The Morpho-kinematic Architecture of Super Star Clusters in the Center of NGC 253

The center of the nearby galaxy NGC 253 hosts a population of more than a dozen super star clusters (SSCs) that are still in the process of forming. The majority of the star formation of the burst is concentrated in these SSCs, and the starburst is powering a multiphase outflow from the galaxy. In this work, we measure the 350 GHz dust continuum emission toward the center of NGC 253 at 47 mas (0.8 pc) resolution using data from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array. We report the detection of 350 GHz (dust) continuum emission in the outflow for the first time, associated with the prominent South-West streamer. In this feature, the dust emission has a width of approximate to 8 pc, is located at the outer edge of the CO emission, and corresponds to a molecular gas mass of similar to(8-17)x10(6) M (circle dot). In the starburst nucleus, we measure the resolved radial profiles, sizes, and molecular gas masses of the SSCs. Compared to previous work at the somewhat lower spatial resolution, the SSCs here break apart into smaller substructures with radii 0.4-0.7 pc. In projection, the SSCs, dust, and dense molecular gas appear to be arranged as a thin, almost linear, structure roughly 155 pc in length. The morphology and kinematics of this structure can be well explained as gas following x (2) orbits at the center of a barred potential. We constrain the morpho-kinematic arrangement of the SSCs themselves, finding that an elliptical, angular-momentum-conserving ring is a good description of both the morphology and kinematics of the SSCs

Outflows from Super Star Clusters in the Central Starburst of NGC253

Young massive clusters play an important role in the evolution of their host galaxies, and feedback from the high-mass stars in these clusters can have profound effects on the surrounding interstellar medium. The nuclear starburst in the nearby galaxy NGC253 at a distance of 3.5 Mpc is a key laboratory in which to study star formation in an extreme environment. Previous high resolution (1.9 pc) dust continuum observations from ALMA discovered 14 compact, massive super star clusters (SSCs) still in formation. We present here ALMA data at 350 GHz with 28 milliarcsecond (0.5 pc) resolution. We detect blueshifted absorption and redshifted emission (P-Cygni profiles) towards three of these SSCs in multiple lines, including CS 7$-$6 and H$^{13}$CN 4$-$3, which represents direct evidence for previously unobserved outflows. The mass contained in these outflows is a significant fraction of the cluster gas masses, which suggests we are witnessing a short but important phase. Further evidence of this is the finding of a molecular shell around the only SSC visible at near-IR wavelengths. We model the P-Cygni line profiles to constrain the outflow geometry, finding that the outflows must be nearly spherical. Through a comparison of the outflow properties with predictions from simulations, we find that none of the available mechanisms completely explains the observations, although dust-reprocessed radiation pressure and O star stellar winds are the most likely candidates. The observed outflows will have a very substantial effect on the clusters' evolution and star formation efficiency.Comment: Accepted to Ap

Super Star Clusters in the Central Starburst of NGC 4945

The nearby (3.8Mpc) galaxy NGC 4945 hosts a nuclear starburst and Seyfert type 2 active galactic nucleus (AGN). We use the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to image the 93 GHz (3.2 mm) free-free continuum and hydrogen recombination line emission (H40 alpha and H42 alpha) at 2.2 pc (0 12) resolution. Our observations reveal 27 bright, compact sources with FWHM sizes of 1.4-4.0 pc, which we identify as candidate super star clusters. Recombination line emission, tracing the ionizing photon rate of the candidate clusters, is detected in 15 sources, six of which have a significant synchrotron component to the 93 GHz continuum. Adopting an age of similar to 5Myr, the stellar masses implied by the ionizing photon luminosities are log(10) (M*/M-circle dot) approximate to 4.7-6.1. We fit a slope to the cluster mass distribution and find beta = -1.8 +/-.0.4. The gas masses associated with these clusters, derived from the dust continuum at 350 GHz, are typically an order of magnitude lower than the stellar mass. These candidate clusters appear to have already converted a large fraction of their dense natal material into stars and, given their small freefall times of similar to 0.05 Myr, are surviving an early volatile phase. We identify a pointlike source in 93 GHz continuum emission that is presumed to be the AGN. We do not detect recombination line emission from the AGN and place an upper limit on the ionizing photons that leak into the starburst region of Q(0).<.10(52) s(-1)

Energizing Star Formation: The Cosmic Ray Ionization Rate in NGC 253 Derived From ALCHEMI Measurements of H3_3O+^+ and SO

The cosmic ray ionization rate (CRIR) is a key parameter in understanding the physical and chemical processes in the interstellar medium. Cosmic rays are a significant source of energy in star formation regions, which impacts the physical and chemical processes which drive the formation of stars. Previous studies of the circum-molecular zone (CMZ) of the starburst galaxy NGC 253 have found evidence for a high CRIR value; $10^3-10^6$ times the average cosmic ray ionization rate within the Milky Way. This is a broad constraint and one goal of this study is to determine this value with much higher precision. We exploit ALMA observations towards the central molecular zone of NGC 253 to measure the CRIR. We first demonstrate that the abundance ratio of H$_3$O$^+$ and SO is strongly sensitive to the CRIR. We then combine chemical and radiative transfer models with nested sampling to infer the gas properties and CRIR of several star-forming regions in NGC 253 due to emission from their transitions. We find that each of the four regions modelled has a CRIR in the range $(1-80)\times10^{-14}$ s$^{-1}$ and that this result adequately fits the abundances of other species that are believed to be sensitive to cosmic rays including C$_2$H, HCO$^+$, HOC$^+$, and CO. From shock and PDR/XDR models, we further find that neither UV/X-ray driven nor shock dominated chemistry are a viable single alternative as none of these processes can adequately fit the abundances of all of these species.Comment: 24 pages, 15 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

The FLASH pilot survey: an HI absorption search against MRC 1-Jy radio sources

We report an ASKAP search for associated HI 21-cm absorption against bright radio sources from the Molonglo Reference Catalogue (MRC) 1-Jy sample. The search uses pilot survey data from the ASKAP First Large Absorption Survey in \hi (FLASH) covering the redshift range $0.42 < z < 1.00$. From a sample of 62 MRC 1-Jy radio galaxies and quasars in this redshift range we report three new detections of associated HI 21-cm absorption, yielding an overall detection fraction of $1.8\%^{+4.0\%}_{-1.5\%}$. The detected systems comprise two radio galaxies (MRC 2216$-$281 at $z=0.657$ and MRC 0531$-$237 at $z=0.851$) and one quasar (MRC 2156$-$245 at $z=0.862$). The MRC 0531$-$237 absorption system is the strongest found to date, with a velocity integrated optical depth of $\rm 143.8 \pm 0.4 \ km \ s^{-1}$. All three objects with detected HI 21-cm absorption are peaked-spectrum or compact steep-spectrum (CSS) radio sources, classified based on our SED fits to the spectra. Two of them show strong interplanetary scintillation at 162 MHz, implying that the radio continuum source is smaller than 1 arcsec in size even at low frequencies. Among the class of peaked-spectrum and compact steep-spectrum radio sources, the HI detection fraction is $23\%^{+22\%}_{-13\%}$. This is consistent within $1\sigma$ with a detection fraction of $\approx 42\%^{+21\%}_{-15\%}$ in earlier reported GPS and CSS samples at intermediate redshifts ($0.4 < z < 1.0$). All three detections have a high 1.4 GHz radio luminosity, with MRC 0531$-$237 and MRC 2216$-$281 having the highest values in the sample, $\rm > 27.5 \ W \ Hz^{-1}$. The preponderance of extended radio sources in our sample could partially explain the overall low detection fraction, while the effects of a redshift evolution in gas properties and AGN UV luminosity on the neutral gas absorption still need to be investigated.Comment: 28 pages, 9 figures and 7 Tables. Submitted to MNRA

NOEMA High-fidelity Imaging of the Molecular Gas in and around M82

International audienceWe present a 154 pointing IRAM NOEMA mosaic of the CO(1-0) line emission in and around the nearby starburst galaxy M82. The observations, complemented by zero-spacing observations, reach a spatial resolution of ~30 pc (~1"9) at 5.0 km s-1 spectral resolution, sufficient to resolve the molecular gas in the central starburst disk, the outflow, and the tidal streamers. The resulting moment and peak brightness maps show a striking amount of structure. Using a clump decomposition algorithm, we analyze the physical properties (e.g., radii R, line widths σ, and masses M) of ~2000 molecular clouds. To first order, the clouds' properties are very similar, irrespective of their environment. This also holds for the size-line width relations of the clouds. The distribution of clouds in the σ2/R versus column density Σ space suggests that external pressure does not play a significant role in setting their physical parameters in the outflow and streamers. We find that the clouds in the streamers stay approximately constant in size (R ~ 50 pc) and mass (M ~ 105 M⊙) and do not vary with their projected distance from M82's center. The clouds in the outflow, on the other hand, appear to decrease in size and mass with distance toward the southern outflow. The reduction in the molecular gas luminosity could be indicative of cloud evaporation of embedded clouds in the hot outflow

[C ii] Spectral Mapping of the Galactic Wind and Starbursting Disk of M82 with SOFIA

M82 is an archetypal starburst galaxy in the local Universe. The central burst of star formation, thought to be triggered by M82's interaction with other members in the M81 group, is driving a multiphase galaxy-scale wind away from the plane of the disk that has been studied across the electromagnetic spectrum. Here, we present new velocity-resolved observations of the [C ii ] 158 μ m line in the central disk and the southern outflow of M82 using the upGREAT instrument on board SOFIA. We also report the first detections of velocity-resolved (Δ V = 10 km s ^−1 ) [C ii ] emission in the outflow of M82 at projected distances of ≈1–2 kpc south of the galaxy center. We compare the [C ii ] line profiles to observations of CO and H i and find that likely the majority (>55%) of the [C ii ] emission in the outflow is associated with the neutral atomic medium. We find that the fraction of [C ii ] actually outflowing from M82 is small compared to the bulk gas outside the midplane (which may be in a halo or tidal streamers), which has important implications for observations of [C ii ] outflows at higher redshift. Finally, by comparing the observed ratio of the [C ii ] and CO intensities to models of photodissociation regions, we estimate that the far-ultraviolet (FUV) radiation field in the disk is ∼10 ^3.5 G _0 , in agreement with previous estimates. In the outflow, however, the FUV radiation field is 2–3 orders of magnitudes lower, which may explain the high fraction of [C ii ] arising from the neutral medium in the wind

Discovery of Hydrogen Radio Recombination Lines at z=0.89 towards PKS 1830-211

We report the detection of stimulated hydrogen radio recombination line (RRL) emission from ionized gas in a $z=0.89$ galaxy using 580--1670 MHz observations from the MeerKAT Absorption Line Survey (MALS). The RRL emission originates in a galaxy that intercepts and strongly lenses the radio blazar PKS 1830-211 ($z=2.5$). This is the second detection of RRLs outside of the local universe and the first clearly associated with hydrogen. We detect effective H144$α$ (and H163$α$) transitions at observed frequencies of 1156 (798) MHz by stacking 17 (27) RRLs with 21$σ$ (14$σ$) significance. The RRL emission contains two main velocity components and is coincident in velocity with HI 21 cm and OH 18 cm absorption. We use the RRL spectral line energy distribution and a Bayesian analysis to constrain the density ($n_e$) and the volume-averaged pathlength ($\ell$) of the ionized gas. We determine $\log( n_e ) = 2.0_{-0.7}^{+1.0}$ cm$^{-3}$ and $\log( \ell ) = -0.7_{-1.1}^{+1.1}$ pc towards the north east (NE) lensed image, likely tracing the diffuse thermal phase of the ionized ISM in a thin disk. Towards the south west (SW) lensed image, we determine $\log( n_e ) = 3.2_{-1.0}^{+0.4}$ cm$^{-3}$ and $\log( \ell ) = -2.7_{-0.2}^{+1.8}$ pc, tracing gas that is more reminiscent of H II regions. We estimate a star formation (surface density) rate of $Σ_{\mathrm{SFR}} \sim 0.6$ M$_{\odot}$ yr$^{-1}$ kpc$^{-2}$ or SFR $\sim 50$ M$_{\odot}$ yr$^{-1}$, consistent with a star-forming main sequence galaxy of $M_{\star} \sim 10^{11}$ M$_{\odot}$. The discovery presented here opens up the possibility of studying ionized gas at high redshifts using RRL observations from current and future (e.g., SKA and ngVLA) radio facilities