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We present new JWST NIRSpec integral field spectroscopy (IFS) data for the luminous infrared galaxy NGC 7469, a nearby (70.6 Mpc) active galaxy with a Seyfert 1.5 nucleus that drives a highly ionized gas outflow and a prominent nuclear star-forming ring. Using the superb sensitivity and high spatial resolution of the JWST instrument NIRSpec IFS, we investigate the role of the Seyfert nucleus in the excitation and dynamics of the circumnuclear gas. Our analysis focuses on the [Fe ii ], H2, and hydrogen recombination lines that trace the radiation/shocked-excited molecular and ionized interstellar medium around the active galactic nucleus (AGN). We investigate gas excitation through H2/Br γ and [Fe ii ]/Pa β emission line ratios and find that photoionization by the AGN dominates within the central 300 pc of the galaxy except in a small region that shows signatures of shock-heated gas; these shock-heated regions are likely associated with a compact radio jet. In addition, the velocity field and velocity dispersion maps reveal complex gas kinematics. Rotation is the dominant feature, but we also identify noncircular motions consistent with gas inflows as traced by the velocity residuals and the spiral pattern in the Pa α velocity dispersion map. The inflow is 2 orders of magnitude higher than the AGN accretion rate. The compact nuclear radio jet has enough power to drive the highly ionized outflow. This scenario suggests that the inflow and outflow are in a self-regulating feeding–feedback process, with a contribution from the radio jet helping to drive the outflow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Near the center of the Puppis A supernova remnant a series of nested, optically emitting rings of high-velocity ejecta (known as "the Swirl") were identified several decades ago by Winkler et al. To date, no follow-up observations of these rings have been published, and their physical origin has remained a mystery. We present results of integral field spectroscopy of the Swirl using the Wide Field Integral Spectrograph on the 2.3 m telescope at Siding Spring Observatory in Australia. The outermost ring exhibits a nitrogen-rich spectrum blueshifted to 1350 km s−1, with smaller blueshifted rings within the first exhibiting mostly oxygen-rich spectra moving at 1000 and 750 km s−1. The structures are connected by material of intermediate velocity and variable composition, including sulfur-rich material. The Swirl is turbulent and shock-excited, and contains as much as 0.5 M ⊙ of metal-rich material. The chemical composition and exclusively blueshifted radial velocities of the Swirl are consistent with progressively deeper nucleosynthetic layers in a massive progenitor star. We suggest the possibility that the Swirl marks a "funnel" carved into the supernova ejecta by a close, massive binary companion at the moment of explosion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]