Disentangling the association of PAH molecules with star formation: Insights from the James Webb Space Telescope and from the UltraViolet Imaging Telescope

Abstract

Context. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are ubiquitous complex molecules in the interstellar medium and are used as an indirect indicator of star formation. On the other hand, the ultraviolet (UV) emission from young massive stars directly traces the star formation activity in a galaxy. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), along with the UltraViolet Imaging Telescope (UVIT), opened up a new window of opportunity to better understand the properties of PAH molecules that are associated with star-forming regions. Aims. We investigate how the resolved scale properties of PAH molecules in nearby galaxies are affected by star formation. Methods. We analyzed the PAH features observed at 3.3, 7.7, and 11.3 µm using F335M, F770W, and F1130W images obtained from the JWST. These images helped us identify and quantify the PAH molecules. Additionally, we used UVIT images to assess the star formation associated with these PAH-emitting regions. Our study focused on three galaxies, namely NGC 628, NGC 1365, and NGC 7496, which were selected based on the availability of both JWST and UVIT images. Bright PAH emission regions were identified in the JWST images, and their corresponding UV emission was estimated using the UVIT images. We quantified the star formation properties of these PAH emitting regions using the UVIT images. Furthermore, we investigated the relation between the star formation surface density (ΣSFR) and the PAH ratios to better understand the impact of star formation on the properties of PAH molecules. Results. Based on the resolved scale study of the PAH-bright regions using JWST images, we found that the fraction of ionized PAH molecules is high in the star-forming regions with high ΣSFR. We observed that emission from smaller PAH molecules is higher in star-forming regions with higher ΣSFR. Conclusions. Our study suggests that the PAH molecules excited by the photons from star-forming regions with higher ΣSFR are dominantly smaller and ionized molecules. UV photons from the star-forming regions could be the reason for the higher fraction of the ionized PAHs. We suggest that the effect of the high temperature in the star-forming regions and the formation of smaller PAH molecules in the star-forming regions might also result in the higher emission in the F335MPAH band.