# Separating Line Emission from Star Formation, Shocks, and AGN Ionisation in NGC 1068

## TL;DR

This paper introduces a new three-dimensional diagnostic diagram to effectively separate and quantify line emission contributions from star formation, shocks, and AGN in NGC 1068, improving understanding of galaxy ionisation sources.

## Contribution

The study presents a novel 3D diagnostic method for disentangling emission sources in galaxies, enabling more accurate analysis of ionisation mechanisms.

## Key findings

- Successful separation of emission sources in NGC 1068
- Alignment of emission distributions with X-ray, radio, and CO observations
- Shocked emission significantly mixes with AGN emission in previous methods

## Abstract

In the optical spectra of galaxies, the separation of line emission from gas ionised by star formation and an AGN, or by star formation and shocks, are very well-understood problems. However, separating line emission between AGN and shocks has proven difficult. With the aid of a new three-dimensional diagnostic diagram, we show the simultaneous separation of line emission from star formation, shocks, and AGN in NGC 1068, and quantify the ratio of star formation, shocks, and AGN in each spaxel. The AGN, shock, and star formation luminosity distributions across the galaxy accurately align with X-ray, radio, and CO(3-2) observations, respectively. Comparisons with previous separation methods show that the shocked emission heavily mixes with the AGN emission. We also show that if the H$\alpha$ flux is to be used as a star formation rate indicator, separating line emission from as many sources as possible should be attempted to ensure accurate results.