| 1. |
- Schinnerer, Eva, et al.
(författare)
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PHANGS-JWST First Results : Rapid Evolution of Star Formation in the Central Molecular Gas 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
- Large-scale bars can fuel galaxy centers with molecular gas, often leading to the development of dense ringlike structures where intense star formation occurs, forming a very different environment compared to galactic disks. We pair ∼0.″3 (30 pc) resolution new JWST/MIRI imaging with archival ALMA CO(2-1) mapping of the central ∼5 kpc of the nearby barred spiral galaxy NGC 1365 to investigate the physical mechanisms responsible for this extreme star formation. The molecular gas morphology is resolved into two well-known bright bar lanes that surround a smooth dynamically cold gas disk (R gal ∼ 475 pc) reminiscent of non-star-forming disks in early-type galaxies and likely fed by gas inflow triggered by stellar feedback in the lanes. The lanes host a large number of JWST-identified massive young star clusters. We find some evidence for temporal star formation evolution along the ring. The complex kinematics in the gas lanes reveal strong streaming motions and may be consistent with convergence of gas streamlines expected there. Indeed, the extreme line widths are found to be the result of inter-“cloud” motion between gas peaks; ScousePy decomposition reveals multiple components with line widths of 〈σ CO,scouse〉 ≈ 19 km s−1 and surface densities of 〈 Σ H 2 , scouse 〉 ≈ 800 M ⊙ pc − 2 , similar to the properties observed throughout the rest of the central molecular gas structure. Tailored hydrodynamical simulations exhibit many of the observed properties and imply that the observed structures are transient and highly time-variable. From our study of NGC 1365, we conclude that it is predominantly the high gas inflow triggered by the bar that is setting the star formation in its CMZ.
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| 2. |
- 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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| 3. |
- Tomičić, Neven, et al.
(författare)
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Two Orders of Magnitude Variation in the Star Formation Efficiency across the Premerger Galaxy NGC 2276
- 2018
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Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal Letters. - : American Astronomical Society. - 2041-8205 .- 2041-8213. ; 869:2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present the first spatially resolved (∼0.5 kpc) measurements of the molecular gas depletion time τ depl across the disk of the interacting spiral galaxy NGC 2276, a system with an asymmetric morphology in various star formation rate (SFR) tracers. To estimate τ depl, we use new NOEMA observations of the 12CO(1-0) emission tracing the bulk molecular gas reservoir in NGC 2276, and extinction-corrected Hα measurements obtained with the PMAS/PPaK integral field unit for robust estimates of the SFR. We find a systematic decrease in τ depl of 1-1.5 dex across the disk of NGC 2276, with a further, abrupt drop in τ depl of ∼1 dex along the galaxy's western edge. The global τ depl in NGC 2776 is τdepl = 0.55 Gyr, consistent with literature measurements for the nearby galaxy population. Such a large range in τ depl on subkiloparsec scales has never previously been observed within an individual isolated or premerger system. When using a metallicity-dependent molecular gas conversion factor the variation decreases by 0.5 dex. We attribute the variation in τ depl to the influence of galactic-scale tidal forces and ram pressure on NGC 2276's molecular interstellar medium. Our observations add to the growing body of numerical and observational evidence that galaxy-galaxy interactions significantly modify the molecular gas properties and star-forming activity within galactic disks throughout the interaction, and not just during the final merger phase.
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