James Webb Space Telescope Feed Post

Harvard ADS: A JWST/MIRI View of the ISM in M83: I. Resolved Molecular Hydrogen Properties, Star Formation, and Feedback

Paper abstract: We present a spatially-resolved (~3 pc pix^{-1}) analysis of the distribution, kinematics, and excitation of warm H2 gas in the nuclear starburst region of M83. Our JWST/MIRI IFU spectroscopy reveals a clumpy reservoir of warm H2 (> 200 K) with a mass of ~2.3 x 10^{5} Msun in the area covered by all four MRS channels. We additionally use the [Ne II] 12.8 {\mu}m and [Ne III] 15.5 {\mu}m lines as tracers of the star formation rate, ionizing radiation hardness, and kinematics of the ionized ISM, finding tantalizing connections to the H2 properties and to the ages of the underlying stellar populations. Finally, qualitative comparisons to the trove of public, high-spatial-resolution multiwavelength data available on M83 shows that our MRS spectroscopy potentially traces all stages of the process of creating massive star clusters, from the embedded proto-cluster phase through the dispersion of ISM from stellar feedback.