TY - JOUR
T1 - Pulling back the curtain on shocks and star formation in NGC 1266 with Gemini-NIFS
AU - Otter, Justin Atsushi
AU - Alatalo, Katherine
AU - Rowlands, Kate
AU - McDermid, Richard M.
AU - Davis, Timothy A.
AU - Federrath, Christoph
AU - French, K. Decker
AU - Heckman, Timothy
AU - Ogle, Patrick
AU - Kakkad, Darshan
AU - Luo, Yuanze
AU - Nyland, Kristina
AU - Tripathi, Akshat
AU - Patil, Pallavi
AU - Petric, Andreea
AU - Smercina, Adam
AU - Skarbinski, Maya
AU - Lanz, Lauranne
AU - Larson, Kristin
AU - Appleton, Philip N.
AU - Aalto, Susanne
AU - Olander, Gustav
AU - Sazonova, Elizaveta
AU - Smith, J. D. T.
N1 - © 2024. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.
PY - 2024/11/1
Y1 - 2024/11/1
N2 - We present Gemini near-infrared integral field spectrograph K-band observations of the central 400 pc of NGC 1266, a nearby (D ≈ 30 Mpc) post-starburst galaxy with a powerful multiphase outflow and a shocked interstellar medium. We detect seven H2 rovibrational emission lines excited thermally to T ∼ 2000 K, and weak Brγ emission, consistent with a fast continuous shock (or C-shock). With these bright H2 lines, we observe the spatial structure of the shock with an unambiguous tracer for the first time. The Brγ emission is concentrated in the central ≲100 pc, indicating that any remaining star formation in NGC 1266 is in the nucleus, while the surrounding cold molecular gas has little ongoing star formation. Though it is unclear what fraction of this Brγ emission is from star formation or the active galactic nuclei (AGN), assuming it is entirely due to star formation we measure an instantaneous star formation rate of 0.7 M⊙ yr−1, though the star formation rate may be significantly higher in the presence of additional extinction. NGC 1266 provides a unique laboratory to study the complex interactions between AGN, outflows, shocks, and star formation, all of which are necessary to unravel the evolution of the post-starburst phase.
AB - We present Gemini near-infrared integral field spectrograph K-band observations of the central 400 pc of NGC 1266, a nearby (D ≈ 30 Mpc) post-starburst galaxy with a powerful multiphase outflow and a shocked interstellar medium. We detect seven H2 rovibrational emission lines excited thermally to T ∼ 2000 K, and weak Brγ emission, consistent with a fast continuous shock (or C-shock). With these bright H2 lines, we observe the spatial structure of the shock with an unambiguous tracer for the first time. The Brγ emission is concentrated in the central ≲100 pc, indicating that any remaining star formation in NGC 1266 is in the nucleus, while the surrounding cold molecular gas has little ongoing star formation. Though it is unclear what fraction of this Brγ emission is from star formation or the active galactic nuclei (AGN), assuming it is entirely due to star formation we measure an instantaneous star formation rate of 0.7 M⊙ yr−1, though the star formation rate may be significantly higher in the presence of additional extinction. NGC 1266 provides a unique laboratory to study the complex interactions between AGN, outflows, shocks, and star formation, all of which are necessary to unravel the evolution of the post-starburst phase.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85208360233&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3847/1538-4357/ad793a
DO - 10.3847/1538-4357/ad793a
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85208360233
SN - 0004-637X
VL - 975
SP - 1
EP - 14
JO - Astrophysical Journal
JF - Astrophysical Journal
IS - 1
M1 - 142
ER -