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O. V. Egorov

Publications and source records attributed to O. V. Egorov.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Uncovering the multi-scale structure of dust distribution in nearby galaxies

High-resolution JWST-MIRI images now allow us to resolve in great detail the multi-scale nature of the emission in nearby star-forming galaxies, from compact star-forming regions to large-scale diffuse emission, giving new insights into dust emission, its composition, and the surrounding interstellar medium (ISM). We aim to understand at which scale the different processes driving dust emission in mid-infrared (7.7-21 um) wavelengths take place and if we can disentangle dense regions' emission from emission linked to a more diffuse component. We use and enhance the constrained diffusion decomposition (CDD) algorithm, an alternative to the wavelet transform decomposition, to disentangle the emission coming from compact regions from the emission originating from diffuse sources. This allows us to cleanly quantify the mid-IR spectral properties of the ISM at intervals within a continuum of physical scales. We find a transition scale of PAH emission around 300 pc, with weaker PAH fraction at smaller scales, highlighting the destruction of PAHs in HII regions. We also show variations in the PAH fraction in different morphological environments, with a smaller fraction in bright and star-forming environments. Studying and comparing the probability distribution functions (PDFs) of HII regions and diffuse ISM with the PDFs at different scales, we find a similar separation scale around 200 pc at which we observe a transition from a power-law PDF for dense structures to a log-normal one for the diffuse ISM.

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SDSS-V LVM: Verifying what, and where, the 'Galactic Center' Lobe is

The so-called 'Galactic Center' Lobe (GCL) is an extended (~1 deg) radio continuum feature situated above the Galactic Plane, for which the literature contains varying claims about both its nature and location. Using new optical integral field spectroscopic observations from the SDSS-V Local Volume Mapper, we confirm the characterization of the GCL as a foreground photoionized HII region, not associated with the Galactic center. We present a new analysis of the ionized gas morphology, line ratio diagnostics, and kinematics. From our [SIII]9532 emission line map, which suffers the least extinction, we identify ionized gas emission throughout a closed outer loop, which does not fill the GCL interior. All optical line ratio diagnostics are consistent with photoionization. By comparing the ionized gas reddening from the Balmer decrement with 3D dust maps, we directly constrain the distance to the GCL to ~2 kpc. [NII]6583 line kinematics show a uniform velocity structure across the GCL, further confirming that the entire bubble is one structure. The size and emission line morphology is strongly reminiscent of that seen in the nearby Barnard's Loop, providing a possible analog to explain how this outer shell may be photoionized by a more distant and off-center embedded young cluster. We suggest the acronym GCL be repurposed to instead abbreviate the name 'Greatly Confused Loop'.

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SDSS-V Local Volume Mapper (LVM): Helix Nebula public data, Data Analysis Pipeline data products

We present a spatially resolved spectroscopic analysis of the Helix Nebula (NGC 7293) using data from the SDSS-V Local Volume Mapper (LVM), by applying the recently developed LVM Data Analysis Pipeline (LVM-DAP). Covering the full optical range (3600-9800 Å) over a contiguous ~ 0.5 degree field, the LVM data provide the first hexagonally sampled, wide-field emission-line maps of all major ionic species in this archetypal planetary nebula. The resulting flux, kinematic, and line-ratio maps reveal the well-known ionization stratification of the nebula, from the compact He++ core to the bright [O III] ring and the extended low-ionization envelope, enabling a detailed comparison with classical aperture spectroscopy. Owing to the sensitivity and uniform spatial sampling of the LVM, numerous faint auroral and diagnostic lines are detected across the nebula, including [O III] 4363, [N II] 5755, and He I lines, allowing precise measurements of weak-line morphology. The derived radial trends confirm the remarkably low dust content and the overall homogeneity of electron temperature and density across the main ring. Ionized-gas kinematics traced by Hα further support the scenario of a slowly expanding, limb-brightened shell consistent with previous studies. This work demonstrates the diagnostic power of LVM spectroscopy for extended nebulae and highlights its capability to recover both global and spatially resolved physical conditions across complex ionized structures.

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Why the Northern Hemisphere Needs a 30-40 m Telescope and the Science at Stake: Northern Local Star-forming Dwarf Galaxies. Analogues of the First Galaxies and Probes of the Cosmic Metallicity Scale

Star-forming dwarf galaxies in the local Universe, especially extremely metal-poor ones, can be considered analogous to early galaxies of the Epoch of Reionization (z >= 6). Currently available telescopes cannot adequately detect and measure heavy element recombination lines and certain faint collisionally excited lines, which are essential for exploring the effects and biases that potential inhomogeneities in electron temperature and density of the ionized gas may have on determining the chemical composition of these galaxies. On the other hand, the origin of very high-ionization lines (e.g. He II, [Ne V], C IV]) measured in the spectra of an important fraction of these objects remains unknown and a challenge to current stellar models, suggesting the presence of Population III-like stars and/or the existence of non-conventional ionizing sources. Obtaining very deep spectra for a selected sample of local star-forming dwarf galaxies would provide unprecedented constraints on their nature, ionization and true chemical abundances, and could change the metallicity scale we assume to understand the chemical evolution of galaxies over cosmic time.

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SDSS-V LVM: Detectability of Wolf-Rayet stars and their He II ionizing flux in low-metallicity environments I. The weak-lined, early-type WN3 stars in the SMC

The Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) is the nearest low-metallicity dwarf galaxy. Its proximity and low reddening has enabled us to detect its Wolf-Rayet (WR) star population with 12 known objects. Quantitative spectroscopy of the stars revealed half of these WR stars to be strong sources of He ii ionizing flux, but the average metallicity of the SMC is below where WR bumps are usually detected in integrated galaxy spectra showing nebular He ii emission. Utilizing the Local Volume Mapper (LVM), we investigate regions around the six SMC WN3h stars, whose winds are thin enough to avoid He recombination and allow photons with > 54 eV to escape. Focusing on He ii 4686 Å, we show that the broad stellar wind component, the strongest optical diagnostic of the WN3h stars, is diluted within 24 pc in the integrated light from LVM, making the WR stars hard to detect in low-metallicity integrated regions. In addition, we compare the He ii ionizing flux from LVM with the values inferred from the stellar atmosphere code PoWR and find that the nebular emission around them only in some cases reflects the high amounts emitted by the stars. We conclude that early-type WN stars with comparably weak winds are viable sources to produce the observed He ii ionizing flux in low-metallicity galaxies. The easy dilution of the stellar signatures can explain the rareness of WR bump detections at 12 + log O/H < 8.0, while at the same time providing major candidates for the observed excess of nebular He ii emission. This constitutes a challenge for population synthesis models across all redshifts as the evolutionary path towards this observed WR population at low metallicity remains enigmatic.

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The PHANGS-MUSE/HST-Halpha Nebulae Catalogue

We present the PHANGS-MUSE/HST-Halpha nebulae catalogue, comprising 5177 spatially resolved nebulae across 19 nearby star-forming galaxies (< 20 Mpc), based on high-resolution Halpha imaging from HST, homogenised to a fixed 10 pc resolution and sensitivity. Combined with MUSE spectroscopy, this enables robust classification of 4882 H II regions and separation of planetary nebulae and supernova remnants. Electron densities for 2544 H II regions are derived using [S II] diagnostics, and nebular sizes measured via circularised radii and second moments yield a median of 20 pc, extending to sub-parsec scales. A structural complexity score traces substructure, showing that about a third of regions are H II complexes, with a higher fraction in galaxy centres. A luminosity-size relation calibrated from the HST sample is applied to 30,790 MUSE nebulae, recovering sizes down to 1 pc. Observed sizes exceed classical Stromgren radii, implying typical volume filling factors of 0.22. We associate 3349 H II regions with stellar populations from PHANGS-HST, finding median ages of 3 Myr and masses of 4-5 log(Msun). The dataset provides a detailed, spatially resolved link between nebular structure and ionising sources, serving as a benchmark for future studies of feedback, diffuse ionised gas, and star formation regulation in the interstellar medium. The full catalogue is made publicly available in machine-readable format.

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Temperature based radial metallicity gradients in nearby galaxies

Gas-phase abundances provide insights into the baryon cycle, with radial gradients and 2D metallicity distributions tracking how metals build up and redistribute within galaxy disks over cosmic time. We use a catalog of 22,958 HII regions across 19 nearby spiral galaxies to examine how precisely the radial abundance gradients can be traced using only the [NII]5755 electron temperature as a proxy for `direct method' metallicities. Using 534 direct detections of the temperature sensitive [NII]5755 auroral line, we measure gradients in 15 of the galaxies. Leveraging our large catalog of individual HII regions, we stack in bins of HII region [NII]6583 luminosity and radius to recover stacked radial gradients. We find good agreement between the metallicity gradients from the stacked spectra, those gradients from individual regions and those from strong line methods. In addition, particularly in the stacked Te([NII]) measurements, some galaxies show very low (<0.05 dex) scatter in metallicities, indicative of a well-mixed ISM. We examine individual high confidence (S/N > 5) outliers and identify 13 regions across 9 galaxies with anomalously low metallicity, although this is not strongly reflected in the strong line method metallicities. By stacking arm and interarm regions, we find no systematic evidence for offsets in metallicity between these environments, suggesting enrichment within spiral arms is due to very localized processes. This work demonstrates the potential to systematically exploit the single [NII]5755 auroral line for detailed gas-phase abundance studies of galaxies. It provides strong validation of previous results, based on the strong line calibrations, of a well-mixed ISM across typical star-forming spiral galaxies.

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The MUSE view of the Sculptor galaxy: survey overview and the planetary nebulae luminosity function

NGC 253, the Sculptor galaxy, is the southern, massive, star-forming disk galaxy closest to the Milky Way. In this work, we present a new 103-pointing MUSE mosaic of this galaxy covering the majority of its star-forming disk up to 0.75xR25. With an area of ~20x5 arcmin2 (~20x5 kpc2, projected) and a physical resolution of ~15 pc, this mosaic constitutes one of the largest, highest physical resolution integral field spectroscopy surveys of any star-forming galaxy to date. Here, we exploit the mosaic to identify a sample of ~500 planetary nebulae (~20 times larger than in previous studies) to build the planetary nebula luminosity function (PNLF) and obtain a new estimate of the distance to NGC 253. The value obtained is 17% higher than estimates returned by other reliable measurements, mainly obtained via the top of the red giant branch method (TRGB). The PNLF also varies between the centre (r < 4 kpc) and the disk of the galaxy. The distance derived from the PNLF of the outer disk is comparable to that of the full sample, while the PNLF of the centre returns a distance ~0.9 Mpc larger. Our analysis suggests that extinction related to the dust-rich interstellar medium and edge-on view of the galaxy (the average E(B-V) across the disk is ~0.35 mag) plays a major role in explaining both the larger distance recovered from the full PNLF and the difference between the PNLFs in the centre and in the disk.

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SDSS-V Local Volume Mapper (LVM): A Glimpse into Orion

The Orion Molecular Cloud complex, one of the nearest (D = 406 pc) and most extensively studied massive star-forming regions, is ideal for constraining the physics of stellar feedback, but its ~12 deg diameter on the sky requires a dedicated approach to mapping ionized gas structures within and around the nebula. The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-V) Local Volume Mapper (LVM) is a new optical integral field unit (IFU) that will map the ionized gas within the Milky Way and Local Group galaxies, covering 4300 deg^2 of the sky with the new LVM Instrument. We showcase optical emission line maps from LVM covering 12 deg^2 inside of the Orion belt region, with 195,000 individual spectra combined to produce images at 0.07 pc (35.3") resolution. This is the largest IFU map made (to date) of the Milky Way, and contains well-known nebulae (the Horsehead Nebula, Flame Nebula, IC 434, and IC 432), as well as ionized interfaces with the neighboring dense Orion B molecular cloud. We resolve the ionization structure of each nebula, and map the increase in both the [SII]/Ha and [NII]/Ha line ratios at the outskirts of nebulae and along the ionization front with Orion B. [OIII] line emission is only spatially resolved within the center of the Flame Nebula and IC 434, and our ~0.1 pc scale line ratio diagrams show how variations in these diagnostics are lost as we move from the resolved to the integrated view of each nebula. We detect ionized gas emission associated with the dusty bow wave driven ahead of the star sigma Orionis, where the stellar wind interacts with the ambient interstellar medium. The Horsehead Nebula is seen as a dark occlusion of the bright surrounding photo-disassociation region. This small glimpse into Orion only hints at the rich science that will be enabled by the LVM.

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Physical parameters of stellar population in star formation regions of galaxies

We present the results of a study of young unresolved stellar groupings (clusters, OB associations, and their complexes) associated with HII regions, based on the coupling of spectroscopic, photometric and Hα spectrophotometric observations of star formation regions. Along with our own observations, we use a part of the spectroscopic and Hα data from the literature and open databases. The study is based on the catalogue of 1510 star formation regions with ages ~10-20 Myr in 19 spiral galaxies, compiled by us earlier. We study the morphology of stellar groupings and their relation with the associated Hα emission region. Extinctions, gas chemical abundances, and sizes of star formation regions are measured. Using numerical SSP models computed for metallicities fixed from observations to intrinsic colours of the studied star formation regions, we estimated ages and masses of stellar population of 400 young stellar groupings. Different relations between observational and physical parameters of the young stellar population in star formation regions are discussed.

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Quantifying the energetics of molecular superbubbles in PHANGS galaxies

Star formation and stellar feedback are interlinked processes that redistribute energy and matter throughout galaxies. When young, massive stars form in spatially clustered environments, they create pockets of expanding gas termed superbubbles. As these processes play a critical role in shaping galaxy discs and regulating the baryon cycle, measuring the properties of superbubbles provides important input for galaxy evolution models. With wide coverage and high angular resolution (50-150 pc) of the PHANGS-ALMA $^{12}$CO (2-1) survey, we can now resolve and identify a statistically representative number of superbubbles with molecular gas in nearby galaxies. We identify superbubbles by requiring spatial correspondence between shells in CO with stellar populations identified in PHANGS-HST, and combine the properties of the stellar populations with CO to constrain feedback models and quantify their energetics. We visually identify 325 cavities across 18 PHANGS-ALMA galaxies, 88 of which have clear superbubble signatures (unbroken shells, central clusters, kinematic signatures of expansion). We measure their radii and expansion velocities using CO to dynamically derive their ages and the mechanical power driving the bubbles, which we use to compute the expected properties of the parent stellar populations driving the bubbles. We find consistency between the predicted and derived stellar ages and masses of the stellar populations if we use a supernova blast wave model that injects energy with a coupling efficiency of 10%, whereas continuous models fail to explain stellar ages we measure. Not only does this confirm molecular gas accurately traces superbubble properties, but it also provides key observational constraints for superbubble models. We also find evidence that the bubbles sweep up gas as they expand and speculate that these sites have the potential to host new generations of stars.

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Density biases and temperature relations for DESIRED HII regions

We present a first study based on the analysis of the DEep Spectra of Ionized REgions Database (DESIRED). This is a compilation of 190 high signal-to-noise ratio optical spectra of HII regions and other photoionized nebulae, mostly observed with 8-10m telescopes and containing $\sim$29380 emission lines. We find that the electron density --$n_{\rm e}$-- of the objects is underestimated when [SII] $\lambda6731/\lambda6716$ and/or [OII] $\lambda3726/\lambda3729$ are the only density indicators available. This is produced by the non-linear density dependence of the indicators in the presence of density inhomogeneities. The average underestimate is $\sim 300$ cm$^{-3}$ in extragalactic HII regions, introducing systematic overestimates of $T_{\rm e}$([OII]) and $T_{\rm e}$([SII]) compared to $T_{\rm e}$([NII]). The high-sensitivity of [OII] $λ\lambda7319+20+30+31/λ\lambda3726+29$ and [SII] $λ\lambda4069+76/λ\lambda6716+31$ to density makes them more suitable for the diagnosis of the presence of high-density clumps. If $T_{\rm e}$([NII]) is adopted, the density underestimate has a small impact in the ionic abundances derived from optical spectra, being limited to up to $\sim$0.1 dex when auroral [SII] and/or [OII] lines are used. However, these density effects are critical for the analysis of infrared fine structure lines, such as those observed by the JWST in local star forming regions, implying strong underestimates of the ionic abundances. We present temperature relations between $T_{\rm e}$([OIII]), $T_{\rm e}$([ArIII]), $T_{\rm e}$([SIII]) and $T_{\rm e}$([NII]) for the extragalactic HII regions. We confirm a non-linear dependence between $T_{\rm e}$([OIII])-$T_{\rm e}$([NII]) due to a more rapid increase of $T_{\rm e}$([OIII]) at lower metallicities.

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The PHANGS-MUSE Nebula Catalogue

Ionized nebulae provide critical insights into the conditions of the interstellar medium (ISM). Their bright emission lines enable the measurement of physical properties, such as the gas-phase metallicity, across galaxy disks and in distant galaxies. The PHANGS--MUSE survey has produced optical spectroscopic coverage of the central star-forming discs of 19 nearby main-sequence galaxies. Here, we use the Hα morphology from this data to identify 30,790 distinct nebulae, finding thousands of nebulae per galaxy. For each nebula, we extract emission line fluxes and, using diagnostic line ratios, identify the dominant excitation mechanism. A total of 23,244 nebulae (75%) are classified as HII regions. The dust attenuation of every nebulae is characterised via the Balmer decrement and we use existing environmental masks to identify their large scale galactic environment (centre, bar, arm, interarm and disc). Using strong-line prescriptions, we measure the gas-phase oxygen abundances (metallicity) and ionization parameter for all HII regions. With this new catalogue, we measure the radial metallicity gradients and explore second order metallicity variations within each galaxy. By quantifying the global scatter in metallicity per galaxy, we find a weak negative correlation with global star formation rate and stronger negative correlation with global gas velocity dispersion (in both ionized and molecular gas). With this paper we release the full catalogue of strong line fluxes and derived properties, providing a rich database for a broad variety of ISM studies.

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Linking stellar populations to HII regions across nearby galaxies: I. Constraining pre-supernova feedback from young clusters in NGC1672

One of the fundamental factors regulating the evolution of galaxies is stellar feedback. However, we still do not have strong observational constraints on the relative importance of the different feedback mechanisms (e.g. radiation, ionised gas pressure, stellar winds) in driving HII region evolution and molecular cloud disruption. In this letter, we constrain the relative importance of the various feedback mechanisms from young massive star populations by resolving HII regions across the disk of the nearby star-forming galaxy NGC 1672. We combine measurements of ionised gas nebular lines obtained by PHANGS-MUSE, with high-resolution imaging from the HST in both the narrow-band Hα and broad-band filters. We identify a sample of 40 isolated, compact HII regions in the HST Hα image, for which we measure the sizes that were previously unresolved in seeing-limited ground-based observations. Additionally, we identify the ionisation source(s) for each HII region from catalogues produced as part of the PHANGS-HST survey. We find that the HII regions investigated are mildly dominated by thermal or wind pressure, yet their elevation above the radiation pressure is within the expected uncertainty range. We see that radiation pressure provides a substantially higher contribution to the total pressure than previously found in the literature over similar size scales. In general, we find higher pressures within more compact HII regions, which is driven by the inherent size scaling relations of each pressure term, albeit with significant scatter introduced by the variation in the stellar population properties (e.g. luminosity, mass, age, metallicity). For nearby galaxies, here we provide a promising approach that could yield the statistics required to map out how the importance of different stellar feedback mechanisms evolve over the lifetime of an HII region.

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Search for gas accretion imprints in voids: II. The galaxy Ark 18 as a result of a dwarf-dwarf merger

The low-mass low-surface brightness (LSB) disc galaxy Arakelian 18 (Ark 18) resides in the Eridanus void and because of its isolation represents an ideal case to study the formation and evolution mechanisms of such a galaxy type. Its complex structure consists of an extended blue LSB disc and a bright central elliptically-shaped part hosting a massive off-centered star-forming clump. We present the in-depth study of Ark 18 based on observations with the SCORPIO-2 long-slit spectrograph and a scanning Fabry-Perot interferometer at the Russian 6-m telescope complemented by archival multi-wavelength images and SDSS spectra. Ark 18 appears to be a dark matter dominated gas-rich galaxy without a radial metallicity gradient. The observed velocity field of the ionised gas is well described by two circularly rotating components moderately inclined with respect to each other and a possible warp in the outer disc. We estimated the age of young stellar population in the galaxy centre to be ~140 Myr, while the brightest star-forming clump appears to be much younger. We conclude that the LSB disc is likely the result of a dwarf-dwarf merger with a stellar mass ratio of the components at least ~5:1 that occurred earlier than 300 Myr ago. The brightest star forming clump was likely formed later by accretion of a gas cloud.

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Ionized gas in the NGC 3077 galaxy

The nearby dwarf galaxy NGC 3077 is known for its peculiar morphology, which includes numerous dust lanes and emission-line regions. The interstellar medium in this galaxy is subject to several perturbing factors. These are primarily the central starburst and tidal structures in the M 81 group. We present a comprehensive study of the state of ionization, kinematics, and chemical composition of ionized gas in NGC 3077, including both star-forming regions and diffuse ionized gas (DIG) at the periphery. We study gas motions in the H$α$ line via high-resolution ($R\approx15\,000$) 3D spectroscopy with the scanning Fabry-Perot interferometer installed into SCORPIO-2 instrument attached to the 6-m telescope of the SAO RAS. Images in the main optical emission lines were acquired with MaNGaL photometer with a tunable filter at the 2.5-m telescope of the Caucasian Mountain Observatory of SAI MSU. We also used SCORPIO-2 to perform long-slit spectroscopy of the galaxy with a resolution of $R\approx1\,000$. Our estimate of the gas metallicity, $Z=0.6Z_\odot$, is significantly lower than the earlier determination, but agrees with the "luminosity--metallicity" dependence. Spatially resolved diagnostic diagrams of the emission-line ratios do not show correlations between the gas ionization state and its velocity dispersion, and this is most likely due to strong ionization by young stars, whereas the contribution of shocks to the excitation of emission lines is less important. We also studied the locations of multicomponent H$α$ profiles and provide arguments suggesting that they are mostly associated with individual kinematic components along the line of sight and not with expanding shells as it was believed earlier. We also observe there a combination of wind outflow from star-forming regions and accretion from interstellar gas clouds in the M 81 group.

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A revision of the vdB 130 cluster stellar content based on GAIA DR2 Data. Interstellar extinction toward the Cyg OB1 supershell

Two star-forming regions are studied: the young embedded open cluster vdB 130 and the protocluster neighbourhood observed in the head and tail of the cometary molecular cloud located in the wall of the expanding supershell surrounding the Cyg OB1 association. The GAIA DR2 catalogue is employed to verify the stellar composition of the vdB 130 cluster whose members were earlier selected using the UCAC4 catalogue. The new sample of vdB 130 members contains 68 stars with close proper motions (within 1 mas yr$^{-1}$) and close trigonometric parallaxes (ranging from 0.50 to 0.70 mas). The relative parallax error is shown to increase with distance to objects and depend on their magnitude. At a distance of 1.5-2 kpc it is of about 3-7 per cent and 20-30 per cent for bright and faint stars, respectively. The cluster is not older than ~10 Myr. New spectroscopic and photometric observations carried out on Russian telescopes are combined with GAIA DR2 to search for optical components in the protocluster region - a new starburst. An analysis of 20 stars in the vicinity of the protocluster revealed no concentration of either proper motions or parallaxes. According to spectroscopic, photometric, and trigonometric estimates, the distances to these stars range from 0.4 to 2.5 kpc, and colour excess is shown to increase with a distance D (kpc) in accordance with the law: $E(B-V)\simeq 0.6\times D$ mag.

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Revealing the nature of central emission nebulae in the dwarf galaxy NGC 185

In this paper we present new optical observations of the galaxy NGC 185 intended to reveal the status of supernova remnants (SNRs) in this dwarf companion of the Andromeda galaxy. Previously, it was reported that this galaxy hosts one SNR. Our deep photometric study with the 2m telescope at Rozhen National Astronomical Observatory using narrow-band H$α$ and [SII] filters revealed complex structure of the interstellar medium in the center of the galaxy. To confirm the classification and to study the kinematics of the detected nebulae, we carried out spectroscopic observations using the SCORPIO multi-mode spectrograph at the 6m telescope at the Special Astrophysical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Science, both in low- and high-resolution modes. We also searched the archival X-ray and radio data for counterparts of the candidate SNRs identified by our optical observations. Our observations imply the presence of one more SNR, one possible HII region previously cataloged as part of an SNR, and the presence of an additional source of shock ionization in one low-brightness PN. We detected enhanced [SII]/H_alpha and [NII]/H_alpha line ratios, as well as relatively high (up to 90 km s$^{-1}$) expansion velocities of the two observed nebulae, motivating their classification as SNRs (with diameters of 45 pc and 50 pc), confirmed by both photometric and spectral observations. The estimated electron density of emission nebulae is 30 - 200 cm$^{-3}$. Archival XMM-Newton observations indicate the presence of an extended, low-brightness, soft source in projection of one of the optical SNRs, whereas the archival VLA radio image shows weak, unresolved emission in the center of NGC 185.

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