A far-IR view of the starburst-driven superwind in NGC 2146
- Max Planck Institut für Astronomie, Königstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg (Germany)
- Spitzer Science Center, California Institute of Technology, MC 314-6, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States)
- NASA Herschel Science Center, IPAC, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States)
- Department of Astronomy, The Ohio State University, 140 West 18th Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210 (United States)
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071 (United States)
- INAF-Osservatorio Astrosico di Arcetri, Largo E. Fermi 5, I-50125 Firenze (Italy)
- Observatoire de Paris, 61 avenue de l'Observatoire, F-75014 Paris (France)
- Department of Astronomy and Joint Space-Science Institute, University of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States)
- Department of Astronomy, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003 (United States)
- National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Charlottesville, VA 22901 (United States)
- Princeton University Observatory, Peyton Hall, Princeton, NJ 08544-1001 (United States)
- Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721 (United States)
- Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA (United Kingdom)
- Infrared Processing and Analysis Center, California Institute of Technology, MC 220-6, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States)
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH 43606 (United States)
NGC 2146, a nearby luminous infrared galaxy, presents evidence for outflows along the disk minor axis in all gas phases (ionized, neutral atomic, and molecular). We present an analysis of the multi-phase, starburst-driven superwind in the central 5 kpc as traced in spatially resolved spectral line observations, using far-IR Herschel PACS spectroscopy, to probe the effects on the atomic and ionized gas, and optical integral field spectroscopy to examine the ionized gas through diagnostic line ratios. We observe an increased ∼250 km s{sup –1} velocity dispersion in the [O I] 63 μm, [O III] 88 μm, [N II] 122 μm, and [C II] 158 μm fine-structure lines that is spatially coincident with high excitation gas above and below the disk. We model this with a slow ∼200 km s{sup –1} shock and trace the superwind to the edge of our field of view 2.5 kpc above the disk. We present new SOFIA 37 μm observations to explore the warm dust distribution, and detect no clear dust entrainment in the outflow. The stellar kinematics appear decoupled from the regular disk rotation seen in all gas phases, consistent with a recent merger event disrupting the system. We consider the role of the superwind in the evolution of NGC 2146 and speculate on the evolutionary future of the system. Our observations of NGC 2146 in the far-IR allow an unobscured view of the wind, crucial for tracing the superwind to the launching region at the disk center, and provide a local analog for future ALMA observations of outflows in high-redshift systems.
- OSTI ID:
- 22365600
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 790, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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