We present JWST/MIRI spectra from the Medium-Resolution Spectrometer of I Zw 18, a nearby dwarf galaxy with a metallicity of ∼3% solar. Its proximity enables a detailed study of highly ionized gas that can be interpreted in the context of newly discovered high-redshift dwarf galaxies. We derive aperture spectra centered on 11 regions of interest; the spectra show very low extinction, A_V ≲ 0.1, consistent with optical determinations. The gas is highly ionized; we have detected 10 fine-structure lines, including [O IV] 25.9 μm with an ionization potential (IP) of ∼55 eV, and [Ne V] 14.3 μm with an IP of ∼97 eV. The ionization state of I Zw 18 falls at the extreme upper end of all of the line ratios we analyzed, but not coincident with galaxies containing an accreting massive black hole (active galactic nucleus). Comparison of the line ratios with state-of-the-art photoionization and shock models suggests that the high-ionization state in I Zw 18 is not due to shocks. Rather, it can be attributed to metal-poor stellar populations with a self-consistent contribution of X-ray binaries or ultra-luminous X-ray sources. It could also be partially due to a small number of hot low-metallicity Wolf−Rayet stars ionizing the gas; a small fraction (a few percent) of the ionization could come from an intermediate-mass black hole. Our spectroscopy also revealed four 14 μm continuum sources, ≳30–100 pc in diameter, three of which were not previously identified. Their properties are consistent with H II regions ionized by young star clusters.

The [C ii] 158 μm fine-structure line is the brightest emission line observed in local star-forming galaxies. As a major coolant of the gas-phase interstellar medium, [C ii] balances the heating, including that due to far-ultraviolet photons, which heat the gas via the photoelectric effect. However, the origin of [C ii] emission remains unclear because C⁺ can be found in multiple phases of the interstellar medium. Here we measure the fractions of [C ii] emission originating in the ionized and neutral gas phases of a sample of nearby galaxies. We use the [N ii] 205 μm fine-structure line to trace the ionized medium, thereby eliminating the strong density dependence that exists in the ratio of [C ii]/[N ii] 122 μm. Using the FIR [C ii] and [N ii] emission detected by the KINGFISH (Key Insights on Nearby Galaxies: a Far- Infrared Survey with Herschel) and Beyond the Peak Herschel programs, we show that 60%-80% of [C ii] emission originates from neutral gas. We find that the fraction of [C ii] originating in the neutral medium has a weak dependence on dust temperature and the surface density of star formation, and has a stronger dependence on the gas-phase metallicity. In metal-rich environments, the relatively cooler ionized gas makes substantially larger contributions to total [C ii] emission than at low abundance, contrary to prior expectations. Approximate calibrations of this metallicity trend are provided.

We present [C ii] 158 μm measurements from over 15,000 resolved regions within 54 nearby galaxies of the Kingfish program to investigate the so-called [C ii] "line-cooling deficit" long known to occur in galaxies with different luminosities. The [C ii]/TIR ratio ranges from above 1% to below 0.1% in the sample, with a mean value of 0.48 ± 0.21%. We find that the surface density of 24 μm emission dominates this trend, with [C ii]/TIR dropping as vI_v (24 μm)increases. Deviations from this overall decline are correlated with changes in the gas-phase metal abundance, with higher metallicity associated with deeper deficits at a fixed surface brightness. We supplement the local sample with resolved [C ii] measurements from nearby luminous infrared galaxies and high-redshift sources from z = 1.8-6.4, and find that star formation rate density drives a continuous trend of deepening [C ii] deficit across six orders of magnitude in Σ_SFR. The tightness of this correlation suggests that an approximate can be estimated directly from global measurements of [C ii]/TIR, and a relation is provided to do so. Several low-luminosity active galactic nucleus (AGN) hosts in the sample show additional and significant central suppression of [C ii]/TIR, but these deficit enhancements occur not in those AGNs with the highest X-ray luminosities, but instead those with the highest central starlight intensities. Taken together, these results demonstrate that the [C ii] line-cooling line deficit in galaxies likely arises from local physical phenomena in interstellar gas.

The [NII] 122 and 205 um transitions are powerful tracers of the ionized gas in the ISM: (1) the [NII] 122/205 line ratio can be used to measure the electron density of the low-excitation, ionized gas, and (2) the intensity of these lines is directly related to the flux of ionizing photons, probing the most recent star formation activity. The study of these applications in nearby galaxies is specially relevant now that ALMA can observe both [NII] transitions at z>2. In this talk I will present Herschel observations of these pair of [NII] far-infrared lines in 21 nearby galaxies selected from the KINGFISH and Beyond the Peak samples. I will discuss the reliability of the [NII] lines as star formation tracers, and how the electron density of the ionized gas is related to other relevant ISM properties (e.g., radiation field strength, star formation activity, dust temperature, etc).