JWST Observations of Starbursts: Molecular Hydrogen Excitation and Disequilibrium in M82
July 2026 • 2026ApJ..1005...56D
Abstract • Emission from the pure rotational transitions of H2 traces warm molecular gas, providing insight into its temperature distribution and local heating conditions. We have extended previous power-law H2 temperature models to account for differential extinction by dust as well as nonequilibrium ortho-to-para-H2 ratios (OPR). The turbulent environment of the M82 starburst offers a unique opportunity to study H2 out of equilibrium conditions, using ∼15 pc spatially resolved measurements from MIRI/MRS on JWST. With extensive detections of H2 S(1)─S(7), we use our model to assess spatial variations in local heating conditions of molecular gas across a ∼500 pc region of the M82 central starburst. The average slope of the recovered H2 power-law temperature distribution is consistent with prior studies, and the slope strongly anticorrelates with relative [Fe II]/H2 S(1)─S(2) strength, pointing to the importance of shock heating. Our models indicate that the OPR is, on average, about half of its equilibrium value. This suppression is attributed to cloud mixing timescales, which are short compared to timescales for spin conversion, with molecular gas remembering its "cooler past." By accounting for OPR disequilibrium, we can identify instances of recent and rapid heating to better understand the flow of energy through the interstellar medium and track its thermal history.
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