Runaway stars masquerading as star formation in galactic outskirts

Andersson, Eric P.Lund University,Lunds universitet,Astronomi - Genomgår omorganisation,Institutionen för astronomi och teoretisk fysik - Genomgår omorganisation,Naturvetenskapliga fakulteten,Lund Observatory - Undergoing reorganization,Department of Astronomy and Theoretical Physics - Undergoing reorganization,Faculty of Science (författare)

In the outskirts of nearby spiral galaxies, star formation is observed in extremely low gas surface densities. Star formation in these regions, where the interstellar medium is dominated by diffuse atomic hydrogen, is difficult to explain with classic star formation theories. In this letter, we introduce runaway stars as an explanation for this observation. Runaway stars, produced by collisional dynamics in young stellar clusters, can travel kiloparsecs during their main-sequence lifetime. Using galactic-scale hydrodynamic simulations including a treatment of individual stars, we demonstrate that this mechanism enables the ejection of young massive stars into environments where the gas is not dense enough to trigger star formation. This results in the appearance of star formation in regions where it ought to be impossible. We conclude that runaway stars are a contributing, if not dominant, factor to the observations of star formation in the outskirts of spiral galaxies.

Renaud, FlorentLund University,Lunds universitet,Astronomi - Genomgår omorganisation,Institutionen för astronomi och teoretisk fysik - Genomgår omorganisation,Naturvetenskapliga fakulteten,Lund Observatory - Undergoing reorganization,Department of Astronomy and Theoretical Physics - Undergoing reorganization,Faculty of Science(Swepub:lu)fl7084re (författare)
Agertz, OscarLund University,Lunds universitet,Astronomi - Genomgår omorganisation,Institutionen för astronomi och teoretisk fysik - Genomgår omorganisation,Naturvetenskapliga fakulteten,Lund Observatory - Undergoing reorganization,Department of Astronomy and Theoretical Physics - Undergoing reorganization,Faculty of Science(Swepub:lu)os6277ag (författare)
Astronomi - Genomgår omorganisationInstitutionen för astronomi och teoretisk fysik - Genomgår omorganisation (creator_code:org_t)

Ingår i:Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters: Oxford University Press (OUP)502:1, s. 29-341745-39251745-3933

Av författaren/redakt...: Andersson, Eric ...; Renaud, Florent; Agertz, Oscar

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