TY - JOUR A1 - Weilbacher, Peter Michael A1 - Monreal-Ibero, Ana A1 - Verhamme, Anne A1 - Sandin, Christer A1 - Steinmetz, Matthias A1 - Kollatschny, Wolfram A1 - Krajnovic, Davor A1 - Kamann, Sebastian A1 - Roth, Martin M. A1 - Erroz-Ferrer, Santiago A1 - Marino, Raffaella Anna A1 - Maseda, Michael V. A1 - Wendt, Martin A1 - Bacon, Roland A1 - Dreizler, Stefan A1 - Richard, Johan A1 - Wisotzki, Lutz T1 - Lyman-continuum leakage as dominant source of diffuse ionized gas in the Antennae galaxy JF - Astronomy and astrophysics : an international weekly journal N2 - The Antennae galaxy (NGC 4038/39) is the closest major interacting galaxy system and is therefore often studied as a merger prototype. We present the first comprehensive integral field spectroscopic dataset of this system, observed with the MUSE instrument at the ESO VLT. We cover the two regions in this system which exhibit recent star formation: the central galaxy interaction and a region near the tip of the southern tidal tail. In these fields, we detect H II regions and diffuse ionized gas to unprecedented depth. About 15% of the ionized gas was undetected by previous observing campaigns. This newly detected faint ionized gas is visible everywhere around the central merger, and shows filamentary structure. We estimate diffuse gas fractions of about 60% in the central field and 10% in the southern region. We are able to show that the southern region contains a significantly different population of H II regions, showing fainter luminosities. By comparing H II region luminosities with the HST catalog of young star clusters in the central field, we estimate that there is enough Lyman-continuum leakage in the merger to explain the amount of diffuse ionized gas that we detect. We compare the Lyman-continuum escape fraction of each H II region against emission line ratios that are sensitive to the ionization parameter. While we find no systematic trend between these properties, the most extreme line ratios seem to be strong indicators of density bounded ionization. Extrapolating the Lyman-continuum escape fractions to the southern region, we conclude that simply from the comparison of the young stellar populations to the ionized gas there is no need to invoke other ionization mechanisms than Lyman-continuum leaking H II regions for the diffuse ionized gas in the Antennae. KW - galaxies: interactions KW - galaxies: individual: NGC 4038, NGC 4039 KW - galaxies: ISM KW - ISM: structure KW - H II regions Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201731669 SN - 1432-0746 VL - 611 PB - EDP Sciences CY - Les Ulis ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Monreal-Ibero, Ana A1 - Weilbacher, Peter Michael A1 - Wendt, Martin T1 - Diffuse interstellar bands lambda 5780 and lambda 5797 in the Antennae Galaxy as seen by MUSE JF - Astronomy and astrophysics : an international weekly journal N2 - Context. Diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) are faint spectral absorption features of unknown origin. Research on DIBs beyond the Local Group is very limited and will surely blossom in the era of the Extremely Large Telescopes. However, we can already start paving the way. One possibility that needs to be explored is the use of high-sensitivity integral field spectrographs. Aims. Our goals are twofold. First, we aim to derive reliable mapping of at least one DIB in a galaxy outside the Local Group. Second, we want to explore the relation between DIBs and other properties of the interstellar medium (ISM) in the galaxy. Methods. We use Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) data for the Antennae Galaxy, the closest major galaxy merger. High signal-to-noise spectra were created by co-adding the signal of many spatial elements with the Voronoi binning technique. The emission of the underlying stellar population was modelled and substracted with the STARLIGHT spectral synthesis code. Flux and equivalent width of the features of interest were measured by means of fitting to Gaussian functions. Conclusions. The results illustrate the enormous potential of integral field spectrographs for extragalactic DIB research. KW - dust, extinction KW - ISM: lines and bands KW - galaxies: ISM KW - galaxies: individual: Antennae Galaxy KW - galaxies: interactions KW - ISM: structure Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201732178 SN - 1432-0746 VL - 615 PB - EDP Sciences CY - Les Ulis ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wendt, Martin A1 - Husser, Tim-Oliver A1 - Kamann, Sebastian A1 - Monreal-Ibero, Ana A1 - Richter, Philipp A1 - Brinchmann, Jarle A1 - Dreizler, Stefan A1 - Weilbacher, Peter Michael A1 - Wisotzki, Lutz T1 - Mapping diffuse interstellar bands in the local ISM on small scales via MUSE 3D spectroscopy A pilot study based on globular cluster NGC 6397 JF - Astronomy and astrophysics : an international weekly journal N2 - Context. We map the interstellar medium (ISM) including the diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) in absorption toward the globular cluster NGC6397 using VLT/MUSE. Assuming the absorbers are located at the rim of the Local Bubble we trace structures on the order of mpc (milliparsec, a few thousand AU). Aims. We aimed to demonstrate the feasibility to map variations of DIBs on small scales with MUSE. The sightlines defined by binned stellar spectra are separated by only a few arcseconds and we probe the absorption within a physically connected region. Methods. This analysis utilized the fitting residuals of individual stellar spectra of NGC6397 member stars and analyzed lines from neutral species and several DIBs in Voronoi-binned composite spectra with high signal-to-noise ratio (S/N). Results. This pilot study demonstrates the power of MUSE for mapping the local ISM on very small scales which provides a new window for ISM observations. We detect small scale variations in Na-I and K-I as well as in several DIBs within few arcseconds, or mpc with regard to the Local Bubble. We verify the suitability of the MUSE 3D spectrograph for such measurements and gain new insights by probing a single physical absorber with multiple sight lines. KW - techniques: imaging spectroscopy KW - globular clusters: individual: NGC 6397 KW - dust, extinction KW - ISM: structure KW - ISM: lines and bands Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201629816 SN - 1432-0746 VL - 607 PB - EDP Sciences CY - Les Ulis ER -