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Arxiv: The resolved star formation law in NGC 7469 from JWST, ALMA and VLA Published: 6/12/2024 9:09:51 AM Updated: 6/12/2024 9:09:51 AM

Paper abstract: We investigate the star formation process within the central 3.3 kpc regionof the nearby luminous infrared Seyfert NGC 7469, probing scales ranging from88 to 330 pc. We combine JWST/MIRI imaging with the F770W filter, with CO(2-1)and the underlying 1.3 mm dust continuum data from ALMA, along with VLA radiocontinuum observations at 22 GHz. NGC 7469 hosts a starburst ring whichdominates the overall star formation activity. We estimate a global starformation rate SFR ~ 11.5 \rm M_{\odot}~yr^{-1} from the radio at 22GHz, and a cold molecular gas mass M(H2) ~ 6.4 \times \rm 10^9M_{\odot} from the CO(2-1) emission. We find that the 1.3 mm map shows amorphology remarkably similar to those traced by the 22 GHz and the 7.7 \rm\mu m polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emission observed with JWST. Thethree tracers reproduce the morphology of the starburst ring with goodagreement. We further investigate the correlations between the PAHs, the starformation rate and the cold molecular gas. We find a stronger correlation ofthe PAHs with the star formation than with the CO, with steeper correlationswithin the starburst ring (n > 2) than in the outer region (n < 1). Wederive the correlation between the star formation rate and the cold moleculargas mass surface densities, the Kennicutt-Schmidt star formation law.Comparisons with other galaxy populations, including starburst galaxies andactive galactic nuclei, highlighted that NGC 7469 exhibits an intermediatebehavior to the Kennicutt-Schmidt relations found for these galaxy populations.