Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19
Abstract: Previous studies have shown that the normalization and scatter of the galaxy
'main sequence' (MS), the relation between star formation rate (SFR) and
stellar mass ($M_*$), evolves over cosmic time. However, such studies often
rely on photometric redshifts and/or only rest-frame UV to near-IR data, which
may underestimate the SFR and $M_*$ uncertainties. We use MAGPHYS+photo-z to
fit the UV to radio spectral energy distributions of 12,380 galaxies in the
COSMOS field at $0.5
Peer Review Status:Awaiting Review
Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19
Abstract: The physical properties of star cluster populations offer valuable insights into their birth, evolution, and disruption. However, individual stars in clusters beyond the nearest neighbours of the Milky Way are unresolved, forcing analyses of star cluster demographics to rely on integrated light, a process that is fraught with uncertainty. Here infer the demographics of the cluster population in the benchmark galaxy NGC 628 using data from the Legacy Extra-galactic UV Survey (LEGUS) coupled to a novel Bayesian forward-modelling technique. Our method allows analysis of a total of 1178 clusters in the LEGUS catalogue, roughly a factor of 4 more than previous studies that required severe completeness cuts to the data. Our results indicate that the cluster mass function is truncated at $\sim 10^4$ $ \mathrm{M}_{\odot}$, consistent with proposed relations between truncation mass and star formation surface density. We find that cluster disruption begins early, $\sim 10$ Myr after formation, but that it is relatively mild, with clusters requiring on average $2-3$ times their present age to disrupt; we do not find any evidence for mass dependent disruption. We also do not find convincing evidence for any radial variations in these conclusions, though we find suggestive hints that inner galaxy clusters may be more prone to disruption. Confirming or refuting these hints will require future observations to increase the sample size of outer galaxy clusters.
Peer Review Status:Awaiting Review
Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19
Abstract: Bars play an important role in mixing material in the inner regions of galaxies and stimulating radial migration. Previous observations have found evidence for the impact of a bar on metallicity gradients but the effect is still inconclusive. We use the TYPHOON/PrISM survey to investigate the metallicity gradients along and beyond the bar region across the entire star-forming disk of five nearby galaxies. Using emission line diagrams to identify star-forming spaxels, we recover the global metallicity gradients ranging from -0.0162 to -0.073 dex/kpc with evidence that the galactic bars act as an agent in affecting in-situ star formation as well as the motions of gas and stars. We observe cases with a `shallow-steep' metallicity radial profile, with evidence of the bar flattening the metallicity gradients inside the bar region (NGC~5068 and NGC~1566) and also note instances where the bar appears to drive a steeper metallicity gradient producing `steep-shallow' metallicity profiles (NGC~1365 and NGC~1744). For NGC~2835, a `steep-shallow' metallicity gradient break occurs at a distance $\sim$ 4 times the bar radius, which is more likely driven by gas accretion to the outskirt of the galaxy instead of the bar. The variation of metallicity gradients around the bar region traces the fluctuations of star formation rate surface density in NGC~1365, NGC~1566 and NGC~1744. A larger sample combined with hydrodynamical simulations is required to further explore the diversity and the relative importance of different ISM mixing mechanisms on the gas-phase metallicity gradients in local galaxies.
Peer Review Status:Awaiting Review
Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19
Abstract: 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.
Peer Review Status:Awaiting Review
Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19
Abstract: 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.
Peer Review Status:Awaiting Review
Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19
Abstract: The abundance of carbon relative to oxygen (C/O) is a promising probe of star formation history in the early universe, as these elements are produced on different timescales. We present a measurement of $\log{\mathrm{(C/O)}} = -1.01\pm0.12$ (stat) $\pm0.10$ (sys) in a $z=6.23$ galaxy observed as part of the GLASS-JWST Early Release Science Program. Notably, we achieve good precision thanks to the detection of the rest-frame ultraviolet O III], C III], and C IV emission lines delivered by JWST/NIRSpec. The C/O abundance is $\sim$0.8 dex lower than the solar value and is consistent with the expected yield from core-collapse supernovae, indicating negligible carbon enrichment from intermediate-mass stars. This in turn implies rapid buildup of a young stellar population with age $\lesssim$100 Myr in a galaxy seen $\sim$900 million years after the Big Bang. Our chemical abundance analysis is consistent with spectral energy distribution modeling of JWST/NIRCam photometric data, which indicates a current stellar mass $\log\,\mathrm{M}_* / \mathrm{Msun} = 8.4^{+0.4}_{-0.2}$ and specific star formation rate sSFR $\simeq 20$ Gyr$^{-1}$. These results showcase the value of chemical abundances and C/O in particular to study the earliest stages of galaxy assembly.
Peer Review Status:Awaiting Review
Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19
Abstract: In this work, we present a new catalogue of >40000 ionised nebulae distributed across the 19 galaxies observed by the PHANGS-MUSE survey. The nebulae have been classified using a new model-comparison-based algorithm that exploits the odds ratio principle to assign a probabilistic classification to each nebula in the sample. The resulting catalogue is the largest catalogue containing complete spectral and spatial information for a variety of ionised nebulae available so far in the literature. We developed this new algorithm to address some of the limitations of the traditional classification criteria, such as their binarity, the sharpness of the involved limits, and the limited amount of data they rely on for the classification. The analysis of the catalogue shows that the algorithm performs well when selecting H II regions. We can recover their luminosity function, and its properties are in line with what is available in the literature. We also identify a rather significant population of shock-ionised regions (mostly composed of supernova remnants), an order of magnitude larger than any other homogeneous catalogue of supernova remnants currently available in the literature. The number of supernova remnants we identify per galaxy is in line with results in our Galaxy and other very nearby sources. However, limitations in the source detection algorithm result in an incomplete sample of planetary nebulae, even though their classification seems robust. Finally, we demonstrate how applying a correction for the contribution of the diffuse ionised gas to the nebulae's spectra is essential to obtain a robust classification of the objects and how a correct measurement of the extinction using DIG-corrected line fluxes prompts the use of a higher theoretical Ha/Hb ratio (3.03) than what is commonly used when recovering the E(B-V) via the Balmer decrement technique in massive star-forming galaxies.
Peer Review Status:Awaiting Review
Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19
Abstract: JWST/MIRI imaging of the nearby galaxies IC 5332, NGC 628, NGC 1365 and NGC 7496 from PHANGS reveals a richness of gas structures that in each case form a quasi-regular network of interconnected filaments, shells and voids. We examine whether this multi-scale network of structure is consistent with the fragmentation of the gas disk through gravitational instability. We use FilFinder to detect the web of filamentary features in each galaxy and determine their characteristic radial and azimuthal spacings. These spacings are then compared to estimates of the most Toomre-unstable length (a few kpc), the turbulent Jeans length (a few hundred pc) and the disk scale height (tens of pc) reconstructed using PHANGS-ALMA observations of the molecular gas as a dynamical tracer. Our analysis of the four galaxies targeted in this work indicates that Jeans-scale structure is pervasive. Future work will be essential for determining how the structure observed in gas disks impacts not only the rate and location of star formation but also how stellar feedback interacts positively or negatively with the surrounding multi-phase gas reservoir.
Peer Review Status:Awaiting Review
Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19
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 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), 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 characterise the properties of the resulting multi-scale associations, including sizes, number of tracer stars, number of associations, 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 increases from log(age/yr) = 6.6 to log(age/yr) = 6.9 as the spatial scale increases from 8 pc 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$\alpha$ imaging, and that older associations are increasingly anti-correlated with the H$\alpha$ emission. Owing to our new method, the PHANGS-HST multi-scale associations provide a far more complete census of recent star formation activity than found with previous cluster and compact association catalogues. The method presented here will be applied to the full sample of 38 PHANGS-HST galaxies.
Peer Review Status:Awaiting Review
Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19
Abstract: Large-scale bars can fuel galaxy centers with molecular gas, often leading to
the development of dense ring-like structures where intense star formation
occurs, forming a very different environment compared to galactic disks. We
pair ~0.3" (30pc) resolution new JWST/MIRI imaging with archival ALMA CO(2-1)
mapping of the central ~5kpc of the nearby barred spiral galaxy NGC1365, 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 ~ 475pc)
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
Peer Review Status:Awaiting Review
Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19
Abstract: We present a high-resolution view of bubbles within The Phantom Galaxy (NGC 628); a nearby (~10Mpc), star-forming (~2Msun/yr), face-on (i~9deg) grand-design spiral galaxy. With new data obtained as part of the PHANGS-JWST treasury program, we perform a detailed case-study of two regions of interest, one of which contains the largest and most prominent bubble in the galaxy (The Phantom Void; over 1kpc in diameter), and the other being a smaller region that may be the precursor to such a large bubble (The Precursor Phantom Void). When comparing to matched resolution Halpha observations from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), we see that the ionized gas is brightest in the shells of both bubbles, and is coincident with the youngest (~1Myr) and most massive (~100,000Msun) stellar associations. We also find an older generation (~20Myr) of stellar associations is present within the bubble of The Phantom Void. From our kinematic analysis of the HI, H2 (CO) and HII gas across The Phantom Void, we infer a high expansion speed of around 15 to 50km/s. The large size and high expansion speed of The Phantom Void suggest that the driving mechanism is sustained stellar feedback due to multiple mechanisms, where early feedback first cleared a bubble (as we observe now in The Precursor Phantom Void), and since then SNe have been exploding within the cavity, and have accelerated the shell. Finally, comparison to simulations shows a striking resemblance to our JWST observations, and suggests that such large-scale stellar feedback-driven bubbles should be common within other galaxies.
Peer Review Status:Awaiting Review
Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19
Abstract: 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.
Peer Review Status:Awaiting Review
Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19
Abstract: 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.
Peer Review Status:Awaiting Review
Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19
Abstract: A long-standing problem when deriving the physical properties of stellar populations is the degeneracy between age, reddening, and metallicity. When a single metallicity is used for all star clusters in a galaxy, this degeneracy can result in $`$catastrophic$'$ errors for old globular clusters. Typically, approximately 10 - 20 % of all clusters detected in spiral galaxies can have ages that are incorrect by a factor of ten or more. In this paper we present a pilot study for four galaxies (NGC 628, NGC 1433, NGC 1365, and NGC 3351) from the PHANGS-HST survey. We describe methods to correct the age-dating for old globular clusters, by first identifying candidates using their colors, and then reassigning ages and reddening based on a lower metallicity solution. We find that young $`$interlopers$'$ can be identified from their Halpha flux. CO (2-1) intensity or the presence of dust can also be used, but our tests show that they do not work as well. Improvements in the success fraction are possible at the $\sim$ 15 % level (reducing the fraction of catastrophic age-estimates from between 13 - 21 % to 3 - 8 %). A large fraction of the incorrectly age-dated globular clusters are systematically given ages around 100 Myr, polluting the younger populations as well. Incorrectly age-dated globular clusters significantly impact the observed cluster age distribution in NGC 628, which affects the physical interpretation of cluster disruption in this galaxy. For NGC 1365, we also demonstrate how to fix a second major age-dating problem, where very dusty young clusters with E(B-V) $>$ 1.5 mag are assigned old, globular-cluster like ages. Finally, we note the discovery of a dense population of $\sim$ 300 Myr clusters around the central region of NGC 1365. and discuss how this results naturally from the dynamics in a barred galaxy.
Peer Review Status:Awaiting Review
Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19
Abstract: 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.
Peer Review Status:Awaiting Review
Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19
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 ALMA multi-J CO (1-0, 2-1 and 4-3) and [CI](1-0) mapping, which we use to trace CO excitation via R42 = I_CO(4-3)/I_CO(2-1) and R21 = I_CO(2-1)/I_CO(1-0) and dissociation via RCICO = I_[CI](1-0)/I_CO(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 um emission tracing the YMCs and with both PAH (11.3 um) and dust continuum (21 um) emission. In general, RCICO exhibits ~ 0.1 dex tighter correlations than R42, suggesting CI 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.
Peer Review Status:Awaiting Review
Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19
Abstract: 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.
Peer Review Status:Awaiting Review
Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19
Abstract: 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.
Peer Review Status:Awaiting Review
Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19
Abstract: 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.
Peer Review Status:Awaiting Review
Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19
Abstract: Mapping star-formation rates (SFR) within galaxies is key to unveiling their assembly and evolution. Calibrations exist for computing SFR from a combination of ultraviolet and infrared bands for galaxies as integrated systems, but their applicability to sub-galactic (kpc) scales remains largely untested. Here we use integral field spectroscopy of 19 nearby ($D <$ 20 Mpc) galaxies obtained by PHANGS-MUSE to derive accurate Balmer decrements (H$\alpha$/H$\beta$) and attenuation-corrected H$\alpha$ maps. We combine this information with mid-infrared maps from WISE at 22 $\rm \mu m$, and ultraviolet maps from GALEX in the far-UV band, to derive SFR surface densities in nearby galaxies on resolved (kpc) scales. Using the H$\alpha$ attenuation-corrected SFR as a reference, we find that hybrid recipes from the literature overestimate the SFR in regions of low SFR surface density, low specific star-formation rate (sSFR), low attenuation and old stellar ages. We attribute these trends to heating of the dust by old stellar populations (IR cirrus). We calibrate this effect by proposing functional forms for the coefficients in front of the IR term which depend on band ratios sensitive to the sSFR. These calibrations prove reliable as a function of physical scale. In particular, they agree within 10% with the attenuation corrections computed from the Balmer decrement on 100 pc scales. Despite small quantitative differences, our calibrations are also applicable to integrated galaxy scales probed by the MaNGA survey, albeit with a larger scatter (up to 0.22 dex). Observations with JWST open up the possibility to calibrate these relations in nearby galaxies with cloud-scale ($\sim$100 pc) resolution mid-IR imaging.
Peer Review Status:Awaiting Review