A Multiwavelength Study of M17: The Spectral Energy Distribution and PAH Emission Morphology of a Massive Star Formation Region

We combine diffuse emission photometry from GLIMPSE and several other Galactic plane surveys covering near-IR through radio wavelengths to synthesize a global spectral energy distribution (SED) for the M17 complex. By balancing the integrated flux in the SED with the total bolometric luminosity of all known O and early B stars in the ionizing cluster, we estimate a distance to M17 of 1.6^+0.3_-0.1 kpc. At this distance, the observed total flux in the SED corresponds to a luminosity of 2.4+/-0.3×10⁶ L_solar. We find that the SED from the H II region peaks at shorter wavelengths and has a qualitatively different shape than the SED from the photodissociation region (PDR). We find that polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are destroyed over a short distance or edge at the boundary of the H II region. We demonstrate that this PAH destruction edge can be located easily using GLIMPSE band-ratio images and confirm this using Spitzer IRS spectra. We investigate the relative roles of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and X-ray photons in the destruction of PAHs, concluding that X-rays are not an important PAH destruction mechanism in M17 or, by extension, in any other Galactic H II region. Our results support the hypothesis that PAHs are destroyed by EUV photons within H II regions. PAHs dominate the mid-IR emission in the neutral PDR beyond the ionized gas.