JWST Observations of Starbursts: Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Emission at the Base of the M82 Galactic Wind
Alberto D. Bolatto, Rebecca C. Levy, Elizabeth Tarantino, Martha L. Boyer, David B. Fisher, Serena A. Cronin, Adam K. Leroy, Ralf S. Klessen, J. D. Smith, Danielle A. Berg, Torsten Böker, Leindert Boogaard, Eve C. Ostriker, Todd A. Thompson, J. Ott, Laura Lenkić, Laura A. Lopez, Daniel A. Dale, Sylvain Veilleux, P. van der Werf, Simon C. O. Glover, Karin Sandström, Evan D. Skillman, John Chisholm, Vicente Villanueva, Thomas S. -Y. Lai, Sebastian Lopez, Elisabeth A. C. Mills, K. L. Emig, L. Armus, Y. D. Mayya, David S. Meier, Ilse De Looze, Rodrigo Herrera-Camus, Fabian Walter, M. Relaño, Hannah Koziol, Joshua Marvil, María J. Jiménez-Donaire, Paul Martini
Abstract
Abstract We present new observations of the central 1 kpc of the M82 starburst obtained with the James Webb Space Telescope near-infrared camera instrument at a resolution θ ∼ 0.″05–0.″1 (∼1–2 pc). The data comprises images in three mostly continuum filters (F140M, F250M, and F360M), and filters that contain [Fe ii ] (F164N), H 2 v = 1 → 0 (F212N), and the 3.3 μ m polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) feature (F335M). We find prominent plumes of PAH emission extending outward from the central starburst region, together with a network of complex filamentary substructures and edge-brightened bubble-like features. The structure of the PAH emission closely resembles that of the ionized gas, as revealed in Paschen α and free–free radio emission. We discuss the origin of the structure, and suggest the PAHs are embedded in a combination of neutral, molecular, and photoionized gas.