Signatures of star formation inside galactic outflows

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Ong, Dily Duan Yi, D'Eugenio, Francesco, Maiolino, Roberto, Arribas, Santiago, Belfiore, Francesco, Bellocchi, Enrica, Carniani, Stefano, Cazzoli, Sara, Cresci, Giovanni, Fabian, Andrew, Ishibashi, Wako, Mannucci, Filippo, Marconi, Alessandro, Russell, Helen, Sturm, Eckhard, Venturi, Giacomo
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Ong, Dily Duan Yi
D'Eugenio, Francesco
Maiolino, Roberto
Arribas, Santiago
Belfiore, Francesco
Bellocchi, Enrica
Carniani, Stefano
Cazzoli, Sara
Cresci, Giovanni
Fabian, Andrew
Ishibashi, Wako
Mannucci, Filippo
Marconi, Alessandro
Russell, Helen
Sturm, Eckhard
Venturi, Giacomo
author_facet Ong, Dily Duan Yi
D'Eugenio, Francesco
Maiolino, Roberto
Arribas, Santiago
Belfiore, Francesco
Bellocchi, Enrica
Carniani, Stefano
Cazzoli, Sara
Cresci, Giovanni
Fabian, Andrew
Ishibashi, Wako
Mannucci, Filippo
Marconi, Alessandro
Russell, Helen
Sturm, Eckhard
Venturi, Giacomo
contents Observations have suggested that galactic outflows contain substantial amounts of dense and clumpy molecular gas, creating favourable conditions for igniting star formation. Indeed, theoretical models and hydrodynamical simulations have suggested that stars could form within galactic outflows, representing a new mode of star-formation that differs significantly from the typical star formation in star forming discs. In this paper, we examine 12 local galaxies with powerful Active Galactic Nuclei and high star-formation rate using spectroscopic data from the X-shooter spectrograph at the Very Large Telescope. We investigate the excitation mechanism and physical properties of these outflows via spatially resolved diagnostic diagrams (along with tests to rule out contribution by shocks and external photoionisation). Out of the seven galaxies with clearly detected outflows, we find robust evidence for star formation within the outflow of one galaxy (IRAS 20551-4250), with two additional galaxies showing tentative signs (IRAS 13120-5453 and F13229-2934). Therefore, our findings support previous results that star formation inside outflows can be a relatively common phenomenon among these active galaxies and may have played an important role in the formation and evolution of the spheroidal component of galaxies.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2512_10924
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Signatures of star formation inside galactic outflows
Ong, Dily Duan Yi
D'Eugenio, Francesco
Maiolino, Roberto
Arribas, Santiago
Belfiore, Francesco
Bellocchi, Enrica
Carniani, Stefano
Cazzoli, Sara
Cresci, Giovanni
Fabian, Andrew
Ishibashi, Wako
Mannucci, Filippo
Marconi, Alessandro
Russell, Helen
Sturm, Eckhard
Venturi, Giacomo
Astrophysics of Galaxies
Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
Observations have suggested that galactic outflows contain substantial amounts of dense and clumpy molecular gas, creating favourable conditions for igniting star formation. Indeed, theoretical models and hydrodynamical simulations have suggested that stars could form within galactic outflows, representing a new mode of star-formation that differs significantly from the typical star formation in star forming discs. In this paper, we examine 12 local galaxies with powerful Active Galactic Nuclei and high star-formation rate using spectroscopic data from the X-shooter spectrograph at the Very Large Telescope. We investigate the excitation mechanism and physical properties of these outflows via spatially resolved diagnostic diagrams (along with tests to rule out contribution by shocks and external photoionisation). Out of the seven galaxies with clearly detected outflows, we find robust evidence for star formation within the outflow of one galaxy (IRAS 20551-4250), with two additional galaxies showing tentative signs (IRAS 13120-5453 and F13229-2934). Therefore, our findings support previous results that star formation inside outflows can be a relatively common phenomenon among these active galaxies and may have played an important role in the formation and evolution of the spheroidal component of galaxies.
title Signatures of star formation inside galactic outflows
topic Astrophysics of Galaxies
Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.10924