Breaking the Blend: A multi-tracer kinematic decomposition method for IFS data applied to disentangling the AGN outflow and circumnuclear ring in NGC 5728 with JWST
Abstract
Integral field spectroscopy (IFS) of the central kiloparsecs of active galactic nuclei (AGN) reveals a mixture of spatially coincident emission from star-formation and AGN feedback exciting the interstellar medium. Disentangling these components remains a challenge, as most spectral tracers are affected by both processes, limiting robust interpretation of kinematics and energetics. We present a new framework for decomposing IFS data into distinct components on a spaxel-by-spaxel basis using a multi-tracer, stacked kinematics approach. This method combines kinematic modelling with imposed flux decomposition per spaxel, quantifying the contribution of each component across the field of view. We apply this method to JWST IFS observations of the Seyfert galaxy NGC 5728 from the Galaxy Activity, Torus, and Outflow Survey (GATOS), analysing twelve mid-infrared fine-structure lines (4.49 < λ < 25.89 μm, 7.9 < IP < 126.2 eV). We find that the circumnuclear emission can be decomposed into two dominant components: a star-forming ring and an AGN-driven biconical outflow. Our method separates these structures and recovers their detailed spatial morphology. This framework provides a general and scalable method for physically motivated component separation in IFS data, applicable across many wavelength ranges and targets, enabling reliable interpretation of complex emission line structures (or morphologies) in active galaxies and beyond.
Versions
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BibTeX
@misc{veenema2026breaking,
title = {{Breaking the Blend: A multi-tracer kinematic decomposition method for IFS data applied to disentangling the AGN outflow and circumnuclear ring in NGC 5728 with JWST}},
author = {Oscar Veenema and Niranjan Thatte and Dimitra Rigopoulou and Richard I. Davies and Miguel Pereira-Santaella and Ismael García-Bernete and Almudena Alonso-Herrero and Anelise Audibert and Enrica Bellocchi and Andrew J. Bunker and Françoise Combes and Tanio Díaz Santos and Fergus R. Donnan and Donaji Esparza-Arredondo and Federico Esposito and Santiago García-Burillo and Begoña García-Lorenzo and Omaira Gonzalez Martin and Laura Hermosa Muñoz and Erin K. S. Hicks and Sebastian F. Hönig and Masatoshi Imanishi and Alvaro Labiano and Nancy A. Levenson and Enrique Lopez-Rodriguez and Cristina Ramos Almeida and Claudio Ricci and Rogemar A. Riffel and Marko Stalevski},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.30232},
eprint = {2609.30232},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.30232},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Breaking the Blend: A multi-tracer kinematic decomposition method for IFS data applied to disentangling the AGN outflow and circumnuclear ring in NGC 5728 with JWST
AU - Oscar Veenema
AU - Niranjan Thatte
AU - Dimitra Rigopoulou
AU - Richard I. Davies
AU - Miguel Pereira-Santaella
AU - Ismael García-Bernete
AU - Almudena Alonso-Herrero
AU - Anelise Audibert
AU - Enrica Bellocchi
AU - Andrew J. Bunker
AU - Françoise Combes
AU - Tanio Díaz Santos
AU - Fergus R. Donnan
AU - Donaji Esparza-Arredondo
AU - Federico Esposito
AU - Santiago García-Burillo
AU - Begoña García-Lorenzo
AU - Omaira Gonzalez Martin
AU - Laura Hermosa Muñoz
AU - Erin K. S. Hicks
AU - Sebastian F. Hönig
AU - Masatoshi Imanishi
AU - Alvaro Labiano
AU - Nancy A. Levenson
AU - Enrique Lopez-Rodriguez
AU - Cristina Ramos Almeida
AU - Claudio Ricci
AU - Rogemar A. Riffel
AU - Marko Stalevski
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/09
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.30232
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.30232
AB - Integral field spectroscopy (IFS) of the central kiloparsecs of active galactic nuclei (AGN) reveals a mixture of spatially coincident emission from star-formation and AGN feedback exciting the interstellar medium. Disentangling these components remains a challenge, as most spectral tracers are affected by both processes, limiting robust interpretation of kinematics and energetics. We present a new framework for decomposing IFS data into distinct components on a spaxel-by-spaxel basis using a multi-tracer, stacked kinematics approach. This method combines kinematic modelling with imposed flux decomposition per spaxel, quantifying the contribution of each component across the field of view. We apply this method to JWST IFS observations of the Seyfert galaxy NGC 5728 from the Galaxy Activity, Torus, and Outflow Survey (GATOS), analysing twelve mid-infrared fine-structure lines (4.49 < λ < 25.89 μm, 7.9 < IP < 126.2 eV). We find that the circumnuclear emission can be decomposed into two dominant components: a star-forming ring and an AGN-driven biconical outflow. Our method separates these structures and recovers their detailed spatial morphology. This framework provides a general and scalable method for physically motivated component separation in IFS data, applicable across many wavelength ranges and targets, enabling reliable interpretation of complex emission line structures (or morphologies) in active galaxies and beyond.
ER -