GOALS-JWST: Unveiling Dusty Compact Sources in the Merging Galaxy IIZw096

November 2022 • 2022ApJ...940L...6I

Authors • Inami, Hanae • Surace, Jason • Armus, Lee • Evans, Aaron S. • Larson, Kirsten L. • Barcos-Munoz, Loreto • Stierwalt, Sabrina • Mazzarella, Joseph M. • Privon, George C. • Song, Yiqing • Linden, Sean T. • Hayward, Christopher C. • Böker, Torsten • U, Vivian • Bohn, Thomas • Charmandaris, Vassilis • Diaz-Santos, Tanio • Howell, Justin H. • Lai, Thomas • Medling, Anne M. • Rich, Jeffrey A. • Aalto, Susanne • Appleton, Philip • Brown, Michael J. I. • Hoshioka, Shunshi • Iwasawa, Kazushi • Kemper, Francisca • Law, David • Malkan, Matthew A. • Marshall, Jason • Murphy, Eric J. • Sanders, David • van der Werf, Paul

Abstract • We have used the Mid-InfraRed Instrument (MIRI) on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to obtain the first spatially resolved, mid-infrared images of IIZw096, a merging luminous infrared galaxy (LIRG) at z = 0.036. Previous observations with the Spitzer Space Telescope suggested that the vast majority of the total IR luminosity (L _IR) of the system originated from a small region outside of the two merging nuclei. New observations with JWST/MIRI now allow an accurate measurement of the location and luminosity density of the source that is responsible for the bulk of the IR emission. We estimate that 40%-70% of the IR bolometric luminosity, or 3-5 × 10¹¹ L _⊙, arises from a source no larger than 175 pc in radius, suggesting a luminosity density of at least 3-5 × 10¹² L _⊙ kpc^-2. In addition, we detect 11 other star-forming sources, five of which were previously unknown. The MIRI F1500W/F560W colors of most of these sources, including the source responsible for the bulk of the far-IR emission, are much redder than the nuclei of local LIRGs. These observations reveal the power of JWST to disentangle the complex regions at the hearts of merging, dusty galaxies.

Links

• PREPRINT http://arxiv.org/abs/2208.10647
• NED https://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/uri/NED::InRefcode/2022ApJ...940L...6I
• ELECTR https://doi.org/10.3847%2F2041-8213%2Fac9389
• SIMBAD http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbo.pl?bibcode=2022ApJ...940L...6I
• PDF https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/ac9389/pdf
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