Ionized gas in the NGC 5253 supernebula: high spatial and spectral resolution observations with the JVLA and TEXES
Abstract
The youngest, closest, and most compact embedded massive star cluster known excites the supernebula in the nearby dwarf galaxy NGC 5253. It is a crucial target and test case for studying the birth and evolution of the most massive star clusters. We present observations of the ionized gas in this source with high spatial and spectral resolution. The data include continuum images of free-free emission with ≈0.15 arcsec resolution made with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (JVLA) at 15, 22, and 33 GHz, and a full data cube of the [S IV] 10.5 μm fine-structure emission line with ≈4.5 km s-1 velocity resolution and 0.3 arcsec beam, obtained with the Texas Echelon Cross Echelle Spectrograph (TEXES) on Gemini North. We find that (1) the ionized gas extends out from the cluster in arms or jets, and (2) the ionized gas comprises two components offset both spatially and in velocity. We discuss mechanisms that may have created the observed velocity field; possibilities include large-scale jets or a subcluster falling on to the main source.
- Publication:
-
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Pub Date:
- September 2020
- DOI:
- 10.1093/mnras/staa1819
- arXiv:
- arXiv:2006.09143
- Bibcode:
- 2020MNRAS.497.1675B
- Keywords:
-
- galaxies: dwarf;
- galaxies: starburst;
- galaxies: star clusters: general;
- galaxies: star clusters: individual: NGC 5253;
- Astrophysics - Astrophysics of Galaxies
- E-Print:
- Accepted for publication in MNRAS, 16 June 2020