AGN versus Star-formation: A MUSE Analysis of NGC 1365

TL;DR

This study uses high-resolution IFU data from MUSE, JWST, and Chandra to analyze the interplay of AGN activity and star formation feedback in NGC 1365, revealing complex ionization and kinematic signatures across the galaxy.

Contribution

It provides a detailed multi-wavelength analysis of feedback effects in NGC 1365 at unprecedented spatial scales, linking ionization, shock heating, and gas kinematics.

Findings

Identification of high ionization regions possibly due to shock heating.

Constraints on the relative impacts of AGN and star formation feedback.

Insights into feedback processes shaping galaxy evolution.

Abstract

Active galactic nuclei (AGN) and star formation feedback may heat and remove gas from galaxies in a process that quenches ongoing star formation and shapes the evolution of galaxies. Potential impacts from these processes can be seen in the complex and interconnected signatures of AGN and star formation activity throughout a galaxy. Here, we analyze archival integral field unit (IFU) data for the nearby Seyfert galaxy, NGC 1365, as observed with the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) instrument on the Very Large Telescope (VLT). Our analysis probes the ionization and kinematic properties of NGC 1365 at high spatial resolution over unprecedentedly large physical scales (approximately 40 kpc), allowing us to trace the effects of feedback throughout nearly an entire galaxy. We use these optical IFU data in conjunction with observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and Chandra X-ray Observatory to analyze and compare maps of emission line flux, ionization state, star formation, and gas kinematics. In doing so, we identify a region of BPT-identified unexpectedly high ionization relative to surrounding areas in the star forming arms, and work to identify its source, finding that shock heating may play a significant role. Results from this analysis allow us to place constraints on the relative impact of AGN and star formation processes on the star forming gas in NGC 1365, as well as begin to inform our understanding on the global impacts of feedback in galaxy populations as a whole.