The Fraction of Dust Mass in the Form of PAHs on 10-50 pc Scales in Nearby Galaxies

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Sutter, Jessica, Sandstrom, Karin, Chastenet, Jérémy, Leroy, Adam K., Koch, Eric W., Williams, Thomas G., Chown, Ryan, Belfiore, Francesco, Bigiel, Frank, Boquien, Médéric, Cao, Yixian, Chevance, Mélanie, Dale, Daniel A., Egorov, Oleg V., Glover, Simon C. O., Groves, Brent, Klessen, Ralf S., Kreckel, Kathryn, Larson, Kirsten L., Oakes, Elias K., Pathak, Debosmita, Ramambason, Lise, Rosolowsky, Erik, Watkins, Elizabeth J.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Sutter, Jessica
Sandstrom, Karin
Chastenet, Jérémy
Leroy, Adam K.
Koch, Eric W.
Williams, Thomas G.
Chown, Ryan
Belfiore, Francesco
Bigiel, Frank
Boquien, Médéric
Cao, Yixian
Chevance, Mélanie
Dale, Daniel A.
Egorov, Oleg V.
Glover, Simon C. O.
Groves, Brent
Klessen, Ralf S.
Kreckel, Kathryn
Larson, Kirsten L.
Oakes, Elias K.
Pathak, Debosmita
Ramambason, Lise
Rosolowsky, Erik
Watkins, Elizabeth J.
author_facet Sutter, Jessica
Sandstrom, Karin
Chastenet, Jérémy
Leroy, Adam K.
Koch, Eric W.
Williams, Thomas G.
Chown, Ryan
Belfiore, Francesco
Bigiel, Frank
Boquien, Médéric
Cao, Yixian
Chevance, Mélanie
Dale, Daniel A.
Egorov, Oleg V.
Glover, Simon C. O.
Groves, Brent
Klessen, Ralf S.
Kreckel, Kathryn
Larson, Kirsten L.
Oakes, Elias K.
Pathak, Debosmita
Ramambason, Lise
Rosolowsky, Erik
Watkins, Elizabeth J.
contents Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a ubiquitous component of the interstellar medium (ISM) in z~0 massive, star-forming galaxies and play key roles in ISM energy balance, chemistry, and shielding. Wide field of view, high resolution mid-infrared (MIR) images from JWST provides the ability to map the fraction of dust in the form of PAHs and the properties of these key dust grains at 10-50 pc resolution in galaxies outside the Local Group. We use MIR JWST photometric observations of a sample of 19 nearby galaxies from the "Physics at High Angular Resolution in Nearby GalaxieS" (PHANGS) survey to investigate the variations of the PAH fraction. By comparison to lower resolution far-IR mapping, we show that a combination of the MIRI filters (R$_{\rm{PAH}}$ = [F770W+F1130W]/F2100W) traces the fraction of dust by mass in the form of PAHs (i.e., the PAH fraction, or q$_{\rm{PAH}}$). Mapping R$_{\rm{PAH}}$ across the 19 PHANGS galaxies, we find that the PAH fraction steeply decreases in HII regions, revealing the destruction of these small grains in regions of ionized gas. Outside HII regions, we find R$_{\rm{PAH}}$ is constant across the PHANGS sample with an average value of 3.43$\pm$0.98, which, for an illuminating radiation field of intensity 2-5 times that of the radiation field in the solar neighborhood, corresponds to q$_{\rm{PAH}}$ values of 3-6%.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2405_15102
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle The Fraction of Dust Mass in the Form of PAHs on 10-50 pc Scales in Nearby Galaxies
Sutter, Jessica
Sandstrom, Karin
Chastenet, Jérémy
Leroy, Adam K.
Koch, Eric W.
Williams, Thomas G.
Chown, Ryan
Belfiore, Francesco
Bigiel, Frank
Boquien, Médéric
Cao, Yixian
Chevance, Mélanie
Dale, Daniel A.
Egorov, Oleg V.
Glover, Simon C. O.
Groves, Brent
Klessen, Ralf S.
Kreckel, Kathryn
Larson, Kirsten L.
Oakes, Elias K.
Pathak, Debosmita
Ramambason, Lise
Rosolowsky, Erik
Watkins, Elizabeth J.
Astrophysics of Galaxies
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a ubiquitous component of the interstellar medium (ISM) in z~0 massive, star-forming galaxies and play key roles in ISM energy balance, chemistry, and shielding. Wide field of view, high resolution mid-infrared (MIR) images from JWST provides the ability to map the fraction of dust in the form of PAHs and the properties of these key dust grains at 10-50 pc resolution in galaxies outside the Local Group. We use MIR JWST photometric observations of a sample of 19 nearby galaxies from the "Physics at High Angular Resolution in Nearby GalaxieS" (PHANGS) survey to investigate the variations of the PAH fraction. By comparison to lower resolution far-IR mapping, we show that a combination of the MIRI filters (R$_{\rm{PAH}}$ = [F770W+F1130W]/F2100W) traces the fraction of dust by mass in the form of PAHs (i.e., the PAH fraction, or q$_{\rm{PAH}}$). Mapping R$_{\rm{PAH}}$ across the 19 PHANGS galaxies, we find that the PAH fraction steeply decreases in HII regions, revealing the destruction of these small grains in regions of ionized gas. Outside HII regions, we find R$_{\rm{PAH}}$ is constant across the PHANGS sample with an average value of 3.43$\pm$0.98, which, for an illuminating radiation field of intensity 2-5 times that of the radiation field in the solar neighborhood, corresponds to q$_{\rm{PAH}}$ values of 3-6%.
title The Fraction of Dust Mass in the Form of PAHs on 10-50 pc Scales in Nearby Galaxies
topic Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.15102