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S. Veilleux, D. S. Rupke (U. of Maryland)
The large contrast in the excitation properties of the wind material relative to that of the host galaxy can be used to more efficiently identify distant galaxies hosting powerful (shock-excited) starburst-driven winds. This method was tested on nearby galaxies using the Taurus Tunable Filter (TTF) on the Anglo-Australian Telescope. Multi-line imaging of the nearby galaxy NGC 1482 reveals a remarkable hourglass-shaped [N II]/H\alpha excitation structure suggestive of a galactic wind extending 1.5 kpc above and below the disk of the host galaxy. Long-slit spectroscopy confirms the existence of a large-scale outflow in this galaxy. This is the first time to our knowledge that a galactic wind is identified using excitation maps before knowledge of the gas kinematics.
We acknowledge support from an NSF/CAREER grant.