LOCAL INSTABILITY SIGNATURES IN ALMA OBSERVATIONS OF DENSE GAS IN NGC 7469

• We present an unprecedented measurement of the disk stability and local instability scales in the luminous infrared Seyfert 1 host, NGC 7469, based on ALMA observations of dense gas tracers and with a synthesized beam of 165 x 132 pc. While we confirm that non-circular motions are not significant in redistributing the dense interstellar gas in this galaxy, we find compelling evidence that the dense gas is a suitable tracer for studying the origin of its intensely high-mass star-forming ringlike structure. Our derived disk stability parameter Q accounts for a thick disk structure, and its value falls below unity at the radii in which intense star formation is found. Furthermore, we derive the characteristic instability scale lambda(c) and find a striking agreement between our measured scale of similar to 180 pc and the typical sizes of individual complexes of young and massive star clusters seen in high-resolution images.

Ämnesord

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Fysik -- Astronomi, astrofysik och kosmologi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Physical Sciences -- Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

galaxies: individual (NGC 7469)

galaxies: ISM

galaxies: kinematics and dynamics

Publikations- och innehållstyp

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