescriptions. The output of these models are broadband (912 -1 mm) spectral energy distributions (SEDs), as well as filter-convolved monochromatic images. powderday is designed to eliminate last-mile efforts by researchers that employ different hydrodynamic galaxy formation models and seamlessly interfaces with gizmo, arepo, gasoline, changa, and enzo. We demonstrate the capabilities of the code via three applications: a model for the star formation rate-infrared luminosity relation in galaxies (including the impact of AGNs), the impact of circumstellar dust around AGB stars on the mid-infrared emission from galaxy SEDs, and the impact of galaxy inclination angle on dust attenuation laws.
Abstract
We describe a
Herschel Space Observatory
194–671
μ
m spectroscopic survey of a sample of 121 local luminous infrared galaxies and report the fluxes of the CO
J
to
J
–1 rotational transitions ...for
, the N
ii
205
μ
m line, the C
i
lines at 609 and 370
μ
m, as well as additional and usually fainter lines. The CO spectral line energy distributions (SLEDs) presented here are consistent with our earlier work, which was based on a smaller sample, that calls for two distinct molecular gas components in general: (i) a cold component, which emits CO lines primarily at
J
≲ 4 and likely represents the same gas phase traced by CO (1−0), and (ii) a warm component, which dominates over the mid-
J
regime (4 <
J
≲ 10) and is intimately related to current star formation. We present evidence that the CO line emission associated with an active galactic nucleus is significant only at
J
> 10. The flux ratios of the two C
i
lines imply modest excitation temperatures of 15–30 K; the C
i
370
μ
m line scales more linearly in flux with CO (4−3) than with CO (7−6). These findings suggest that the C
i
emission is predominantly associated with the gas component defined in (i) above. Our analysis of the stacked spectra in different far-infrared (FIR) color bins reveals an evolution of the SLED of the rotational transitions of
vapor as a function of the FIR color in a direction consistent with infrared photon pumping.
Abstract
James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) images of the luminous infrared (IR) galaxy VV 114 are presented. This redshift ∼0.020 merger has a western component (VV ...114W) rich in optical star clusters and an eastern component (VV 114E) hosting a luminous mid-IR nucleus hidden at UV and optical wavelengths by dust lanes. With MIRI, the VV 114E nucleus resolves primarily into bright NE and SW cores separated by 630 pc. This nucleus comprises 45% of the 15
μ
m light of VV 114, with the NE and SW cores having IR luminosities,
L
IR
(8 − 1000
μ
m) ∼ 8 ± 0.8 × 10
10
L
⊙
and ∼ 5 ± 0.5 × 10
10
L
⊙
, respectively, and IR densities, Σ
IR
≳ 2 ± 0.2 × 10
13
L
⊙
kpc
−2
and ≳ 7 ± 0.7 × 10
12
L
⊙
kpc
−2
, respectively—in the range of Σ
IR
for the Orion star-forming core and the nuclei of Arp 220. The NE core, previously speculated to have an active galactic nucleus (AGN), has starburst-like mid-IR colors. In contrast, the VV 114E SW core has AGN-like colors. Approximately 40 star-forming knots with
L
IR
∼ 0.02–5 × 10
10
L
⊙
are identified, 28% of which have no optical counterpart. Finally, diffuse emission accounts for 40%–60% of the mid-IR emission. Mostly notably, filamentary polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emission stochastically excited by UV and optical photons accounts for half of the 7.7
μ
m light of VV 114. This study illustrates the ability of JWST to detect obscured compact activity and distributed PAH emission in the most extreme starburst galaxies in the local universe.
Abstract Virial black hole (BH) mass ( M BH ) determination directly involves knowing the broad-line region (BLR) clouds’ velocity distribution, their distance from the central supermassive BH ( R ...BLR ), and the virial factor ( f ). Understanding whether biases arise in M BH estimation with increasing obscuration is possible only by studying a large ( N > 100) statistical sample of obscuration-unbiased (hard) X-ray-selected active galactic nuclei (AGNs) in the rest-frame near-infrared (0.8–2.5 μ m) since it penetrates deeper into the BLR than the optical. We present a detailed analysis of 65 local Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) selected Seyfert galaxies observed with Magellan/FIRE. Adding these to the near-infrared BAT AGN spectroscopic survey database, we study a total of 314 unique near-infrared spectra. While the FWHMs of H α and near-infrared broad lines (He i , Pa β , Pa α ) remain unbiased to either BLR extinction or X-ray obscuration, the H α broad-line luminosity is suppressed when N H ≳ 10 21 cm −2 , systematically underestimating M BH by 0.23–0.46 dex. Near-infrared line luminosities should be preferred to H α until N H < 10 22 cm −2 , while at higher obscuration a less-biased R BLR proxy should be adopted. We estimate f for Seyfert 1 and 2 using two obscuration-unbiased M BH measurements, i.e., the stellar velocity dispersion and a BH mass prescription based on near-infrared and X-ray, and find that the virial factors do not depend on the redshift or obscuration, but some broad lines show a mild anticorrelation with M BH . Our results show the critical impact obscuration can have on BLR characterization and the importance of the near-infrared and X-rays for a less-biased view of the BLR.
We present the host-galaxy molecular gas properties of a sample of 213 nearby (0.01 < z < 0.05) hard-X-ray-selected active galactic nucleus (AGN) galaxies, drawn from the 70-month catalog of Swift's ...Burst Alert Telescope (BAT), with 200 new CO(2-1) line measurements obtained with the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope and the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment telescope. We find that AGN in massive galaxies ( ) tend to have more molecular gas and higher gas fractions than inactive galaxies matched in stellar mass. When matched in star formation, we find AGN galaxies show no difference from inactive galaxies, with no evidence that AGN feedback affects the molecular gas. The higher molecular gas content is related to AGN galaxies hosting a population of gas-rich early types with an order of magnitude more molecular gas and a smaller fraction of quenched, passive galaxies (∼5% versus 49%) compared to inactive galaxies. The likelihood of a given galaxy hosting an AGN (Lbol > 1044 erg s−1 ) increases by ∼10-100 between a molecular gas mass of 108.7M and 1010.2M . AGN galaxies with a higher Eddington ratio (log(L/LEdd) > −1.3) tend to have higher molecular gas masses and gas fractions. The log(NH/ cm−2 ) > 23.4) of AGN galaxies with higher column densities are associated with lower depletion timescales and may prefer hosts with more gas centrally concentrated in the bulge that may be more prone to quenching than galaxy-wide molecular gas. The significant average link of host-galaxy molecular gas supply to supermassive black hole (SMBH) growth may naturally lead to the general correlations found between SMBHs and their host galaxies, such as the correlations between SMBH mass and bulge properties, and the redshift evolution of star formation and SMBH growth.
Abstract
The nearby, luminous infrared galaxy NGC 7469 hosts a Seyfert nucleus with a circumnuclear star-forming ring and is thus the ideal local laboratory for investigating the starburst–AGN ...(active galactic nucleus) connection in detail. We present integral-field observations of the central 1.3 kpc region in NGC 7469 obtained with the JWST Mid-InfraRed Instrument. Molecular and ionized gas distributions and kinematics at a resolution of ∼100 pc over the 4.9–7.6
μ
m region are examined to study the gas dynamics influenced by the central AGN. The low-ionization Fe
ii
λ
5.34
μ
m and Ar
ii
λ
6.99
μ
m lines are bright on the nucleus and in the starburst ring, as opposed to H
2
S(5)
λ
6.91
μ
m, which is strongly peaked at the center and surrounding ISM. The high-ionization Mg
v
line is resolved and shows a broad, blueshifted component associated with the outflow. It has a nearly face-on geometry that is strongly peaked on the nucleus, where it reaches a maximum velocity of −650 km s
−1
, and extends about 400 pc to the east. Regions of enhanced velocity dispersion in H
2
and Fe
ii
∼ 180 pc from the AGN that also show high
L
(H
2
)/
L
(PAH) and
L
(Fe
ii
)/
L
(Pf
α
) ratios to the W and N of the nucleus pinpoint regions where the ionized outflow is depositing energy, via shocks, into the dense interstellar medium between the nucleus and the starburst ring. These resolved mid-infrared observations of the nuclear gas dynamics demonstrate the power of JWST and its high-sensitivity integral-field spectroscopic capability to resolve feedback processes around supermassive black holes in the dusty cores of nearby luminous infrared galaxies.
Abstract
We present James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Near Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) integral field spectroscopy of the nearby luminous infrared galaxy NGC 7469. We take advantage of the high ...spatial/spectral resolution and wavelength coverage of JWST/NIRSpec to study the 3.3
μ
m neutral polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) grain emission on ∼200 pc scales. A clear change in the average grain properties between the star-forming ring and the central AGN is found. Regions in the vicinity of the AGN, with Ne
iii
/Ne
ii
> 0.25, tend to have larger grain sizes and lower aliphatic-to-aromatic (3.4/3.3) ratios, indicating that smaller grains are preferentially removed by photodestruction in the vicinity of the AGN. PAH emission at the nucleus is weak and shows a low 11.3/3.3 PAH ratio. We find an overall suppression of the total PAH emission relative to the ionized gas in the central 1 kpc region of the AGN in NGC 7469 compared to what has been observed with Spitzer on 3 kpc scales. However, the fractional 3.3
μ
m–to–total PAH power is enhanced in the starburst ring, possibly due to a variety of physical effects on subkiloparsec scales, including recurrent fluorescence of small grains or multiple photon absorption by large grains. Finally, the IFU data show that while the 3.3
μ
m PAH-derived star formation rate (SFR) in the ring is 27% higher than that inferred from the Ne
ii
and Ne
iii
emission lines, the integrated SFR derived from the 3.3
μ
m feature would be underestimated by a factor of 2 due to the deficit of PAHs around the AGN, as might occur if a composite system like NGC 7469 were to be observed at high redshift.
Abstract
Recent studies have proposed that the nuclear millimeter continuum emission observed in nearby active galactic nuclei (AGNs) could be created by the same population of electrons that gives ...rise to the X-ray emission that is ubiquitously observed in accreting black holes. We present the results of a dedicated high-spatial-resolution (∼60–100 mas) Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) campaign on a volume-limited (<50 Mpc) sample of 26 hard X-ray (>10 keV) selected radio-quiet AGNs. We find an extremely high detection rate (25/26 or
94
−
6
+
3
%
), which shows that nuclear emission at millimeter wavelengths is nearly ubiquitous in accreting SMBHs. Our high-resolution observations show a tight correlation between the nuclear (1–23 pc) 100 GHz and the intrinsic X-ray emission (1
σ
scatter of 0.22 dex). The ratio between the 100 GHz continuum and the X-ray emission does not show any correlation with column density, black hole mass, Eddington ratio, or star formation rate, which suggests that the 100 GHz emission can be used as a proxy of SMBH accretion over a very broad range of these parameters. The strong correlation between 100 GHz and X-ray emission in radio-quiet AGNs could be used to estimate the column density based on the ratio between the observed 2–10 keV (
F
2
–
10
keV
obs
) and 100 GHz (
F
100 GHz
) fluxes. Specifically, a ratio
log
(
F
2
–
10
keV
obs
/
F
100
GHz
)
≤
3.5
strongly suggests that a source is heavily obscured (
log
(
N
H
/
cm
−
2
)
≳
23.8
). Our work shows the potential of ALMA continuum observations to detect heavily obscured AGNs (up to an optical depth of one at 100 GHz, i.e.,
N
H
≃ 10
27
cm
−2
), and to identify binary SMBHs with separations <100 pc, which cannot be probed by current X-ray facilities.
Abstract We present new JWST NIRSpec integral field spectroscopy (IFS) data for the luminous infrared galaxy NGC 7469, a nearby (70.6 Mpc) active galaxy with a Seyfert 1.5 nucleus that drives a ...highly ionized gas outflow and a prominent nuclear star-forming ring. Using the superb sensitivity and high spatial resolution of the JWST instrument NIRSpec IFS, we investigate the role of the Seyfert nucleus in the excitation and dynamics of the circumnuclear gas. Our analysis focuses on the Fe ii , H 2 , and hydrogen recombination lines that trace the radiation/shocked-excited molecular and ionized interstellar medium around the active galactic nucleus (AGN). We investigate gas excitation through H 2 /Br γ and Fe ii /Pa β emission line ratios and find that photoionization by the AGN dominates within the central 300 pc of the galaxy except in a small region that shows signatures of shock-heated gas; these shock-heated regions are likely associated with a compact radio jet. In addition, the velocity field and velocity dispersion maps reveal complex gas kinematics. Rotation is the dominant feature, but we also identify noncircular motions consistent with gas inflows as traced by the velocity residuals and the spiral pattern in the Pa α velocity dispersion map. The inflow is 2 orders of magnitude higher than the AGN accretion rate. The compact nuclear radio jet has enough power to drive the highly ionized outflow. This scenario suggests that the inflow and outflow are in a self-regulating feeding–feedback process, with a contribution from the radio jet helping to drive the outflow.
Abstract
We have used the Mid-InfraRed Instrument (MIRI) on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to obtain the first spatially resolved, mid-infrared images of
IIZw096
, a merging luminous infrared ...galaxy (LIRG) at
z
= 0.036. Previous observations with the Spitzer Space Telescope suggested that the vast majority of the total IR luminosity (
L
IR
) of the system originated from a small region outside of the two merging nuclei. New observations with JWST/MIRI now allow an accurate measurement of the location and luminosity density of the source that is responsible for the bulk of the IR emission. We estimate that 40%–70% of the IR bolometric luminosity, or 3–5 × 10
11
L
⊙
, arises from a source no larger than 175 pc in radius, suggesting a luminosity density of at least 3–5 × 10
12
L
⊙
kpc
−2
. In addition, we detect 11 other star-forming sources, five of which were previously unknown. The MIRI F1500W/F560W colors of most of these sources, including the source responsible for the bulk of the far-IR emission, are much redder than the nuclei of local LIRGs. These observations reveal the power of JWST to disentangle the complex regions at the hearts of merging, dusty galaxies.
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