JWST Observations of Starbursts: Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Emission at the Base of the M82 Galactic Wind
Boogaard, Leindert A.; Meier, David S.; Böker, Torsten; Skillman, Evan D.; Sandstrom, Karin M.; Boyer, Martha L.; Chisholm, John; Lenkić, Laura; Bolatto, Alberto D.; Fisher, Deanne B.; Leroy, Adam K.; Glover, Simon C. O.; Klessen, Ralf S.; De Looze, Ilse; Smith, J. D.; Veilleux, Sylvain; Walter, Fabian; Thompson, Todd A.; Mills, Elisabeth A. C.; Martini, Paul; Berg, Danielle A.; Dale, Daniel A.; Herrera-Camus, Rodrigo; Levy, Rebecca C.; Ostriker, Eve C.; Lopez, Sebastian; Armus, Lee; Lai, Thomas S. -Y.; Lopez, Laura A.; Mayya, Divakara; Tarantino, Elizabeth; Cronin, Serena A.; Emig, Kimberly L.; Jiménez-Donaire, María J.; Ott, Juergen; Relaño, Mónica; Villanueva, Vicente; van der Werf, Paul P.; Marvil, Joshua; Koziol, Hannah B.
United States, Australia, Germany, Netherlands, Chile, Mexico, Belgium, Spain
Abstract
We present new observations of the central 1 kpc of the M82 starburst obtained with the James Webb Space Telescope near-infrared camera instrument at a resolution θ ∼ 0.″05–0.″1 (∼1–2 pc). The data comprises images in three mostly continuum filters (F140M, F250M, and F360M), and filters that contain [Fe II] (F164N), H2 v = 1 → 0 (F212N), and the 3.3 μm polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) feature (F335M). We find prominent plumes of PAH emission extending outward from the central starburst region, together with a network of complex filamentary substructures and edge-brightened bubble-like features. The structure of the PAH emission closely resembles that of the ionized gas, as revealed in Paschen α and free–free radio emission. We discuss the origin of the structure, and suggest the PAHs are embedded in a combination of neutral, molecular, and photoionized gas.