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Published April 11, 2015 | Published + Submitted
Journal Article Open

Shocked gas in IRAS F17207-0014: ISM collisions and outflows

Abstract

We combine optical and near-infrared adaptive optics-assisted integral field observations of the merging ultraluminous infrared galaxies IRAS F17207-0014 from the Wide-Field Spectrograph and Keck/OH-Suppressing Infra-Red Imaging Spectrograph (OSIRIS). The optical emission line ratios [N ii]/Hα, [S ii]/Hα, and [O i]/Hα reveal a mixing sequence of shocks present throughout the galaxy, with the strongest contributions coming from large radii (up to 100 per cent at ∼5 kpc in some directions), suggesting galactic-scale winds. The near-infrared observations, which have approximately 30 times higher spatial resolution, show that two sorts of shocks are present in the vicinity of the merging nuclei: low-level shocks distributed throughout our field-of-view evidenced by an H_2/Brγ line ratio of ∼0.6–4, and strong collimated shocks with a high H_2/Brγ line ratio of ∼4–8, extending south from the two nuclear discs approximately 400 pc (∼0.5 arcsec). Our data suggest that the diffuse shocks are caused by the collision of the interstellar media associated with the two progenitor galaxies and the strong shocks trace the base of a collimated outflow coming from the nucleus of one of the two discs.

Additional Information

© 2015 The Authors Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. Accepted 2015 January 5. Received 2014 December 9; in original form 2014 August 12. First published online February 28, 2015. We enthusiastically thank the staff of Siding Spring Observatory and the W. M. Keck Observatory and its AO team, for their dedication and hard work. The authors wish to pay their respects to the Elders – past, present and future – of the traditional lands on which Siding Spring Observatory stands and to those of Hawai'ian ancestry on whose sacred mountain we are privileged to be guests. Without their generous hospitality, these observations would not have been possible. AMM, LJK, and MAD acknowledge the support of the Australian Research Council (ARC) through Discovery project DP130103925. This work was also partially funded by the Deanship of Scientific Research (DSR), King Abdulaziz University, under grant no. (5-130/1433 HiCi). The authors acknowledge this financial support from KAU. AMM and CEM also acknowledge support by the National Science Foundation under award number AST-0908796.

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Published - MNRAS-2015-Medling-2301-11.pdf

Submitted - 1501.07289v1.pdf

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August 20, 2023
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