| 1. |
- Larson, Kirsten L., et al.
(författare)
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Multiscale stellar associations across the star formation hierarchy in PHANGS-HST nearby galaxies : methodology and properties
- 2023
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Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 523:4, s. 6061-6081
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We develop a method to identify and determine the physical properties of stellar associations using Hubble Space Telescope (HST) NUV−U−B−V−I imaging of nearby galaxies from the Physics at High Angular Resolution in Nearby GalaxieS with the Hubble Space Telescope (PHANGS–HST) survey. We apply a watershed algorithm to density maps constructed from point source catalogues Gaussian smoothed to multiple physical scales from 8 to 64 pc. We develop our method on two galaxies that span the distance range in the PHANGS–HST sample: NGC 3351 (10 Mpc) and NGC 1566 (18 Mpc). We test our algorithm with different parameters such as the choice of detection band for the point source catalogue (NUV or V), source density image filtering methods, and absolute magnitude limits. We characterize the properties of the resulting multiscale associations, including sizes, number of tracer stars, number of associations, and photometry, as well as ages, masses, and reddening from spectral energy distribution fitting. Our method successfully identifies structures that occupy loci in the UBVI colour–colour diagram consistent with previously published catalogues of clusters and associations. The median ages of the associations increase from log(age/yr) = 6.6 to log(age/yr) = 6.9 as the spatial scale increases from 8 to 64 pc for both galaxies. We find that the youngest stellar associations, with ages <3 Myr, indeed closely trace H II regions in H α imaging, and that older associations are increasingly anticorrelated with the H α emission. Owing to our new method, the PHANGS–HST multiscale associations provide a far more complete census of recent star formation activity than found with previous cluster and compact association catalogues.
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| 2. |
- Liu, Daizhong, et al.
(författare)
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PHANGS–JWST First Results : Stellar-feedback-driven Excitation and Dissociation of Molecular Gas in the Starburst Ring of NGC 1365?
- 2023
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Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal Letters. - : American Astronomical Society. - 2041-8205 .- 2041-8213. ; 944:2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We compare embedded young massive star clusters (YMCs) to (sub-)millimeter line observations tracing the excitation and dissociation of molecular gas in the starburst ring of NGC 1365. This galaxy hosts one of the strongest nuclear starbursts and richest populations of YMCs within 20 Mpc. Here we combine near-/mid-IR PHANGS–JWST imaging with new Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array multi-J CO (1–0, 2–1 and 4–3) and [C ı] (1–0) mapping, which we use to trace CO excitation via R42 = ICO(4−3)/ICO(2−1) and R21 = ICO(2−1)/ICO(1−0) and dissociation via RCICO = I[CI](1−0)/ICO(2−1) at 330 pc resolution. We find that the gas flowing into the starburst ring from northeast to southwest appears strongly affected by stellar feedback, showing decreased excitation (lower R42) and increased signatures of dissociation (higher RCICO) in the downstream regions. There, radiative-transfer modeling suggests that the molecular gas density decreases and temperature and [CI/CO] abundance ratio increase. We compare R42 and RCICO with local conditions across the regions and find that both correlate with near-IR 2 μm emission tracing the YMCs and with both polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (11.3 μm) and dust continuum (21 μm) emission. In general, RCICO exhibits ∼0.1 dex tighter correlations than R42, suggesting C ı to be a more sensitive tracer of changing physical conditions in the NGC 1365 starburst than CO (4–3). Our results are consistent with a scenario where gas flows into the two arm regions along the bar, becomes condensed/shocked, forms YMCs, and then these YMCs heat and dissociate the gas.
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| 3. |
- Scheuermann, Fabian, et al.
(författare)
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Stellar associations powering H ii regions - I. Defining an evolutionary sequence
- 2023
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Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 522:2, s. 2369-2383
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Connecting the gas in H II regions to the underlying source of the ionizing radiation can help us constrain the physical processes of stellar feedback and how H II regions evolve over time. With PHANGS-MUSE, we detect nearly 24 000 H II regions across 19 galaxies and measure the physical properties of the ionized gas (e.g. metallicity, ionization parameter, and density). We use catalogues of multiscale stellar associations from PHANGS-HST to obtain constraints on the age of the ionizing sources. We construct a matched catalogue of 4177 H II regions that are clearly linked to a single ionizing association. A weak anticorrelation is observed between the association ages and the H a equi v alent width EW (H a), the H a/ FUV flux ratio, and the ionization parameter, log q . As all three are expected to decrease as the stellar population ages, this could indicate that we observe an evolutionary sequence. This interpretation is further supported by correlations between all three properties. Interpreting these as evolutionary tracers, we find younger nebulae to be more attenuated by dust and closer to giant molecular clouds, in line with recent models of feedback-regulated star formation. We also observe strong correlations with the local metallicity variations and all three proposed age tracers, suggestive of star formation preferentially occurring in locations of locally enhanced metallicity. Overall, EW (H a) and log q show the most consistent trends and appear to be most reliable tracers for the age of an H II region.
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| 4. |
- Thilker, David A., et al.
(författare)
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PHANGS–JWST First Results : The Dust Filament Network of NGC 628 and Its Relation to Star Formation Activity
- 2023
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Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal Letters. - : American Astronomical Society. - 2041-8205 .- 2041-8213. ; 944:2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- PHANGS–JWST mid-infrared (MIR) imaging of nearby spiral galaxies has revealed ubiquitous filaments of dust emission in intricate detail. We present a pilot study to systematically map the dust filament network (DFN) at multiple scales between 25 and 400 pc in NGC 628. MIRI images at 7.7, 10, 11.3, and 21 μm of NGC 628 are used to generate maps of the filaments in emission, while PHANGS–HST B-band imaging yields maps of dust attenuation features. We quantify the correspondence between filaments traced by MIR thermal continuum/polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emission and filaments detected via extinction/scattering of visible light; the fraction of MIR flux contained in the DFN; and the fraction of H ii regions, young star clusters, and associations within the DFN. We examine the dependence of these quantities on the physical scale at which the DFN is extracted. With our highest-resolution DFN maps (25 pc filament width), we find that filaments in emission and attenuation are cospatial in 40% of sight lines, often exhibiting detailed morphological agreement; that ∼30% of the MIR flux is associated with the DFN; and that 75%–80% of the star formation in H ii regions and 60% of the mass in star clusters younger than 5 Myr are contained within the DFN. However, the DFN at this scale is anticorrelated with looser associations of stars younger than 5 Myr identified using PHANGS–HST near-UV imaging. We discuss the impact of these findings on studies of star formation and the interstellar medium, and the broad range of new investigations enabled by multiscale maps of the DFN.
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