Observations show more detail when a spiral galaxy presents itself well. It is possible for a spiral galaxy to be 220 million light years away. The James Webb Space Telescope captured its scientific portrait.
There are a number of reasons why NGC 7469 is interesting, and it's the subject of a number of recent papers.
There is an active galactic nucleus and a LuminousIRg. There are some of the most studied objects in the universe. They are similar to quasars, but not as bright. Astrophysicists think they are powered by the same source as quasars, but they are more difficult to see. It is one of the most studied galaxies of its type. There is a ring embedded in the circum nuclear region. It is part of a pair of interacting galaxies, the other being a smaller one. The pair is named after them in the Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies.
Astronomers have studied it intently because of its intriguing characteristics and because it appears face-on from our viewpoint. It makes sense that once the JWST became operational, it would also look at the stars.
The galaxy was included in the observations of GOALS. The goal is to combine observations from multiple sources into one.
Galaxies evolve through a combination of secular processes, such as cold gas accretion, and non-secular processes. We will be able to see the physics of star formation and black hole growth in nearby and distant galaxies with the help of the JWST.
The dust and compact nature of NGC 7469 make it difficult to understand. The power and sensitivity of the JWST are helping overcome those obstacles. New understanding of the relationships between the AGN, the ring, and the dust is being brought about by the telescope.
The new papers show how the JWST is changing our understanding of the universe. New details have been revealed by its instruments. Young star-forming clusters and pockets of very warm, turbulent molecular gas were discovered by the GOALS team. Evidence for the destruction of small dust grains within a few hundred light years of the nucleus was found.
There is more detail in the outflow of gas from the universe. The gas leaves the universe at a rate of 4 million mph.
The images in these studies are more scientific than the ones in the JWST. You won't see them on the calendar, but they will appeal to your curiosity.
The first paper is called GOALS-JWST: Resolving the Circumnuclear Gas Dynamics. The author is an astronomer at the University of California Irvine.
This is the first time that mid-infrared gas dynamics in the central region of a LIRG nucleus have been seen. The power of the JWST is pushing our understanding of the evolution of the universe. The images show how the AGN is releasing energy into the gas. An example of AGN feedback, a subject of great interest to astrophysicists, is shown here.
The second paper is called GOALS-JWST: NIR cam and MIRI images of the circummnuclear ring. It has been submitted to Astrophysical Journal Letters, but can be found at axiv.org. The lead author is Thomas Bohn.
The 66 star-forming regions identified in the study were not identified in the previous Hubble observations. These are probably young stellar populations that have been around for a long time. The power of the JWST is shown in this picture. The authors say that they have found a lot of young dusty sources that were previously unseen. In the densest star forming environments around AGN, these results show the effectiveness of JWST.
The reddest and faintest parts of the study were identified. It makes sense since the JWST knows how to identify those types of objects. The results of the study show that there are a lot of hidden sources. The purpose of the JWST is summed up in that sentence.
The authors say that they have found 66 star-forming regions in NIRCAM.
GOALS-JWST: tracing AGN feedback on the star forming ISM is the third study. You can find it at arxiv.org. The author is from the California Institute of Technology.
AGN feedback is one of the hottest topics in astronomy. It explores how the gas from the active galactic nucleus enters the ISM. AGN feedback is important in the evolution of the universe. There is a connection between the host galaxies and the SMBHs.
The study focuses on PAHs. Carbon atoms are found in PAHs, a large class of organic chemicals. They are considered building blocks of life, but they are also helpful to astronomy. Astronomers can see the outlines of the clouds of gas that give birth to stars by using them. The star-formation rate can be indicated by the PAH.
There are characteristics of the PAHs in different star-forming regions. The central AGN only had a moderate impact on the dust and gas properties. There isn't a clear sign of shocks from the outflowing wind heating theMolecular gas.
It all adds up. It's too early to make any conclusions from this data. Future observations will be helped by a piece of the puzzle. The importance of feedback from AGN on star formation will be revealed by future observations.
The fourth paper was submitted to Astrophysical Journal Letters. You can find it at arxiv.org. Lee Armus is the author. It looks at the outflow from a star.
The authors point out how critical LIRGs are. The LIRGs have a lot of star formation power. astrophysicists want to understand the differences in AGN contributions to the luminosity of the universe.
The small mirror of the Spitzer Space Telescope made it difficult to help. The boundaries of the observations are being pushed again. It's larger mirror and higher sensitivity are yielding results.
The region around AGNs is made up of many different parts. A multi-phase is what the authors call it.
They mention how the JWST is able to explore the region with the help of the MIri images.
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