Bibcode
Westmoquette, M. S.; Exter, K. M.; Smith, L. J.; Gallagher, J. S.
Bibliographical reference
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 381, Issue 3, pp. 894-912.
Advertised on:
11
2007
Citations
75
Refereed citations
70
Description
We present Gemini-North GMOS/IFU observations of a young star cluster
and its environment near the centre of the dwarf irregular starburst
galaxy NGC 1569. This forms part of a larger and ongoing study of the
formation and collimation mechanisms of galactic winds, including three
additional IFU pointings in NGC 1569 covering the base of the galactic
wind which are analysed in a companion paper. The good spatial and
spectral resolution of these GMOS/IFU observations, covering 4740-6860
Å, allow us to probe the interactions between clusters and their
environments on small scales. For cluster 10, we combine the GMOS
spectrum with Hubble Space Telescope imaging to derive its properties.
We find that it is composed of two very close components with ages of
5-7 Myr and <=5 Myr, and a combined mass of 7 +/- 5 ×
103Msolar. A strong red Wolf-Rayet emission
feature confirms our young derived cluster ages.
A detailed analysis of the Hα emission-line profile shapes across
the whole field of view shows them to be composed of a bright narrow
feature [intrinsic full width at half-maximum (FWHM) ~50
kms-1] superimposed on a fainter broad component (FWHM
<=300 kms-1). By mapping the properties of each individual
component, we investigate the small-scale structure and properties of
the ionized interstellar medium, including reddening, excitation and
electron densities, and for the first time find spatial correlations
between the line component properties. We discuss in detail the possible
mechanisms that could give rise to the two components and these
correlations, and conclude that the most likely explanation for the
broad emission is that it is produced in a turbulent mixing layer on the
surface of the cool gas clumps embedded within the hot, fast-flowing
cluster winds. We discuss implications for the mass-loading of the flow
under these circumstances. The average radial velocity difference
between the narrow and broad components is small compared to the
linewidths, implying that within the IFU field of view, turbulent
motions dominate over large-scale bulk motions. We are therefore
sampling well within the outer bounding shocks of the expanding
superbubbles and within the outflow `energy injection zone'.