Based on sensitive CO measurements from HERACLES and H I data from THINGS, we show that the azimuthally averaged radial distribution of the neutral gas surface density ( capital sigma sub(H I) + ...capital sigma H sub(2)) in 33 nearby spiral galaxies exhibits a well-constrained universal exponential distribution beyond 0.2 x r sub(25) (inside of which the scatter is large) with less than a factor of two scatter out to two optical radii r sub(25). Scaling the radius to r sub(25) and the total gas surface density to the surface density at the transition radius, i.e., where capital sigma sub(H I) and capital sigma sub(H2) are equal, as well as removing galaxies that are interacting with their environment, yields a tightly constrained exponential fit with average scale length 0.61 + or - 0.06 r sub(25). In this case, the scatter reduces to less than 40% across the optical disks (and remains below a factor of two at larger radii). We show that the tight exponential distribution of neutral gas implies that the total neutral gas mass of nearby disk galaxies depends primarily on the size of the stellar disk (influenced to some degree by the great variability of capital sigma sub(H2) inside 0.2 x r sub(25)). The derived prescription predicts the total gas mass in our sub-sample of 17 non-interacting disk galaxies to within a factor of two. Given the short timescale over which star formation depletes the H sub(2) content of these galaxies and the large range of r sub(25) in our sample, there appears to be some mechanism leading to these largely self-similar radial gas distributions in nearby disk galaxies.
We present EMPIRE, an IRAM 30 m large program that mapped λ = 3-4 mm dense gas tracers at ∼1-2 kpc resolution across the whole star-forming disk of nine nearby massive spiral galaxies. We describe ...the EMPIRE observing and reduction strategies and show new whole-galaxy maps of HCN(1−0), HCO+(1−0), HNC(1−0), and CO(1−0). We explore how the HCN-to-CO and IR-to-HCN ratios, observational proxies for the dense gas fraction and dense gas star formation efficiency, depend on host galaxy and local environment. We find that the fraction of dense gas correlates with stellar surface density, gas surface density, molecular-to-atomic gas ratio, and dynamical equilibrium pressure. In EMPIRE, the star formation rate per unit dense gas is anticorrelated with these same environmental parameters. Thus, although dense gas appears abundant in the central regions of many spiral galaxies, this gas appears relatively inefficient at forming stars. These results qualitatively agree with previous work on nearby galaxies and the Milky Way's Central Molecular Zone. To first order, EMPIRE demonstrates that the conditions in a galaxy disk set the gas density distribution and that the dense gas traced by HCN shows an environment-dependent relation to star formation. However, our results also show significant ( 0.2 dex) galaxy-to-galaxy variations. We suggest that gas structure below the scale of our observations and dynamical effects likely also play an important role.
We combine data from The H I Nearby Galaxy Survey and the GALEX Nearby Galaxy Survey to study the relationship between atomic hydrogen (H I) and far-ultraviolet (FUV) emission outside the optical ...radius (r 25) in 17 spiral and 5 dwarf galaxies. In this regime, H I is likely to represent most of the interstellar medium (ISM) and FUV emission to trace recent star formation with little bias due to extinction, so that the two quantities closely trace the underlying relationship between gas and star formation rate (SFR). The azimuthally averaged H I and FUV intensities both decline with increasing radius in this regime, with the scale length of the FUV profile typically half that of the H I profile. Despite the mismatch in profiles, there is a significant spatial correlation (at 15'' resolution) between local FUV and H I intensities; near r 25 this correlation is quite strong, in fact stronger than anywhere inside r 25 (where H I is not a good tracer for the bulk of the ISM), and shows a decline toward larger radii. The star formation efficiency (SFE)--defined as the ratio of FUV/H I and thus the inverse of the gas depletion time--decreases with galactocentric radius across the outer disks, though much shallower than across the optical disks. On average, we find the gas depletion times to be well above a Hubble time (~1011 yr). We observe a clear relationship between FUV/H I and H I column in the outer disks, with the SFE increasing with increasing H I column. Despite observing systematic variations in FUV/H I, we find no clear evidence for step-function-type star formation thresholds, though we emphasize that it may not be realistic to expect them. When compared with results from inside r 25, we find outer disk star formation to be distinct in several ways: it is extremely inefficient (depletion times of many Hubble times which are also long compared to either the free fall or orbital timescale) with column densities and SFRs lower than found anywhere inside the optical disks. It appears that the H I column is one of the key environmental factors--perhaps the key factor--in setting the SFR in outer galaxy disks.
Context.
The Galactic plane has been observed extensively by a large number of Galactic plane surveys from infrared to radio wavelengths at an angular resolution below 40′′. However, a 21 cm line and ...continuum survey with comparable spatial resolution is lacking.
Aims.
The first half of THOR data (
l
= 14.0°−37.9°, and
l
= 47.1°−51.2°, |
b
|≤ 1.25°) has been published in our data release 1 paper. With this data release 2 paper, we publish all the remaining spectral line data and Stokes I continuum data with high angular resolution (10′′–40′′), including a new H
I
dataset for the whole THOR survey region (
l
= 14.0−67.4° and |
b
|≤ 1.25°). As we published the results of OH lines and continuum emission elsewhere, we concentrate on the H
I
analysis in this paper.
Methods.
With the
Karl G. Jansky
Very Large Array (VLA) in C-configuration, we observed a large portion of the first Galactic quadrant, achieving an angular resolution of ≤40′′. At
L
Band, the WIDAR correlator at the VLA was set to cover the 21 cm H
I
line, four OH transitions, a series of H
nα
radio recombination lines (RRLs;
n
= 151 to 186), and eight 128 MHz-wide continuum spectral windows, simultaneously.
Results.
We publish all OH and RRL data from the C-configuration observations, and a new H
I
dataset combining VLA C+D+GBT (VLA D-configuration and GBT data are from the VLA Galactic Plane Survey) for the whole survey. The H
I
emission shows clear filamentary substructures at negative velocities with low velocity crowding. The emission at positive velocities is more smeared-out, likely due to higher spatial and velocity crowding of structures at the positive velocities. Compared to the spiral arm model of the Milky Way, the atomic gas follows the Sagittarius and Perseus Arm well, but with significant material in the inter-arm regions. With the C-configuration-only H
I
+continuum data, we produce an H
I
optical depth map of the THOR areal coverage from 228 absorption spectra with the nearest-neighbor method. With this
τ
map, we corrected the H
I
emission for optical depth, and the derived column density is 38% higher than the column density with optically thin assumption. The total H
I
mass with optical depth correction in the survey region is 4.7 × 10
8
M
⊙
, 31% more than the mass derived assuming the emission is optically thin. If we applied this 31% correction to the whole Milky Way, the total atomic gas mass would be 9.4–10.5 × 10
9
M
⊙
. Comparing the H
I
with existing CO data, we find a significant increase in the atomic-to-molecular gas ratio from the spiral arms to the inter-arm regions.
Conclusions.
The high-sensitivity and resolution THOR H
I
dataset provides an important new window on the physical and kinematic properties of gas in the inner Galaxy. Although the optical depth we derive is a lower limit, our study shows that the optical depth correction issignificant for H
I
column density and mass estimation. Together with the OH, RRL and continuum emission from the THOR survey, these new H
I
data provide the basis for high-angular-resolution studies of the interstellar medium in different phases.
Star formation is a multi-scale process that requires tracing cloud formation and stellar feedback within the local ( kpc) and global galaxy environment. We present first results from two large ...observing programs on the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA)and the Very Large Telescope/Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer(VLT/MUSE), mapping cloud scales (1″ = 47 pc) in both molecular gas and star-forming tracers across 90 kpc2 of the central disk of NGC 628 to probe the physics of star formation. Systematic spatial offsets between molecular clouds and H ii regions illustrate the time evolution of star-forming regions. Using uniform sampling of both maps on 50-500 pc scales, we infer molecular gas depletion times of 1-3 Gyr, but also find that the increase of scatter in the star formation relation on small scales is consistent with gas and H ii regions being only weakly correlated at the cloud (50 pc) scale. This implies a short overlap phase for molecular clouds and H ii regions, which we test by directly matching our catalog of 1502 H ii regions and 738 GMCs. We uncover only 74 objects in the overlap phase, and we find depletion times >1 Gyr, significantly longer than previously reported for individual star-forming clouds in the Milky Way. Finally, we find no clear trends that relate variations in the depletion time observed on 500 pc scales to physical drivers (metallicity, molecular and stellar-mass surface density, molecular gas boundedness) on 50 pc scales.
ABSTRACT Distance uncertainties plague our understanding of the physical scales relevant to the physics of star formation in extragalactic studies. The planetary nebulae luminosity function (PNLF) is ...one of very few techniques that can provide distance estimates to within ∼10%; however, it requires a planetary nebula (PN) sample that is uncontaminated by other ionizing sources. We employ optical integral field unit spectroscopy using the Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer on the Very Large Telescope to measure O iii line fluxes for sources unresolved on 50 pc scales within the central star-forming galaxy disk of NGC 628. We use diagnostic line ratios to identify 62 PNe, 30 supernova remnants, and 87 H ii regions within our fields. Using the 36 brightest PNe, we determine a new PNLF distance modulus of 29.91 − 0.13 + 0.08 mag (9.59 − 0.57 + 0.35 Mpc), which is in good agreement with literature values, but significantly larger than the previously reported PNLF distance. We are able to explain the discrepancy and recover the previous result when we reintroduce SNR contaminants to our sample. This demonstrates the power of full spectral information over narrowband imaging in isolating PNe. Given our limited spatial coverage within the Galaxy, we show that this technique can be used to refine distance estimates, even when IFU observations cover only a fraction of a galaxy disk.
The Herschel Dwarf Galaxy Survey Cormier, D; Madden, S C; Lebouteiller, V ...
Astronomy and astrophysics (Berlin),
06/2015, Letnik:
578
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
The far-infrared (FIR) lines are important tracers of the cooling and physical conditions of the interstellar medium (ISM) and are rapidly becoming workhorse diagnostics for galaxies throughout the ...universe. Our goal is to explain the main differences and trends observed in the FIR line emission of dwarf galaxies compared to more metal-rich alaxies, and how this translates in ISM properties. We present Herschel/PACS spectroscopic observations of the CII 157 mum, OI 63 and 145 mum, OIII 88 mum, NII 122 and 205 mum, and NIII 57 mum fine-structure cooling lines in a sample of 48 low-metallicity star-forming galaxies of the guaranteed time key program Dwarf Galaxy Survey. We correlate PACS line ratios and line-to-LTIR ratios with LTIR, LTIR/LB, metallicity, and FIR color, and interpret the observed trends in terms of ISM conditions and phase filling factors with Cloudy radiative transfer models.
ABSTRACT
Infrared dark clouds (IRDCs) are potential hosts of the elusive early phases of high mass star formation (HMSF). Here, we conduct an in-depth analysis of the fragmentation properties of a ...sample of 10 IRDCs, which have been highlighted as some of the best candidates to study HMSF within the Milky Way. To do so, we have obtained a set of large mosaics covering these IRDCs with Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) at Band 3 (or 3 mm). These observations have a high angular resolution (∼3 arcsec; ∼0.05 pc), and high continuum and spectral line sensitivity (∼0.15 mJy beam−1 and ∼0.2 K per 0.1 km s−1 channel at the N2H+ (1 − 0) transition). From the dust continuum emission, we identify 96 cores ranging from low to high mass (M = 3.4−50.9 M⊙) that are gravitationally bound (αvir = 0.3−1.3) and which would require magnetic field strengths of B = 0.3−1.0 mG to be in virial equilibrium. We combine these results with a homogenized catalogue of literature cores to recover the hierarchical structure within these clouds over four orders of magnitude in spatial scale (0.01–10 pc). Using supplementary observations at an even higher angular resolution, we find that the smallest fragments (<0.02 pc) within this hierarchy do not currently have the mass and/or the density required to form high-mass stars. None the less, the new ALMA observations presented in this paper have facilitated the identification of 19 (6 quiescent and 13 star-forming) cores that retain >16 M⊙ without further fragmentation. These high-mass cores contain trans-sonic non-thermal motions, are kinematically sub-virial, and require moderate magnetic field strengths for support against collapse. The identification of these potential sites of HMSF represents a key step in allowing us to test the predictions from high-mass star and cluster formation theories.
The distribution of metals within a galaxy traces the baryon cycle and the buildup of galactic disks, but the detailed gas phase metallicity distribution remains poorly sampled. We have determined ...the gas phase oxygen abundances for 7138 H ii regions across the disks of eight nearby galaxies using Very Large Telescope/Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) optical integral field spectroscopy as part of the PHANGS-MUSE survey. After removing the first-order radial gradients present in each galaxy, we look at the statistics of the metallicity offset (ΔO/H) and explore azimuthal variations. Across each galaxy, we find low ( = 0.03-0.05 dex) scatter at any given radius, indicative of efficient mixing. We compare physical parameters for those H ii regions that are 1 outliers toward both enhanced and reduced abundances. Regions with enhanced abundances have high ionization parameter, higher H luminosity, lower H velocity dispersion, younger star clusters, and associated molecular gas clouds showing higher molecular gas densities. This indicates recent star formation has locally enriched the material. Regions with reduced abundances show increased H velocity dispersions, suggestive of mixing introducing more pristine material. We observe subtle azimuthal variations in half of the sample, but cannot always cleanly associate this with the spiral pattern. Regions with enhanced and reduced abundances are found distributed throughout the disk, and in half of our galaxies we can identify subsections of spiral arms with clearly associated metallicity gradients. This suggests spiral arms play a role in organizing and mixing the interstellar medium.
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