JWST Views of Starburst Outflows
I am involved in a Cycle 1 JWST program to measure the near- and mid-infrared properties of two archetypal starburst galaxies: NGC253 and M82.
Bolatto, Levy et al. 2024
We detect the base of the superwind in M82 in PAH emission and reveal a highly filamentary and bubble-like structure. The PAH emission resembles that of the ionized gas, suggesting that the PAHs are embedded in a combination of neutral, molecular, and photoionized gas (see also Fisher et al. 2024).
See also this NASA Press Release: “NASA’s Webb Probes an Extreme Starburst Galaxy”
Velocity-resolved [CII] in and around M82
Levy et al. 2023
We use new observations from SOFIA to detect [CII] in the starburst nucleus and southern outflow of M82. We find that most of the [CII] in the outflow of M82 is associated with the neutral atomic gas.
