Spatial correlations of PAH, UV, Hα emission and IMF─PAH variations in the star-forming complexes of NGC 628

Abstract

We examine the spatial correlation of emission from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) (3.3, 7.7, and 11.3 µm) with the far-ultraviolet(FUV), near-ultraviolet(NUV), and Hα emission from star-forming complexes(SFCs)in differentregions of NGC 628. We use the James Webb Space Telescope to detect PAH emission, along with the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope and Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer observations to sample the UV and Hα emission, respectively. We investigate the correlation of PAH luminosities with FUV, NUV, and Hα luminosities for the extracted SFCs. We find that the arm and spur SFCs show bright PAH emission, except for those with only NUV emission, located primarily in bubbles and superbubbles. We also examine these correlationsin the phantom void, the largestsuperbubble in NGC 628. We investigate the trend for FUV-NUV and the Initial massfunction (IMF) index α2 derived from the ratio of B stars with PAH band ratios (F335M/F1130W, F770W/F1130W, and F335M/F770W). We find that PAH band ratios increase as the IMF becomes more top-heavy and the SFCs become bluer, consistent with enhanced PAH excitation and ionization in stronger UV radiation fields. However, α2 of spur SFCs shows a flat trend with PAH band ratios compared to arms. Upon closer examination, two SFCs in the shell region of the phantom void showed a flatter IMF compared to the SFC located near the elongated bubble. This is likely due to gas accumulation, possibly through feedback mechanisms in the shell region, while the SFC near the elongated bubble may have formed in a region affected by shear.