分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19
摘要: Understanding the initial properties of star-forming material and how they affect the star formation process is key. From an observational point of view, the feedback from young high-mass stars on future star formation properties is still poorly constrained. In the framework of the IRAM 30m ORION-B large program, we obtained observations of the translucent and moderately dense gas, which we used to analyze the kinematics over a field of 5 deg^2 around the filamentary structures. We used the ROHSA algorithm to decompose and de-noise the C18O(1-0) and 13CO(1-0) signals by taking the spatial coherence of the emission into account. We produced gas column density and mean velocity maps to estimate the relative orientation of their spatial gradients. We identified three cloud velocity layers at different systemic velocities and extracted the filaments in each velocity layer. The filaments are preferentially located in regions of low centroid velocity gradients. By comparing the relative orientation between the column density and velocity gradients of each layer from the ORION-B observations and synthetic observations from 3D kinematic toy models, we distinguish two types of behavior in the dynamics around filaments: (i) radial flows perpendicular to the filament axis that can be either inflows (increasing the filament mass) or outflows and (ii) longitudinal flows along the filament axis. The former case is seen in the Orion B data, while the latter is not identified. We have also identified asymmetrical flow patterns, usually associated with filaments located at the edge of an HII region. This is the first observational study to highlight feedback from HII regions on filament formation and, thus, on star formation in the Orion B cloud. This simple statistical method can be used for any molecular cloud to obtain coherent information on the kinematics.
分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19
摘要: We measure the molecular gas environment near recent ($< 100$ yr old) supernovae (SNe) using $\sim1''$ or $\leq 150$pc resolution CO (2-1) maps from the PHANGS-ALMA survey of nearby star-forming galaxies. This is arguably the first such study to approach the scales of individual massive molecular clouds ($M_{\rm mol} \gtrsim 10^{5.3}$ M$_{\odot}$). Using the Open Supernova Catalog (OSC), we identify 63 SNe within the PHANGS-ALMA footprint. We detect CO (2-1) emission near $\sim60\%$ of the sample at 150pc resolution, compared to $\sim35\%$ of map pixels with CO (2-1) emission, and up to $\sim95\%$ of the SNe at 1kpc resolution compared to $\sim80\%$ of map pixels with CO (2-1) emission. We expect the $\sim60\%$ of SNe within the same 150pc beam as a GMC will likely interact with these clouds in the future, consistent with the observation of widespread SN-molecular gas interaction in the Milky Way, while the other $\sim40\%$ of SNe without strong CO (2-1) detections will deposit their energy in the diffuse interstellar medium (ISM), perhaps helping drive large-scale turbulence or galactic outflows. Broken down by type, we detect CO (2-1) emission at the sites of $\sim85\%$ of our 9 stripped-envelope SNe (SESNe), $\sim40\%$ of our 34 Type II SNe, and $\sim35\%$ of our 13 Type Ia SNe, indicating that SESNe are most closely associated with the brightest CO (2-1) emitting regions in our sample. Our results confirm that SN explosions are not restricted to only the densest gas, and instead exert feedback across a wide range of molecular gas densities.
分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19
摘要: The first JWST observations of nearby galaxies have unveiled a rich population of bubbles that trace the stellar feedback mechanisms responsible for their creation. Studying these bubbles therefore allows us to chart the interaction between stellar feedback and the interstellar medium, and the larger galactic flows needed to regulate star formation processes globally. We present the first catalog of bubbles in NGC628, visually identified using MIRI F770W PHANGS-JWST observations, and use them to statistically evaluate bubble characteristics. We classify 1694 structures as bubbles with radii between 6-552 pc. Of these, 31% contain at least one smaller bubble at their edge, indicating that previous generations of star formation have a local impact on where new stars form. On large scales, most bubbles lie near a spiral arm, and their radii increase downstream compared to upstream. Furthermore, bubbles are elongated in a similar direction to the spiral arm ridge-line. These azimuthal trends demonstrate that star formation is intimately connected to the spiral arm passage. Finally, the bubble size distribution follows a power-law of index $p=-2.2\pm0.1$, which is slightly shallower than the theoretical value by 1-3.5$\sigma$ that did not include bubble mergers. The fraction of bubbles identified within the shells of larger bubbles suggests that bubble merging is a common process. Our analysis therefore allows us to quantify the number of star-forming regions that are influenced by an earlier generation, and the role feedback processes have in setting the global star formation rate. With the full PHANGS-JWST sample, we can do this for more galaxies.
分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19
摘要: We present maps of the 3.3 micron polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emission feature in NGC 628, NGC 1365, and NGC 7496 as observed with the Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) imager on JWST from the PHANGS-JWST Cycle 1 Treasury project. We create maps that isolate the 3.3 micron PAH feature in the F335M filter (F335M$_{\rm PAH}$) using combinations of the F300M and F360M filters for removal of starlight continuum. This continuum removal is complicated by contamination of the F360M by PAH emission and variations in the stellar spectral energy distribution slopes between 3.0 and 3.6 micron. We modify the empirical prescription from Lai et al. (2020) to remove the starlight continuum in our highly resolved galaxies, which have a range of starlight- and PAH-dominated lines-of-sight. Analyzing radially binned profiles of the F335M$_{\rm PAH}$ emission, we find that between 5-65% of the F335M intensity comes from the 3.3 micron feature within the inner 0.5 $r_{25}$ of our targets. This percentage systematically varies from galaxy to galaxy, and shows radial trends within the galaxies related to each galaxy's distribution of stellar mass, interstellar medium, and star formation. The 3.3 micron emission is well correlated with the 11.3 micron PAH feature traced with the MIRI F1130W filter, as is expected, since both features arise from C-H vibrational modes. The average F335M$_{\rm PAH}$/F1130W ratio agrees with the predictions of recent models by Draine et al. (2021) for PAHs with size and charge distributions shifted towards larger grains with normal or higher ionization.
分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19
摘要: The processes of star formation and feedback, regulating the cycle of matter between gas and stars on the scales of giant molecular clouds (GMCs; $\sim$100pc), play a major role in governing galaxy evolution. Measuring the time-scales of GMC evolution is important to identify and characterise the specific physical mechanisms that drive this transition. By applying a robust statistical method to high-resolution CO and narrow-band H$\alpha$ imaging from the PHANGS survey, we systematically measure the evolutionary timeline from molecular clouds to exposed young stellar regions on GMC scales, across the discs of an unprecedented sample of 54 star-forming main-sequence galaxies (excluding their unresolved centres). We find that clouds live for about $1{-}3$ GMC turbulence crossing times ($5{-}30$Myr) and are efficiently dispersed by stellar feedback within $1{-}5$Myr once the star-forming region becomes partially exposed, resulting in integrated star formation efficiencies of $1{-}8$%. These ranges reflect physical galaxy-to-galaxy variation. In order to evaluate whether galactic environment influences GMC evolution, we correlate our measurements with average properties of the GMCs and their local galactic environment. We find several strong correlations that can be physically understood, revealing a quantitative link between galactic-scale environmental properties and the small-scale GMC evolution. Notably, the measured CO-visible cloud lifetimes become shorter with decreasing galaxy mass, mostly due to the increasing presence of CO-dark molecular gas in such environment. Our results represent a first step towards a comprehensive picture of cloud assembly and dispersal, which requires further extension and refinement with tracers of the atomic gas, dust, and deeply-embedded stars.
分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19
摘要: The PHANGS collaboration has been building a reference dataset for the multi-scale, multi-phase study of star formation and the interstellar medium in nearby galaxies. With the successful launch and commissioning of JWST, we can now obtain high-resolution infrared imaging to probe the youngest stellar populations and dust emission on the scales of star clusters and molecular clouds ($\sim$5-50 pc). In Cycle 1, PHANGS is conducting an 8-band imaging survey from 2-21$\mu$m of 19 nearby spiral galaxies. CO(2-1) mapping, optical integral field spectroscopy, and UV-optical imaging for all 19 galaxies have been obtained through large programs with ALMA, VLT/MUSE, and Hubble. PHANGS-JWST enables a full inventory of star formation, accurate measurement of the mass and age of star clusters, identification of the youngest embedded stellar populations, and characterization of the physical state of small dust grains. When combined with Hubble catalogs of $\sim$10,000 star clusters, MUSE spectroscopic mapping of $\sim$20,000 HII regions, and $\sim$12,000 ALMA-identified molecular clouds, it becomes possible to measure the timescales and efficiencies of the earliest phases of star formation and feedback, build an empirical model of the dependence of small dust grain properties on local ISM conditions, and test our understanding of how dust-reprocessed starlight traces star formation activity, all across a diversity of galactic environments. Here we describe the PHANGS-JWST Treasury survey, present the remarkable imaging obtained in the first few months of science operations, and provide context for the initial results presented in the first series of PHANGS-JWST publications.
分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19
摘要: JWST observations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emission provide some of the deepest and highest resolution views of the cold interstellar medium (ISM) in nearby galaxies. If PAHs are well mixed with the atomic and molecular gas and illuminated by the average diffuse interstellar radiation field, PAH emission may provide an approximately linear, high resolution, high sensitivity tracer of diffuse gas surface density. We present a pilot study that explores using PAH emission in this way based on MIRI observations of IC 5332, NGC 628, NGC 1365, and NGC 7496 from the PHANGS-JWST Treasury. Using scaling relationships calibrated in Leroy et al. (2022), scaled F1130W provides 10--40 pc resolution and 3$\sigma$ sensitivity of $\Sigma_{\rm gas} \sim 2$ M$_\odot$ pc$^{-2}$. We characterize the surface densities of structures seen at $< 7$ M$_\odot$ pc$^{-2}$ in our targets, where we expect the gas to be HI-dominated. We highlight the existence of filaments, inter-arm emission, and holes in the diffuse ISM at these low surface densities. Below $\sim 10$ M$_\odot$ pc$^{-2}$ for NGC 628, NGC 1365, and NGC 7496 the gas distribution shows a ``Swiss cheese''-like topology due to holes and bubbles pervading the relatively smooth distribution of diffuse ISM. Comparing to recent galaxy simulations, we observe similar topology for the low surface density gas, though with notable variations between simulations with different setups and resolution. Such a comparison of high resolution, low surface density gas with simulations is not possible with existing atomic and molecular gas maps, highlighting the unique power of JWST maps of PAH emission.
分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19
摘要: We measure empirical relationships between the local star formation rate (SFR) and properties of the star-forming molecular gas on 1.5 kpc scales across 80 nearby galaxies. These relationships, commonly referred to as "star formation laws," aim at predicting the local SFR surface density from various combinations of molecular gas surface density, galactic orbital time, molecular cloud free-fall time, and the interstellar medium dynamical equilibrium pressure. Leveraging a multiwavelength database built for the PHANGS survey, we measure these quantities consistently across all galaxies and quantify systematic uncertainties stemming from choices of SFR calibrations and the CO-to-H$_2$ conversion factors. The star formation laws we examine show 0.3-0.4 dex of intrinsic scatter, among which the molecular Kennicutt-Schmidt relation shows a $\sim$10% larger scatter than the other three. The slope of this relation ranges $\beta\approx0.9{-}1.2$, implying that the molecular gas depletion time remains roughly constant across the environments probed in our sample. The other relations have shallower slopes ($\beta\approx0.6{-}1.0$), suggesting that the star formation efficiency (SFE) per orbital time, the SFE per free-fall time, and the pressure-to-SFR surface density ratio (i.e., the feedback yield) may vary systematically with local molecular gas and SFR surface densities. Last but not least, the shapes of the star formation laws depend sensitively on methodological choices. Different choices of SFR calibrations can introduce systematic uncertainties of at least 10-15% in the star formation law slopes and 0.15-0.25 dex in their normalization, while the CO-to-H$_2$ conversion factors can additionally produce uncertainties of 20-25% for the slope and 0.10-0.20 dex for the normalization.
分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19
摘要: The earliest stages of star formation occur enshrouded in dust and are not observable in the optical. Here we leverage the extraordinary new high-resolution infrared imaging from JWST to begin the study of dust-embedded star clusters in nearby galaxies throughout the local volume. We present a technique for identifying dust-embedded clusters in NGC 7496 (18.7 Mpc), the first galaxy to be observed by the PHANGS-JWST Cycle 1 Treasury Survey. We select sources that have strong 3.3$\mu$m PAH emission based on a $\rm F300M-F335M$ color excess, and identify 67 candidate embedded clusters. Only eight of these are found in the PHANGS-HST optically-selected cluster catalog and all are young (six have SED-fit ages of $\sim1$ Myr). We find that this sample of embedded cluster candidates may significantly increase the census of young clusters in NGC 7496 from the PHANGS-HST catalog -- the number of clusters younger than $\sim$2 Myr could be increased by a factor of two. Candidates are preferentially located in dust lanes, and are coincident with peaks in PHANGS-ALMA CO (2-1) maps. We take a first look at concentration indices, luminosity functions, SEDs spanning from 2700A to 21$\mu$m, and stellar masses (estimated to be between $\sim10^4-10^5 M_{\odot}$). The methods tested here provide a basis for future work to derive accurate constraints on the physical properties of embedded clusters, characterize the completeness of cluster samples, and expand analysis to all 19 galaxies in the PHANGS-JWST sample, which will enable basic unsolved problems in star formation and cluster evolution to be addressed.
分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19
摘要: We present maps tracing the fraction of dust in the form of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in IC 5332, NGC 628, NGC 1365, and NGC 7496 from JWST/MIRI observations. We trace the PAH fraction by combining the F770W ($7.7~\mu$m) and F1130W ($11.3~\mu$m) filters to track ionized and neutral PAH emission, respectively, and comparing the PAH emission to F2100W which traces small, hot dust grains. We find average $R{\rm_{PAH} = (F770W+F1130W)/F2100W}$ values of 3.3, 4.7, 5.1, and 3.6 in IC 5332, NGC 628, NGC 1365, and NGC 7496, respectively. We find that H II regions traced by MUSE H$\alpha$ show a systematically low PAH fraction. The PAH fraction remains relatively constant across other galactic environments, with slight variations. We use CO + H I + H$\alpha$ to trace the interstellar gas phase and find that the PAH fraction decreases above a value of I$_{H\alpha}/\Sigma_{H~I+H_2}$ $\sim~10^{37.5}$ erg s$^{-1}$ kpc$^{-2}$ (M$_\odot$ pc$^{-2}$)$^{-1}$, in all four galaxies. Radial profiles also show a decreasing PAH fraction with increasing radius, correlated with lower metallicity, in line with previous results showing a strong metallicity dependence to the PAH fraction. Our results suggest that the process of PAH destruction in ionized gas operates similarly across the four targets.
分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19
摘要: We compare mid-infrared (mid-IR), extinction-corrected H$\alpha$, and CO (2-1) emission at 70--160 pc resolution in the first four PHANGS-JWST targets. We report correlation strengths, intensity ratios, and power law fits relating emission in JWST's F770W, F1000W, F1130W, and F2100W bands to CO and H$\alpha$. At these scales, CO and H$\alpha$ each correlate strongly with mid-IR emission, and these correlations are each stronger than the one relating CO to H$\alpha$ emission. This reflects that mid-IR emission simultaneously acts as a dust column density tracer, leading to the good match with the molecular gas-tracing CO, and as a heating tracer, leading to the good match with the H$\alpha$. By combining mid-IR, CO, and H$\alpha$ at scales where the overall correlation between cold gas and star formation begins to break down, we are able to separate these two effects. We model the mid-IR above $I_\nu = 0.5$~MJy sr$^{-1}$ at F770W, a cut designed to select regions where the molecular gas dominates the interstellar medium (ISM) mass. This bright emission can be described to first order by a model that combines a CO-tracing component and an H$\alpha$-tracing component. The best-fitting models imply that $\sim 50\%$ of the mid-IR flux arises from molecular gas heated by the diffuse interstellar radiation field, with the remaining $\sim 50\%$ associated with bright, dusty star forming regions. We discuss differences between the F770W, F1000W, F1130W bands and the continuum dominated F2100W band and suggest next steps for using the mid-IR as an ISM tracer.
分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19
摘要: The earliest stages of star formation, when young stars are still deeply embedded in their natal clouds, represent a critical phase in the matter cycle between gas clouds and young stellar regions. Until now, the high-resolution infrared observations required for characterizing this heavily obscured phase (during which massive stars have formed, but optical emission is not detected) could only be obtained for a handful of the most nearby galaxies. One of the main hurdles has been the limited angular resolution of the Spitzer Space Telescope. With the revolutionary capabilities of the JWST, it is now possible to investigate the matter cycle during the earliest phases of star formation as a function of the galactic environment. In this Letter, we demonstrate this by measuring the duration of the embedded phase of star formation and the implied time over which molecular clouds remain inert in the galaxy NGC628 at a distance of 9.8Mpc, demonstrating that the cosmic volume where this measurement can be made has increased by a factor of $>100$ compared to Spitzer. We show that young massive stars remain embedded for $5.1_{-1.4}^{+2.7}$Myr ($2.3_{-1.4}^{+2.7}$Myr of which being heavily obscured), representing $\sim20\%$ of the total cloud lifetime. These values are in broad agreement with previous measurements in five nearby ($D < 3.5$Mpc) galaxies and constitute a proof of concept for the systematic characterization of the early phase of star formation across the nearby galaxy population with the PHANGS-JWST survey.
分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19
摘要: We present a rich, multiwavelength, multiscale database built around the PHANGS-ALMA CO$\,$(2-1) survey and ancillary data. We use this database to present the distributions of molecular cloud populations and sub-galactic environments in 80 PHANGS galaxies, to characterize the relationship between population-averaged cloud properties and host galaxy properties, and to assess key timescales relevant to molecular cloud evolution and star formation. We show that PHANGS probes a wide range of kpc-scale gas, stellar, and star formation rate (SFR) surface densities, as well as orbital velocities and shear. The population-averaged cloud properties in each aperture correlate strongly with both local environmental properties and host galaxy global properties. Leveraging a variable selection analysis, we find that the kpc-scale surface densities of molecular gas and SFR tend to possess the most predictive power for the population-averaged cloud properties. Once their variations are controlled for, galaxy global properties contain little additional information, which implies that the apparent galaxy-to-galaxy variations in cloud populations are likely mediated by kpc-scale environmental conditions. We further estimate a suite of important timescales from our multiwavelength measurements. The cloud-scale free-fall time and turbulence crossing time are ${\sim}5{-}20$ Myr, comparable to previous cloud lifetime estimates. The timescales for orbital motion, shearing, and cloud-cloud collisions are longer, ${\sim}100$ Myr. The molecular gas depletion time is $1{-}3$ Gyr and shows weak to no correlations with the other timescales in our data. We publish our measurements online and expect them to have broad utility to future studies of molecular clouds and star formation.
分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19
摘要: We present new neutral atomic carbon [CI](3P1-3P0) mapping observations within the inner ~7 kpc and ~4 kpc of the disks of NGC3627 and NGC4321 at a spatial resolution of 190 pc and 270 pc, respectively, using the ALMA Atacama Compact Array (ACA). We combine these with the CO(2-1) data from PHANGS-ALMA, and literature [CI] and CO data for two other starburst and/or active galactic nucleus (AGN) galaxies (NGC1808, NGC7469), to study: a) the spatial distributions of CI and CO emission; b) the observed line ratio RCICO = I_[CI](1-0)/I_CO(2-1) as a function of various galactic properties; and c) the abundance ratio of [CI/CO]. We find excellent spatial correspondence between CI and CO emission and nearly uniform RCICO ~0.1 across the majority of the star-forming disks of NGC3627 and NGC4321. However, RCICO strongly varies from ~0.05 at the centre of NGC4321 to >0.2-0.5 in NGC1808's starburst centre and NGC7469's centre with an X-ray AGN. Meanwhile, RCICO does not obviously vary with $U$, similar to the prediction of PDR models. We also find a mildly decreasing RCICO with an increasing metallicity over 0.7-0.85 solar metallicity, consistent with the literature. Assuming various typical ISM conditions representing GMCs, active star-forming regions and strong starbursting environments, we calculate the LTE radiative transfer and estimate the [CI/CO] abundance ratio to be ~0.1 across the disks of NGC3627 and NGC4321, similar to previous large-scale findings in Galactic studies. However, this abundance ratio likely has a substantial increase to ~1 and >1-5 in NGC1808's starburst and NGC7469's strong AGN environments, respectively, in line with the expectations for cosmic-ray dominated region (CRDR) and X-ray dominated region (XDR) chemistry. Finally, we do not find a robust evidence for a generally CO-dark, CI-bright gas in the disk areas we probed. (abbreviated)
分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19
摘要: Ratios of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) vibrational bands are a promising tool for measuring the properties of the PAH population and their effect on star formation. The photometric bands of the MIRI and NIRCam instruments on JWST provide the opportunity to measure PAH emission features across entire galaxy disks at unprecedented resolution and sensitivity. Here we present the first results of this analysis in a sample of three nearby galaxies: NGC 628, NGC 1365, and NGC 7496. Based on the variations observed in the 3.3, 7.7, and 11.3 $\mu$m features, we infer changes to the average PAH size and ionization state across the different galaxy environments. High values of F335M$_{\rm PAH}$/F1130W and low values of F1130W/F770W are measured in H II regions in all three galaxies. This suggests that these regions are populated by hotter PAHs, and/or that the PAH ionization fraction is larger. We see additional evidence of heating and/or changes in PAH size in regions with higher molecular gas content as well as increased ionization in regions with higher H$\alpha$ intensity.
分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19
摘要: We explore the relationship between mid-infrared (mid-IR) and CO rotational line emission from massive star-forming galaxies, which is one of the tightest scalings in the local universe. We assemble a large set of unresolved and moderately ($\sim 1$ kpc) spatially resolved measurements of CO (1-0) and CO (2-1) intensity, $I_{\rm CO}$, and mid-IR intensity, $I_{\rm MIR}$, at 8, 12, 22, and 24$\mu$m. The $I_{\rm CO}$ vs. $I_{\rm MIR}$ relationship is reasonably described by a power law with slopes $0.7{-}1.2$ and normalization $I_{\rm CO} \sim 1$ K km s$^{-1}$ at $I_{\rm MIR} \sim 1$ MJy sr$^{-1}$. Both the slopes and intercepts vary systematically with choice of line and band. The comparison between the relations measured for CO~(1-0) and CO (2-1) allow us to infer that $R_{21} \propto I_{\rm MIR}^{0.2}$, in good agreement with other work. The $8\mu$m and $12\mu$m bands, with strong PAH features, show steeper CO vs. mid-IR slopes than the $22\mu$m and $24\mu$m, consistent with PAH emission arising not just from CO-bright gas but also from atomic or CO-dark gas. The CO-to-mid-IR ratio correlates with global galaxy stellar mass ($M_\star$) and anti-correlates with SFR/$M_\star$. At $\sim 1$ kpc resolution, the first four PHANGS-JWST targets show CO to mid-IR relationships that are quantitatively similar to our larger literature sample, including showing the steep CO-to-mid-IR slopes for the JWST PAH-tracing bands, although we caution that these initial data have a small sample size and span a limited range of intensities.