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    John Mulchaey 2025 NLS Talk - Wide
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Abstract
Bars play an important role in mixing material in the inner regions of galaxies and stimulating radial migration. Previous observations have found evidence for the impact of a bar on metallicity gradients but the effect is still inconclusive. We use the TYPHOON/PrISM survey to investigate the metallicity gradients along and beyond the bar region across the entire star-forming disc of five nearby galaxies. Using emission line diagrams to identify star-forming spaxels, we recover the global metallicity gradients ranging from -0.0162 to -0.073dexkpc(-1) with evidence that the galactic bars act as an agent in affecting in situ star formation as well as the motions of gas and stars. We observe cases with a 'shallow-steep' metallicity radial profile, with evidence of the bar flattening the metallicity gradients inside the bar region (NGC 5068 and NGC 1566) and also note instances where the bar appears to drive a steeper metallicity gradient producing 'steep-shallow' metallicity profiles (NGC 1365 and NGC 1744). For NGC 2835, a 'steep-shallow' metallicity gradient break occurs at a distance similar to 4 times the bar radius, which is more likely driven by gas accretion to the outskirt of the galaxy instead of the bar. The variation of metallicity gradients around the bar region traces the fluctuations of star formation rate surface density in NGC 1365, NGC 1566, and NGC 1744. A larger sample combined with hydrodynamical simulations is required to further explore the diversity, and the relative importance of different ISM mixing mechanisms on the gas-phase metallicity gradients in local galaxies.
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Abstract
We present James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) imaging of NGC 7469 with the Near-Infrared Camera and the Mid-InfraRed Instrument. NGC 7469 is a nearby, z = 0.01627, luminous infrared galaxy that hosts both a Seyfert Type-1.5 nucleus and a circumnuclear starburst ring with a radius of & SIM;0.5 kpc. The new near-infrared (NIR) JWST imaging reveals 66 star-forming regions, 37 of which were not detected by Hubble Space Telescope (HST) observations. Twenty-eight of the 37 sources have very red NIR colors that indicate obscurations up to A (v) & SIM; 7 and a contribution of at least 25% from hot dust emission to the 4.4 & mu;m band. Their NIR colors are also consistent with young (<5 Myr) stellar populations and more than half of them are coincident with the mid-infrared (MIR) emission peaks. These younger, dusty star-forming regions account for & SIM;6% and & SIM;17% of the total 1.5 and 4.4 & mu;m luminosity of the starburst ring, respectively. Thanks to JWST, we find a significant number of young dusty sources that were previously unseen due to dust extinction. The newly identified 28 young sources are a significant increase compared to the number of HST-detected young sources (4-5). This makes the total percentage of the young population rise from & SIM;15% to 48%. These results illustrate the effectiveness of JWST in identifying and characterizing previously hidden star formation in the densest star-forming environments around active galactic nuclei (AGN).
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Abstract
We present James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) integral-field spectroscopy of the nearby merging, luminous infrared galaxy, NGC 7469. This galaxy hosts a Seyfert type-1.5 nucleus, a highly ionized outflow, and a bright, circumnuclear star-forming ring, making it an ideal target to study active galactic nucleus (AGN) feedback in the local universe. We take advantage of the high spatial/spectral resolution of JWST/ MIRI to isolate the star-forming regions surrounding the central active nucleus and study the properties of the dust and warm molecular gas on similar to 100 pc scales. The starburst ring exhibits prominent polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emission, with grain sizes and ionization states varying by only similar to 30%, and a total star formation rate of 10-30(circle dot)yr(-1) derived from fine structure and recombination emission lines. Using pure rotational lines of H-2 we detect 1.2 x 107 M-circle dot of warm molecular gas at a temperature higher than 200 K in the ring. All PAH bands get significantly weaker toward the central source, where larger and possibly more ionized grains dominate the emission, likely the result of the ionizing radiation and/or the fast wind emerging from the AGN. The small grains and warm molecular gas in the bright regions of the ring however display properties consistent with normal starforming regions. These observations highlight the power of JWST to probe the inner regions of dusty, rapidly
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Abstract
We analyze TYPHOON long-slit-absorption line spectra of the starburst barred spiral galaxy NGC 1365 obtained with the Progressive Integral Step Method covering an area of 15 kpc2. Applying a population synthesis technique, we determine the spatial distribution of ages and metallicities of the young and old stellar populations together with star formation rates, reddening, extinction, and the ratio R V of extinction to reddening. We detect a clear indication of inside-out growth of the stellar disk beyond 3 kpc characterized by an outward increasing luminosity fraction of the young stellar population, a decreasing average age, and a history of mass growth, which was finished 2 Gyr later in the outermost disk. The metallicity of the young stellar population is clearly super solar but decreases toward larger galactocentric radii with a gradient of -0.02 dex kpc-1. On the other hand, the metal content of the old population does not show a gradient and stays constant at a level roughly 0.4 dex lower than that of the young population. In the center of NGC 1365, we find a confined region where the metallicity of the young population drops dramatically and becomes lower than that of the old population. We attribute this to the infall of metal-poor gas, and additionally, to interrupted chemical evolution where star formation is stopped by active galactic nuclei and supernova feedback and then after several gigayears resumes with gas ejected by stellar winds from earlier generations of stars. We provide a simple model calculation as support for the latter.
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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 mu m neutral polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) grain emission on similar to 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 mu 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 mu 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 mu 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.
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Wine grapes in Portugal
November 20, 2023

Improved air quality could enhance natural carbon sequestration by plants

The Nature Water cover image shows cyanobacterial scum from a harmful algal bloom in Milford Lake located in Kansas, United States. Cyanobacterial toxins such as microcystin produced by these blooms threaten water resources around the globe. Regions with the highest risk for elevated microcystin concentrations are expected to shift to higher latitudes under global warming. Image is courtesy of Ted D. Harris, Kansas Biological Survey and Center for Ecological Research, University of Kansas.
October 12, 2023

Climate is increasing risk of high toxin concentrations in Northern U.S. lakes

wind turbines appolinary-kalashnikova-WYGhTLym344-unsplash.jpg
October 09, 2023

Lowering cost of clean technologies helps combat climate change

Anna Michalak

Anna Michalak

Founding Director, Carnegie Climate and Resilience Hub

An illustration of hydrogen fuel synthesis from wind and solar power.
September 21, 2023

Predicting the sustainability of a future hydrogen economy

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