arXiv subjects

Elizabeth Tarantino

Publications and source records attributed to Elizabeth Tarantino.

31 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2025

Scylla IV: Intrinsic Stellar Properties and Line-of-Sight Dust Extinction Measurements Towards 1.5 Million Stars in the SMC and LMC

By analyzing the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of resolved stars in nearby galaxies, we can constrain their stellar properties and line-of-sight dust extinction. From the Scylla survey, we obtain ultraviolet to near-infrared photometry from Wide Field Camera 3 onboard the {\it Hubble Space Telescope} for more than 1.5 million stars in the SMC and LMC. We use the Bayesian Extinction and Stellar Tool (BEAST) to analyze the multi-band SEDs of these sources and characterize their initial masses, ages, metallicities, distances, and line-of-sight extinction properties (e.g.~$A_V$, $R_V$). We apply quality cuts and perform validation simulations to construct a catalog of over 550,000 stars with high-reliability SED fits, which we use to analyze the stellar content and extinction properties of the SMC and LMC. We detect stars with masses as low as 0.6 $M_{\odot}$. BEAST stellar age distributions show a jump in observed stars around 6 Gyrs ago, which agrees with star-formation histories. Extinctions ($A_V$) in both galaxies follow a log-normal distribution. We compare $A_V$ with ancillary gas and dust tracers like $HI$, $H_α$, and far infrared (FIR) dust emission and find positive correlations on a field-by-field basis. We convert observed $A_V$ to predicted dust surface densities using the Draine et. al. (2014) model and find $A_V$-based dust surface densities are a factor of $\sim$2.5 lower than observed FIR-based dust surface densities, a correction factor similar to other studies.

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arXiv2024

JWST Observations of Starbursts: Massive Star Clusters in the Central Starburst of M82

We present a near infrared (NIR) candidate star cluster catalog for the central kiloparsec of M82 based on new JWST NIRCam images. We identify star cluster candidates using the F250M filter, finding 1357 star cluster candidates with stellar masses $>10^4$ M$_\odot$. Compared to previous optical catalogs, nearly all (87%) of the candidates we identify are new. The star cluster candidates have a median intrinsic cluster radius of $\approx$1 pc and have stellar masses up to $10^6$ M$_\odot$. By comparing the color-color diagram to dust-free yggdrasil stellar population models, we estimate that the star cluster candidates have A$_{\rm V}\sim3-24$ mag, corresponding to A$_{\rm 2.5μm}\sim0.3-2.1$ mag. There is still appreciable dust extinction towards these clusters into the NIR. We measure the stellar masses of the star cluster candidates, assuming ages of 0 and 8 Myr. The slope of the resulting cluster mass function is $β=1.9\pm0.2$, in excellent agreement with studies of star clusters in other galaxies.

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arXiv2024

The Local Group L-Band Survey: The First Measurements of Localized Cold Neutral Medium Properties in the Low-Metallicity Dwarf Galaxy NGC 6822

Measuring the properties of the cold neutral medium (CNM) in low-metallicity galaxies provides insight into heating and cooling mechanisms in early Universe-like environments. We report detections of two localized atomic neutral hydrogen (HI) absorption features in NGC 6822, a low-metallicity (0.2 Z$_{\odot}$) dwarf galaxy in the Local Group. These are the first unambiguous CNM detections in a low-metallicity dwarf galaxy outside the Magellanic Clouds. The Local Group L-Band Survey (LGLBS) enabled these detections due to its high spatial (15 pc for HI emission) and spectral (0.4 \kms) resolution. We introduce LGLBS and describe a custom pipeline to search for HI absorption at high angular resolution and extract associated HI emission. A detailed Gaussian decomposition and radiative transfer analysis of the NGC 6822 detections reveals five CNM components, with key properties: a mean spin temperature of 32$\pm$6 K, a mean CNM column density of 3.1$\times$10$^{20}$ cm$^{-2}$, and CNM mass fractions of 0.33 and 0.12 for the two sightlines. Stacking non-detections does not reveal low-level signals below our median optical depth sensitivity of 0.05. One detection intercepts a star-forming region, with the HI absorption profile encompassing the CO (2$-$1) emission, indicating coincident molecular gas and a depression in high-resolution HI emission. We also analyze a nearby sightline with deep, narrow HI self-absorption dips, where the background warm neutral medium is attenuated by intervening CNM. The association of CNM, CO, and H$α$ emissions suggests a close link between the colder, denser HI phase and star formation in NGC 6822.

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arXiv2024

JWST Observations of Starbursts: Cold Clouds and Plumes Launching in the M82 Outflow

In this paper we study the filamentary substructure of 3.3 $μ$m PAH emission from JWST/NIRCam observations in the base of the M82 star-burst driven wind. We identify plume-like substructure within the PAH emission with widths of $\sim$50 pc. Several of the plumes extend to the edge of the field-of-view, and thus are at least 200-300 pc in length. In this region of the outflow, the vast majority ($\sim$70\%) of PAH emission is associated with the plumes. We show that those structures contain smaller scale "clouds" with widths that are $\sim$5-15 pc, and they are morphologically similar to the results of "cloud-crushing" simulations. We estimate the cloud-crushing time-scales of $\sim$0.5-3 Myr, depending on assumptions. We show this time scale is consistent with a picture in which these observed PAH clouds survived break-out from the disk rather than being destroyed by the hot wind. The PAH emission in both the midplane and the outflow is shown to tightly correlate with that of Pa$α$ emission (from HST/NICMOS data), at the scale of both plumes and clouds, though the ratio of PAH-to-Pa$α$ increases at further distances from the midplane. Finally, we show that the outflow PAH emission is suppressed in regions of the M82 wind that are bright in X-ray emission. Overall, our results are broadly consistent with a picture in which cold gas in galactic outflows is launched via hierarchically structured plumes, and those small scale clouds are more likely to survive the wind environment when collected into the larger plume structure.

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arXiv2024

JWST Observations of Starbursts: Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Emission at the Base of the M 82 Galactic Wind

We present new observations of the central 1 kpc of the M 82 starburst obtained with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) near-infrared camera (NIRCam) instrument at a resolution ~0.05"-0.1" (~1-2 pc). The data comprises images in three mostly continuum filters (F140M, F250M, and F360M), and filters that contain [FeII] (F164N), H2 v=1-0 (F212N), and the 3.3 um PAH feature (F335M). We find prominent plumes of PAH emission extending outward from the central starburst region, together with a network of complex filamentary substructure and edge-brightened bubble-like features. The structure of the PAH emission closely resembles that of the ionized gas, as revealed in Paschen alpha 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.

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arXiv2024

Modeling Ionized Gas in the Small Magellanic Cloud: The Wolf-Rayet Nebula N76

We present Cloudy modeling of infrared emission lines in the Wolf-Rayet (WR) nebula N76 caused by one of the most luminous and hottest WR stars in the low metallicity Small Magellanic Cloud. We use spatially resolved mid-infrared Spitzer/IRS and far-infrared Herschel/PACS spectroscopy to establish the physical conditions of the ionized gas. The spatially resolved distribution of the emission allows us to constrain properties much more accurately than using spatially integrated quantities. We construct models with a range of constant hydrogen densities between n$_H$ = 4 - 10 cm$^{-3}$ and a stellar wind-blown cavity of 10 pc which reproduces the intensity and shape of most ionized gas emission lines, including the high ionization lines [OIV] and [NeV], as well as [SIII], [SIV], [OIII], and [NeIII]. Our models suggest that the majority of [SiII] emission (91%) is produced at the edge of the HII region around the transition between ionized and atomic gas while very little of the [CII] emission (<5%) is associated with the ionized gas. The physical conditions of N76 are characterized by a hot HII region with a maximum electron temperature of T$_e$ ~ 24,000 K, electron densities that range from n$_e$ ~ 4 to 12 cm$^{-3}$, and high ionization parameters of log(U) ~ -1.15 to -1.77. By analyzing a low metallicty WR nebula with a single ionization source, this work gives valuable insights on the impact WR stars have to the galaxy-integrated ionized gas properties in nearby dwarf galaxies.

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arXiv2024

The Size-Linewidth Relation and Signatures of Feedback from Quiescent to Active Star Forming Regions in the LMC

To investigate the effects of stellar feedback on the gravitational state of giant molecular clouds (GMCs), we study $^{12}$CO and $^{13}$CO ALMA maps of nine GMCs distributed throughout the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), the nearest star-forming galaxy to our own. We perform noise and resolution matching on the sample, working at a common resolution of 3.5 arcseconds (0.85 pc at the LMC distance of 50 kpc), and use the \textit{SCIMES} clustering algorithm to identify discrete substructure, or "clumps." We supplement these data with three tracers of recent star formation: $8μ$m surface brightness, continuum-subtracted H$α$ flux, and interstellar radiation field energy density inferred from dust emission. The $^{12}$CO clumps identified cover a range of 3.6 dex in luminosity-based mass and 2.4 dex in average $8μ$m surface brightness, representative of the wide range of conditions of the interstellar medium in the LMC. Our observations suggest evidence for increased turbulence in these clouds. While the turbulent linewidths are correlated with clump surface density, in agreement with previous observations, we find even better correlation with the three star formation activity tracers considered, suggesting stellar energy injection plays a significant role in the dynamical state of the clumps. The excess linewidths we measure do not appear to result from opacity broadening. $^{12}$CO clumps are found to be typically less gravitationally bound than $^{13}$CO clumps, with some evidence of the kinetic-to-gravitational potential energy ratio increasing with star-formation tracers. Further multi-line analysis may better constrain the assumptions made in these calculations.

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arXiv2023

A Galactic Eclipse: The Small Magellanic Cloud is Forming Stars in Two, Superimposed Systems

The structure and dynamics of the star-forming disk of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) have long confounded us. The SMC is widely used as a prototype for galactic physics at low metallicity, and yet we fundamentally lack an understanding of the structure of its interstellar medium (ISM). In this work, we present a new model for the SMC by comparing the kinematics of young, massive stars with the structure of the ISM traced by high-resolution observations of neutral atomic hydrogen (HI) from the Galactic Australian Square Kilometer Array Pathfinder survey (GASKAP-HI). Specifically, we identify thousands of young, massive stars with precise radial velocity constraints from the Gaia and APOGEE surveys and match these stars to the ISM structures in which they likely formed. By comparing the average dust extinction towards these stars, we find evidence that the SMC is composed of two structures with distinct stellar and gaseous chemical compositions. We construct a simple model that successfully reproduces the observations and shows that the ISM of the SMC is arranged into two, superimposed, star-forming systems with similar gas mass separated by ~5 kpc along the line of sight.

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arXiv2023

[CII] 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 [CII] 158$μ$m line in the central disk and the southern outflow of M82 using the upGREAT instrument onboard SOFIA. We also report the first detections of velocity-resolved ($ΔV = 10$ km s$^{-1}$) [CII] emission in the outflow of M82 at projected distances of $\approx1-2$ kpc south of the galaxy center. We compare the [CII] line profiles to observations of CO and HI and find that likely the majority ($>55$%) of the [CII] emission in the outflow is associated with the neutral atomic medium. We find that the fraction of [CII] 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 [CII] outflows at higher redshift. Finally, by comparing the observed ratio of the [CII] and CO intensities to models of photodissociation regions, we estimate that the far-ultraviolet (FUV) radiation field in the disk is $\sim10^{3.5}~G_0$, 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 [CII] arising from the neutral medium in the wind.

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arXiv2022

The Morpho-Kinematic Architecture of Super Star Clusters in the Center of NGC253

The center of the nearby galaxy NGC\,253 hosts a population of more than a dozen super star clusters (SSCs) which 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 towards the center of NGC\,253 at 47~milliarcsecond (0.8 pc) resolution using data from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). 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 $\approx$~8~pc, is located at the outer edge of the CO emission, and corresponds to a molecular gas mass of $\sim~(8-17)\times10^6$~M$_\odot$. In the starburst nucleus, we measure the resolved radial profiles, sizes, and molecular gas masses of the SSCs. Compared to previous work at 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 the both morphology and kinematics of the SSCs.

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arXiv2022

Cuspy dark matter density profiles in massive dwarf galaxies

Rotation curves of galaxies probe their total mass distributions, including dark matter. Dwarf galaxies are excellent systems to investigate the dark matter density distribution, as they tend to have larger fractions of dark matter compared to higher mass systems. The core-cusp problem describes the discrepancy found in the slope of the dark matter density profile in the centres of galaxies ($β^*$) between observations of dwarf galaxies (shallower cores) and dark matter-only simulations (steeper cusps). We investigate $β^*$ in six nearby spiral dwarf galaxies for which high-resolution CO $J=1-0$ data were obtained with ALMA. We derive rotation curves and decompose the mass profile of the dark matter using our CO rotation curves as a tracer of the total potential and 4.5$μ$m photometry to define the stellar mass distribution. We find $\langleβ^*\rangle = 0.6$ with a standard deviation of $\pm0.1$ among the galaxies in this sample, in agreement with previous measurements in this mass range. The galaxies studied are on the high stellar mass end of dwarf galaxies and have cuspier profiles than lower mass dwarfs, in agreement with other observations. When the same definition of the slope is used, we observe steeper slopes than predicted by the FIRE and NIHAO simulations. This may signal that these relatively massive dwarfs underwent stronger gas inflows toward their centres than predicted by these simulations, that these simulations over-predict the frequency of accretion or feedback events, or that a combination of these or other effects are at work.

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arXiv2021

Characterizing the Multi-Phase Origin of [CII] Emission in M101 and NGC 6946 with Velocity Resolved Spectroscopy

The [CII] fine-structure transition at 158 micron is frequently the brightest far-infrared line in galaxies. Due to its low ionization potential, C+ can trace the ionized, atomic, and molecular phases of the ISM. We present velocity resolved [CII] and [NII] pointed observations from SOFIA/GREAT on ~500 pc scales in the nearby galaxies M101 and NGC 6946 and investigate the multi-phase origin of [CII] emission over a range of environments. We show that ionized gas makes a negligible contribution to the [CII] emission in these positions using [NII] observations. We spectrally decompose the [CII] emission into components associated with the molecular and atomic phases using existing CO(2-1) and HI data and show that a peak signal-to-noise ratio of 10-15 is necessary for a reliable decomposition. In general, we find that in our pointings greater than or equal to 50% of the [CII] emission arises from the atomic phase, with no strong dependence on star formation rate, metallicity, or galactocentric radius. We do find a difference between pointings in these two galaxies, where locations in NGC 6946 tend to have larger fractions of [CII] emission associated with the molecular phase than in M101. We also find a weak but consistent trend for fainter [CII] emission to exhibit a larger contribution from the atomic medium. We compute the thermal pressure of the cold neutral medium through the [CII] cooling function and find log(P_th/k)=3.8-4.6 [K cm^-3], a value slightly higher than similar determinations, likely because our observations are biased towards star-forming regions.

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arXiv2021

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.

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