James Webb Space Telescope Feed Post

The Interaction between AGN and Starburst Activity in the Circumnuclear Region of NGC 7469 as Viewed with JWST Published: 7/23/2023 6:03:13 PM Updated: 7/23/2023 6:03:13 PM

Paper abstract: We combine mid-infrared diagnostics obtained from integral-field unitobservations taken with MIRI/MRS on JWST with cold molecular gas informationderived from ALMA observations of CO(1-0) emission to investigate the starformation rate and efficiency within the central ~ 1.5 kpc\times1.3 kpcregion of the Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 7469 on ~ 100 pc scales. The activenucleus leaves a notable imprint on its immediate surroundings by elevating thetemperature of the warm molecular gas, driving an ionized gas outflow onsub-kpc scales, and selectively destroying small dust grains. These effects,nevertheless, have relatively little impact on the cold circumnuclear medium orits ability to form stars. Most of the star formation in NGC 7469 is confinedto a clumpy starburst ring, but the star formation efficiency remains quiteelevated even for the nuclear region that is most affected by the activenucleus.