MICONIC: The spatial relationship between star formation and the AGN in Centaurus A revealed by JWST/MIRI

O. C. Jones, M. L. Jones, D. Dicken, G. S. Wright, M. García Marín, A. Alonso Herrero, P. Guillard, K. Justtanont, M. Meixner, A. Labiano, D. Rouan, P. van der Werf, L. Pantoni, V. A. Buiten, T. Böker, G. Östlin, L. Evangelista, M. Baes, L. Colina, L. Hermosa Muñoz, Th. Henning, M. Güdel, T. P. Ray, P.-O. Lagage

First listed 2026-07-07 | Last updated 2026-07-07

Abstract

Short digest

This JWST/MIRI imaging study maps the central kiloparsec-scale warped disc of Centaurus A in F560W, F770W, and F1130W, resolving the previously known Spitzer "oval dusty shell" into multiple loop-like dusty structures that are brightest at 11.3 microns. Using mid-infrared colour diagnostics, the authors isolate 928 red point sources with strong infrared excess, comprising 36 per cent of the high-quality three-band sample and remaining tightly confined to the disc. Their rising mid-infrared SEDs and spatial coincidence with the dust lane support an interpretation in which they are predominantly embedded young stellar objects tracing recent star formation in merger-accreted gas. The bottom line is that the star-forming population follows the warped disc rather than the radio/X-ray jet, arguing against obvious jet-triggered star formation in the central regions of Cen A.

Key figures to inspect

• Figure 2. Use this three-colour MIRI mosaic to introduce the system the paper is actually analysing. It shows the warped dust disc, the compact nucleus, and the looped and filamentary mid-infrared structures whose resolved morphology is one of the paper's main observational advances over earlier Spitzer imaging.
• Figure 6. This colour-colour diagram is the clearest figure for defining the red, dust-enshrouded sample. It shows the adopted mid-infrared colour cuts that separate the infrared-excess population from the main point-source distribution, making it central to the paper's source classification.
• Figure 8. This is the strongest spatial-evidence figure for the paper's main claim. By overlaying the selected red sources on the F1130W map and zooming into representative regions, it demonstrates that the infrared-excess population is concentrated along the dust lane and associated warped-disc structures rather than being broadly distributed.
• Figure 9. Include this figure for the physical diagnostic behind the source interpretation. The median normalised SEDs show that the red population has a systematically steeper mid-infrared continuum than the main source population, supporting the conclusion that warm dust dominates these objects and that many are embedded young stellar objects.
• Figure 11. This is the key comparison figure for the AGN-feedback angle in the paper. The lack of clear spatial correspondence between the F1130W structures and the radio and X-ray jet tracers directly underpins the conclusion that the central star formation is not obviously being driven by jet-ISM interaction.