The Interaction between AGN and Starburst Activity in the Circumnuclear Region of NGC 7469 as Viewed with JWST

Abstract

We combine mid-infrared diagnostics obtained from integral-field-unit observations taken with Mid-Infrared Instrument/Medium Resolution Spectrograph on the James Webb Space Telescope with cold molecular gas information derived from Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array observations of CO(1–0) emission to investigate the star formation rate and efficiency within the central ∼1.5 kpc × 1.3 kpc region of the Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 7469 on ∼100 pc scales. The active nucleus leaves a notable imprint on its immediate surroundings by elevating the temperature of the warm molecular gas, driving an ionized gas outflow on subkiloparsec scales, and selectively destroying small dust grains. These effects, nevertheless, have relatively little impact on the cold circumnuclear medium or its ability to form stars. Most of the star formation in NGC 7469 is confined to a clumpy starburst ring, but the star formation efficiency remains quite elevated even for the nuclear region that is most affected by the active nucleus.