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Published November 1, 2022 | public
Journal Article

GOALS-JWST: Hidden Star Formation and Extended PAH Emission in the Luminous Infrared Galaxy VV 114

Abstract

James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) images of the luminous infrared (IR) galaxy VV 114 are presented. This redshift ∼0.020 merger has a western component (VV 114W) rich in optical star clusters and an eastern component (VV 114E) hosting a luminous mid-IR nucleus hidden at UV and optical wavelengths by dust lanes. With MIRI, the VV 114E nucleus resolves primarily into bright NE and SW cores separated by 630 pc. This nucleus comprises 45% of the 15 μm light of VV 114, with the NE and SW cores having IR luminosities, L_(IR)(8 − 1000 μm) ∼ 8 ± 0.8 × 10¹⁰ L_⊙ and ∼ 5 ± 0.5 × 10¹⁰ L_⊙, respectively, and IR densities, Σ_(IR) ≳ 2 ± 0.2 × 10¹³ L_⊙ kpc⁻² and ≳ 7 ± 0.7 × 10¹² L_⊙ kpc⁻², respectively—in the range of Σ_(IR) for the Orion star-forming core and the nuclei of Arp 220. The NE core, previously speculated to have an active galactic nucleus (AGN), has starburst-like mid-IR colors. In contrast, the VV 114E SW core has AGN-like colors. Approximately 40 star-forming knots with L_(IR) ∼ 0.02–5 × 10¹⁰ L_⊙ are identified, 28% of which have no optical counterpart. Finally, diffuse emission accounts for 40%–60% of the mid-IR emission. Mostly notably, filamentary polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emission stochastically excited by UV and optical photons accounts for half of the 7.7 μm light of VV 114. This study illustrates the ability of JWST to detect obscured compact activity and distributed PAH emission in the most extreme starburst galaxies in the local universe.

Additional Information

The authors thank the anonymous referee for comments that improved the overall quality of the manuscript. The authors also thank the members of the international MIRI Instrument Team for their work to bring the MIRI instrument to fruition. The research was supported by NASA grants JWST-ERS-01328, HST-GO-15472, and HST-GO-16914. Y.S. was funded in part by the NSF through the Grote Reber Fellowship Program administered by Associated Universities, Inc./National Radio Astronomy Observatory. V.U acknowledges funding support from NASA Astrophysics Data Analysis Program (ADAP) grant 80NSSC20K0450. K.I. acknowledges support by the Spanish MCIN under grant PID2019-105510GB-C33/AEI/10.13039/501100011033. S.A. gratefully acknowledges support from an ERC Advanced grant 789410, from the Swedish Research Council and from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg (KAW) Foundation. H.I. and T.B. acknowledge support from JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP21H01129 and the Ito Foundation for Promotion of Science. The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc. The authors acknowledge the usage of the NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive, which is funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and operated by the California Institute of Technology, and CARTA (Comrie et al. 2021).

Additional details

Created:
August 22, 2023
Modified:
October 24, 2023