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Resolving Stellar Populations in the Nuclear Region of NGC 4258We present Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) imaging of NGC 4258. Located at a distance of 7.2 Mpc, NGC 4258 is an ideal and nearby laboratory to study the effects of AGN feedback in both regulating star formation as well as expelling gas from the host galaxy, i.e., negative feedback. With the unprecedented resolution of NIRCam, we observe [Fe II], Paschen-alpha, molecular hydrogen, PAH emission, and Bracket-alpha. Our work looks at the impact of shocks in both the star formation spiral arm and anomalous spiral arm on the current and past star formation within NGC 4258. We have discovered a that the anomalous spiral arms seen in previous radio observation of NGC 4258 are correlated to NIRCam observations of [Fe II] and molecular hydrogen, implying the radio emission is more likely due to shocks. With color magnitude diagrams (CMDs), we show that NGC 4258 has a variety of stellar populations: young stellar object, asymptotic giant branch stars, red giant branch stars, red clump stars, as well as possible detection of super giant stars. We fit models to the young stellar object photometry and find these young protostars to be 10 –30 Msun. With a distance of 7.2 Mpc, we are likely observing stellar clusters which are 10 – 30 Msun. We study the young stellar objects and older asymptotic giant branch stars on parsec scales as well as galactic scales to understand the processes driving star formation: galactic merger, AGN feedback, as well as winds and jets from massive O stars.
Document ID
20240004413
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Isha Nayak
(Space Telescope Science Institute Baltimore, United States)
Nicholas Cothard
(Cornell University Ithaca, United States)
Travis Fischer ORCID
(Space Telescope Science Institute Baltimore, United States)
Jason Glenn
(Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, United States)
Henrique Schmitt ORCID
(United States Naval Research Laboratory Washington, United States)
Erin Smith
(Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, United States)
Date Acquired
April 12, 2024
Subject Category
Astrophysics
Meeting Information
Meeting: Science with the Hubble and James Webb Space Telescopes VII: Stars, Gas & Dust in the Universe
Location: Porto
Country: PT
Start Date: April 29, 2024
End Date: May 2, 2024
Sponsors: Space Telescope Science Institute
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: 80HQTR21CA005
WBS: 411672
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Portions of document may include copyright protected material.
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