OutLines: Modeling Spectral Lines from Winds, Bubbles, and Outflows

TL;DR

OutLines is a versatile Python tool that models spectral lines from winds, bubbles, and outflows, enhancing the interpretation of astrophysical spectra across various phenomena and aiding upcoming large-scale spectroscopic surveys.

Contribution

The paper introduces OutLines, a novel, scale-agnostic modeling code that accounts for diverse physical conditions to improve spectral analysis in astrophysics.

Findings

Successfully models line profiles in diverse astrophysical contexts

Reveals underlying physics of outflows and feedback mechanisms

Prepares for analysis of large spectroscopic survey data

Abstract

Studies of kinematics and geometry of outflowing gas rely on modeling features in integrated spectra using empirical quantiles or fitting multiple Gaussian or Voigt profiles. Such methods can miss key underlying physics and even lead to spurious interpretations of observations. To address this problem, we present the public python code OutLines, which predicts spectral emission and absorption line profiles produced by winds, bubbles, and outflows. By design, OutLines is phenomenologically and scale agnostic to bridge the gap between observations and simulations across a broad swath of astrophysics. The OutLines code accounts for differences in velocity field, density profile, and outflow geometries, making OutLines versatile for a wide variety of astrophysical phenomena. We demonstrate the wide applicability of OutLines by using the code to model line profiles in an H II region knot, super star clusters, a starburst galaxy, and an AGN. In each of these contexts, we illustrate how OutLines can illuminate key underlying physics in ways that improve scientific understanding and address important open questions in astronomy, including the key mechanisms in the baryon cycle, the evolution of H II regions and galaxies, and even Lyman continuum escape. OutLines will be a critical resource as massively multiplexed spectroscopic surveys with facilities like WEAVE and 4MOST come online, providing the means to probe feedback with deeper, higher resolution spectroscopy for unprecedented large samples of objects.