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Register a new userIonized Gas in the NGC 5253 Supernebula:High Spatial and Spectral Resolution Observations with the JVLA and TEXES
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The youngest, closest and most compact embedded massive star cluster known excites the supernebula in the nearby dwarf galaxy NGC 5253. It is a crucial target and test case for studying the birth and evolution of the most massive star clusters. We present observations of the ionized gas in this source with high spatial and spectral resolution. The data includes continuum images of free-free emission with ~0.15 resolution made with the JVLA at 15, 22 and 33 GHz, and a full data cube of the [SIV]10.5 micron fine-structure emission line with ~4.5 km/s velocity resolution and 0.3 beam, obtained with TEXES on Gemini North. We find that 1) the ionized gas extends out from the cluster in arms or jets, and 2) the ionized gas comprises two components offset both spatially and in velocity. We discuss mechanisms that may have created the observed velocity field; possibilities include large-scale jets or a subcluster falling onto the main source.
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The nearby dwarf starburst galaxy NGC 5253 hosts a deeply embedded radio-infrared supernebula excited by thousands of O stars. We have observed this source in the 10.5{mu}m line of S+3 at 3.8 kms-1 spectral and 1.4 spatial resolution, using the high resolution spectrometer TEXES on the IRTF. The line profile cannot be fit well by a single Gaussian. The best simple fit describes the gas with two Gaussians, one near the galactic velocity with FWHM 33.6 km s-1 and another of similiar strength and FWHM 94 km s-1 centered sim20 km s-1 to the blue. This suggests a model for the supernebula in which gas flows towards us out of the molecular cloud, as in a blister or champagne flow or in the HII regions modelled by Zhu (2006).
ABRIDGED: NGC5253 was previously studied by our group with the aim to elucidate in detail the starburst interaction processes. Some open issues regarding the 2D structure of the main properties of the ionized gas remain to be addressed. Using IFS data obtained with FLAMES, we derived 2D maps for different tracers of electron density (n_e), electron temperature (T_e) and ionization degree. The maps for n_e as traced by several line ratios are compatible with a 3D stratified view of the nebula with the highest n_e in the innermost layers and a decrease of n_e outwards. To our knowledge, this is the first time that a T_e map based on [SII] lines for an extragalactic object is presented. The joint interpretation of our two T_e maps is consistent with a T_e structure in 3D with higher temperatures close to the main ionizing source surrounded by a colder and more diffuse component. The highest ionization degree is found at the peak of emission for the gas with relatively high ionization in the main GHIIR and lower ionization degree delineating the more extended diffuse component. Abundances for O, Ne and Ar are constant over the mapped area within <0.1 dex. The mean 12+log(O/H) is 8.26 while the relative abundances of log(N/O), log(Ne/O) and log(Ar/O) were sim-1.32, -0.65 and -2.33, respectively. There are two locations with enhanced N/O. The first (log(N/O)sim-0.95) is associated to two super star clusters. The second (log(N/O)sim-1.17), reported here for the first time, is associated to two moderately massive (2-4x10^4 M_sun) and relatively old (sim10 Myr) clusters. A comparison of the N/O map with those produced by strong line methods supports the use of N2O2 over N2S2 in the search for chemical inhomogeneities within a galaxy. The results on the localized nitrogen enhancement were used to compile and discuss the factors that affect the complex relationship between Wolf-Rayet stars and N/O excess.
ABRIDGED: A detailed 2D study of the central region of NGC5253 has been performed to characterize the stellar and ionized gas structure as well as the extinction distribution, physical properties and kinematics of the ionized gas in the central ~210pc x 130pc. We utilized optical integral field spectroscopy (IFS) data obtained with FLAMES. A detailed extinction map for the ionized gas in NGC5253 shows that the largest extinction is associated with the prominent Giant HII region. There is an offset of ~0.5 between the peak of the optical continuum and the extinction peak in agreement with findings in the infrared. We found that stars suffer less extinction than gas by a factor of 0.33. The [SII]l6717/[SII]l6731 map shows an electron density (N_e) gradient declining from the peak of emission in Ha (790cm^-3) outwards, while the argon line ratio traces areas with $N_e~4200 - 6200cm^(-3). The area polluted with extra nitrogen, as deduced from the excess [NII]/Ha, extends up to distances of 3.3 (~60pc) from the maximum pollution, which is offset by ~1.5 from the peak of continuum emission. Wolf-Rayet features are distributed in an irregular pattern over a larger area (~100pc x 100pc) and associated with young stellar clusters. We measured He^+ abundances over most of the field of view and values of He^++/H^+<~0.0005 in localized areas which do not coincide, in general, with the areas presenting W-R emission or extra nitrogen. The line profiles are complex. Up to three emission components were needed to reproduce them. One of them, associated with the giant HII region, presents supersonic widths and [NII] and [SII] emission lines shifted up to 40km/s with respect to Ha. Similarly, one of the narrow components presents offsets in the [NII] line of <~20km/s. This is the first time that maps with such velocity offsets for a starburst galaxy have been presented.
We have detected the H92alpha radio recombination line from two dwarf starburst galaxies, NGC 5253 and He 2-10, using the Very Large Array. Both the line data as well as the radio continuum data are used to model the properties of the ionized gas in the centers of these galaxies. We consider a multi-density model for radio recombination lines and show why previous models, which were based on the assumption of gas at a single density, are valid in many situations. The models show that the ionized gas has a density of ~10^4 /cc in both galaxies, with an effective size of 2-10 pc and a total mass of about 10^4 Msun. The derived production rate of Lyman continuum photons is ~2.5 x 10^{52} /s in both the galaxies and the corresponding mass of stars (assuming a Salpeter IMF) is ~10^5 msun. The implied stellar density shows that the observed radio recombination lines arise from ionized gas around super star clusters (SSCs) in both galaxies (these SSCs have been recently detected through their radio continuum emission). The existence of ~10^4 Msun of ionized gas within a few parsecs of an SSC places strict constraints on dynamical models. Using simple arguments, the parameter space for a few possible models are derived. The well known radio-FIR correlation also holds for NGC 5253, although the radio emission from this galaxy is almost completely thermal. It is shown that NGC 5253 is strong evidence that the component of FIR emission from warm dust is correlated separately with the component of radio emission from thermal bremsstrahlung.
We have mapped the NGC 2023 reflection nebula in [CII] and CO(11--10) with the heterodyne receiver GREAT on SOFIA and obtained slightly smaller maps in 13CO(3--2), CO(3--2), CO(4--3), CO(6--5), and CO(7--6) with APEX in Chile. We use these data to probe the morphology, kinematics, and physical conditions of the C II region, which is ionized by FUV radiation from the B2 star HD37903. The [CII] emission traces an ellipsoidal shell-like region at a position angle of ~ -50 deg, and is surrounded by a hot molecular shell. In the southeast, where the C II region expands into a dense, clumpy molecular cloud ridge, we see narrow and strong line emission from high-J CO lines, which comes from a thin, hot molecular shell surrounding the [CII] emission. The [CII] lines are broader and show photo evaporating gas flowing into the C II region. Based on the strength of the [13CII] F=2--1 line, the [CII] line appears to be somewhat optically thick over most of the nebula with an optical depth of a few. We model the physical conditions of the surrounding molecular cloud and the PDR emission using both RADEX and simple PDR models. The temperature of the CO emitting PDR shell is ~ 90 -- 120 K, with densities of 10^5 -- 10^6 cm^-3, as deduced from RADEX modeling. Our PDR modeling indicates that the PDR layer where [CII] emission dominates has somewhat lower densities, 10^4 to a few times 10^5 cm^-3
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