ORCID Profile
0000-0003-0378-4667
Current Organisation
Princeton University
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Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 15-03-2021
Abstract: We apply the Tremaine–Weinberg method to 19 nearby galaxies using stellar mass surface densities and velocities derived from the PHANGS-MUSE survey, to calculate (primarily bar) pattern speeds (Ω P ). After quality checks, we find that around half (10) of these stellar-mass-based measurements are reliable. For those galaxies, we find good agreement between our results and previously published pattern speeds, and we use rotation curves to calculate major resonance locations (corotation radii and Lindblad resonances). We also compare these stellar-mass-derived pattern speeds with H α (from MUSE) and CO( J = 2 − 1) emission from the PHANGS-ALMA survey. We find that in the case of these clumpy interstellar medium (ISM) tracers, this method erroneously gives a signal that is simply the angular frequency at a representative radius set by the distribution of these clumps (Ω clump ), and that this Ω clump is significantly different from Ω P (∼20% in the case of H α , and ∼50% in the case of CO). Thus, we conclude that it is inadvisable to use “pattern speeds” derived from ISM kinematics. Finally, we compare our derived pattern speeds and corotation radii, along with bar properties, to the global parameters of these galaxies. Consistent with previous studies, we find that galaxies with a later Hubble type have a larger ratio of corotation radius to bar length, more molecular-gas-rich galaxies have higher Ω P , and more bulge-dominated galaxies have lower Ω P . Unlike earlier works, however, there are no clear trends between the bar strength and Ω P , nor between the total stellar mass surface density and the pattern speed.
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 02-2023
Abstract: We measure the molecular gas environment near recent ( yr old) supernovae (SNe) using ∼1″ or ≤150 pc resolution CO (2–1) maps from the PHANGS–Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) survey of nearby star-forming galaxies. This is arguably the first such study to approach the scales of in idual massive molecular clouds ( M mol ≳ 10 5.3 M ⊙ ). Using the Open Supernova Catalog, we identify 63 SNe within the PHANGS–ALMA footprint. We detect CO (2–1) emission near ∼60% of the s le at 150 pc resolution, compared to ∼35% of map pixels with CO (2–1) emission, and up to ∼95% of the SNe at 1 kpc resolution, compared to ∼80% of map pixels with CO (2–1) emission. We expect the ∼60% of SNe within the same 150 pc beam, as a giant molecular cloud 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 ∼40% of SNe without strong CO (2–1) detections will deposit their energy in the diffuse interstellar medium, perhaps helping drive large-scale turbulence or galactic outflows. Broken down by type, we detect CO (2–1) emission at the sites of ∼85% of our 9 stripped-envelope SNe (SESNe), ∼40% of our 34 Type II SNe, and ∼35% of our 13 Type Ia SNe, indicating that SESNe are most closely associated with the brightest CO (2–1) emitting regions in our s le. 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.
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 22-08-2022
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 ∼100 pc), play a major role in governing galaxy evolution. Measuring the time-scales of GMC evolution is important to identify and characterize the specific physical mechanisms that drive this transition. By applying a robust statistical method to high-resolution CO and narrow-band H α 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 s le 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 per cent. 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.
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 04-2023
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 07-04-2020
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 02-2023
Abstract: 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 (∼1 kpc) spatially resolved measurements of CO (1–0) and CO (2–1) intensity, I CO , and mid-IR intensity, I MIR , at 8, 12, 22, and 24 μ m. The I CO versus I MIR relationship is reasonably described by a power law with slopes 0.7–1.2 and normalization I CO ∼ 1 K km s −1 at I MIR ∼ 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 ∝ I MIR 0.2 , in good agreement with other work. The 8 μ m and 12 μ m bands, with strong polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) features, show steeper CO versus mid-IR slopes than the 22 and 24 μ 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 ⋆ ) and anticorrelates with star formation rate/ M ⋆ . At ∼1 kpc resolution, the first four PHANGS–JWST targets show CO-to-mid-IR relationships that are quantitatively similar to our larger literature s le, 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 s le size and span a limited range of intensities.
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 06-2023
Abstract: The CO-to-H 2 conversion factor ( α CO ) is central to measuring the amount and properties of molecular gas. It is known to vary with environmental conditions, and previous studies have revealed lower α CO in the centers of some barred galaxies on kiloparsec scales. To unveil the physical drivers of such variations, we obtained Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array bands (3), (6), and (7) observations toward the inner ∼2 kpc of NGC 3627 and NGC 4321 tracing 12 CO, 13 CO, and C 18 O lines on ∼100 pc scales. Our multiline modeling and Bayesian likelihood analysis of these data sets reveal variations of molecular gas density, temperature, optical depth, and velocity dispersion, which are among the key drivers of α CO . The central 300 pc nuclei in both galaxies show strong enhancement of temperature T k ≳ 100 K and density n H 2 10 3 cm −3 . Assuming a CO-to-H 2 abundance of 3 × 10 −4 , we derive 4–15 times lower α CO than the Galactic value across our maps, which agrees well with previous kiloparsec-scale measurements. Combining the results with our previous work on NGC 3351, we find a strong correlation of α CO with low- J 12 CO optical depths ( τ CO ), as well as an anticorrelation with T k . The τ CO correlation explains most of the α CO variation in the three galaxy centers, whereas changes in T k influence α CO to second order. Overall, the observed line width and 12 CO/ 13 CO 2–1 line ratio correlate with τ CO variation in these centers, and thus they are useful observational indicators for α CO variation. We also test current simulation-based α CO prescriptions and find a systematic overprediction, which likely originates from the mismatch of gas conditions between our data and the simulations.
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 02-2023
Abstract: We compare mid-infrared (mid-IR), extinction-corrected H α , 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 α . At these scales, CO and H α each correlate strongly with mid-IR emission, and these correlations are each stronger than the one relating CO to H α emission. This reflects that mid-IR emission simultaneously acts as a dust column density tracer, leading to a good match with the molecular-gas-tracing CO, and as a heating tracer, leading to a good match with the H α . By combining mid-IR, CO, and H α 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 ν = 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 α -tracing component. The best-fitting models imply that ∼50% of the mid-IR flux arises from molecular gas heated by the diffuse interstellar radiation field, with the remaining ∼50% associated with bright, dusty star-forming regions. We discuss differences between the F770W, F1000W, and F1130W bands and the continuum-dominated F2100W band and suggest next steps for using the mid-IR as an ISM tracer.
Publisher: EDP Sciences
Date: 27-02-2023
DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/202244718
Abstract: Aims. In this Virgo Environment Traced in CO (VERTICO) science paper, we aim to study how the star formation process depends on the galactic environment and gravitational interactions in the context of galaxy evolution. We explore the scaling relation between the star formation rate surface density (Σ SFR ) and the molecular gas surface density (Σ mol ), also known as the Kennicutt-Schmidt relation, in a subs le of Virgo cluster spiral galaxies. Methods. We used new Atacama Compact Array and Total Power (ACA+TP) observations from the VERTICO-Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) Large Program at 720 pc resolution to resolve the molecular gas content, as traced by the 12 CO (2 − 1) transition, across the disks of 37 spiral galaxies in the Virgo cluster. In combination with archival UV and IR observations used to determine the star formation rate (SFR), we estimated the parameters of the Kennicutt-Schmidt (KS) relation for the entire ensemble of galaxies, and within in idual galaxies. Results. We find the KS slope for the entire population to be N = 0.97 ± 0.07, with a characteristic molecular gas depletion time of 1.86 Gyr for our full s le, which is in agreement with previous work in isolated, nearby star-forming galaxies. In in idual galaxies, we find that the KS slope ranges between 0.69 and 1.40, and that typical star formation efficiencies of molecular gas can vary from galaxy to galaxy by a factor of ∼4. These galaxy-to-galaxy variations account for ∼0.20 dex in scatter in the ensemble KS relation, which is characterized by a 0.42 dex scatter. In addition, we find that the HI-deficient galaxies in the Virgo cluster show a steeper resolved KS relation and lower molecular gas efficiencies than HI-normal cluster galaxies. Conclusions. While the molecular gas content in galaxies residing in the Virgo cluster appears – to first order – to behave similarly to that in isolated galaxies, our VERTICO s le of galaxies shows that cluster environments play a key role in regulating star formation. The environmental mechanisms affecting the HI galaxy content also have a direct impact on the star formation efficiency of molecular gas in cluster galaxies, leading to longer depletion times in HI-deficient members.
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 19-10-2021
Abstract: The feedback from young stars (i.e. pre-supernova) is thought to play a crucial role in molecular cloud destruction. In this paper, we assess the feedback mechanisms acting within a s le of 5810 H ii regions identified from the PHANGS-MUSE survey of 19 nearby (& Mpc) star-forming, main-sequence spiral galaxies [log(M⋆/M⊙) = 9.4–11]. These optical spectroscopic maps are essential to constrain the physical properties of the H ii regions, which we use to investigate their internal pressure terms. We estimate the photoionized gas (Ptherm), direct radiation (Prad), and mechanical wind pressure (Pwind), which we compare to the confining pressure of their host environment (Pde). The H ii regions remain unresolved within our ∼50–100 pc resolution observations, so we place upper (Pmax) and lower (Pmin) limits on each of the pressures by using a minimum (i.e. clumpy structure) and maximum (i.e. smooth structure) size, respectively. We find that the Pmax measurements are broadly similar, and for Pmin the Ptherm is mildly dominant. We find that the majority of H ii regions are overpressured, Ptot/Pde = (Ptherm + Pwind + Prad)/Pde & 1, and expanding, yet there is a small s le of compact H ii regions with Ptot,max/Pde & 1 (∼1 per cent of the s le). These mostly reside in galaxy centres (Rgal & 1 kpc), or, specifically, environments of high gas surface density log(Σgas/M⊙ pc−2) ∼ 2.5 (measured on kpc-scales). Lastly, we compare to a s le of literature measurements for Ptherm and Prad to investigate how dominant pressure term transitions over around 5 dex in spatial dynamic range and 10 dex in pressure.
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 30-11-2018
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 23-05-2023
Abstract: Galactic bars can drive cold gas inflows towards the centres of galaxies. The gas transport happens primarily through the so-called bar dust lanes, which connect the galactic disc at kpc scales to the nuclear rings at hundreds of pc scales much like two gigantic galactic rivers. Once in the ring, the gas can fuel star formation activity, galactic outflows, and central supermassive black holes. Measuring the mass inflow rates is therefore important to understanding the mass/energy budget and evolution of galactic nuclei. In this work, we use CO datacubes from the PHANGS-ALMA survey and a simple geometrical method to measure the bar-driven mass inflow rate on to the nuclear ring of the barred galaxy NGC 1097. The method assumes that the gas velocity in the bar lanes is parallel to the lanes in the frame co-rotating with the bar, and allows one to derive the inflow rates from sufficiently sensitive and resolved position–position–velocity diagrams if the bar pattern speed and galaxy orientations are known. We find an inflow rate of $\\dot{M}=(3.0 \\pm 2.1)\\, \\rm M_\\odot \\, yr^{-1}$ averaged over a time span of 40 Myr, which varies by a factor of a few over time-scales of ∼10 Myr. Most of the inflow appears to be consumed by star formation in the ring, which is currently occurring at a star formation rate (SFR) of $\\simeq\\!1.8\\!-\\!2 \\, \\rm M_\\odot \\, yr^{-1}$, suggesting that the inflow is causally controlling the SFR in the ring as a function of time.
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 02-2023
Abstract: Large-scale bars can fuel galaxy centers with molecular gas, often leading to the development of dense ringlike structures where intense star formation occurs, forming a very different environment compared to galactic disks. We pair ∼0.″3 (30 pc) resolution new JWST/MIRI imaging with archival ALMA CO(2–1) mapping of the central ∼5 kpc of the nearby barred spiral galaxy NGC 1365 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 ∼ 475 pc) 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 〈 σ CO,scouse 〉 ≈ 19 km s −1 and surface densities of 〈 Σ H 2 , scouse 〉 ≈ 800 M ⊙ pc − 2 , similar to the properties observed throughout the rest of the central molecular gas structure. Tailored hydrodynamical simulations exhibit many of the observed properties and imply that the observed structures are transient and highly time-variable. From our study of NGC 1365, we conclude that it is predominantly the high gas inflow triggered by the bar that is setting the star formation in its CMZ.
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 02-2023
Abstract: We present a high-resolution view of bubbles within the Phantom Galaxy (NGC 628), a nearby (∼10 Mpc), star-forming (∼2 M ⊙ yr −1 ), face-on ( i ∼ 9°) grand-design spiral galaxy. With new data obtained as part of the Physics at High Angular resolution in Nearby GalaxieS (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 1 kpc 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 H α observations from the Hubble Space Telescope, we see that the ionized gas is brightest in the shells of both bubbles, and is coincident with the youngest (∼1 Myr) and most massive (∼10 5 M ⊙ ) stellar associations. We also find an older generation (∼20 Myr) of stellar associations is present within the bubble of the Phantom Void. From our kinematic analysis of the H I , H 2 (CO), and H ii gas across the Phantom Void, we infer a high expansion speed of around 15 to 50 km s −1 . 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 supernovae 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.
Publisher: EDP Sciences
Date: 10-2023
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 02-2023
Abstract: JWST/Mid-Infrared Instrument 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 multiscale 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 kiloparsecs), the turbulent Jeans length (a few hundred parsecs), and the disk scale height (tens of parsecs) reconstructed using PHANGS–Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array 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 multiphase gas reservoir.
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 14-08-2018
Publisher: EDP Sciences
Date: 03-2022
DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/202141727
Abstract: We present the PHANGS-MUSE survey, a programme that uses the MUSE integral field spectrograph at the ESO VLT to map 19 massive (9.4 log( M ⋆ / M ⊙ ) 11.0) nearby ( D ≲ 20 Mpc) star-forming disc galaxies. The survey consists of 168 MUSE pointings (1′ by 1′ each) and a total of nearly 15 × 10 6 spectra, covering ∼1.5 × 10 6 independent spectra. PHANGS-MUSE provides the first integral field spectrograph view of star formation across different local environments (including galaxy centres, bars, and spiral arms) in external galaxies at a median resolution of 50 pc, better than the mean inter-cloud distance in the ionised interstellar medium. This ‘cloud-scale’ resolution allows detailed demographics and characterisations of H II regions and other ionised nebulae. PHANGS-MUSE further delivers a unique view on the associated gas and stellar kinematics and provides constraints on the star-formation history. The PHANGS-MUSE survey is complemented by dedicated ALMA CO(2–1) and multi-band HST observations, therefore allowing us to probe the key stages of the star-formation process from molecular clouds to H II regions and star clusters. This paper describes the scientific motivation, s le selection, observational strategy, data reduction, and analysis process of the PHANGS-MUSE survey. We present our bespoke automated data-reduction framework, which is built on the reduction recipes provided by ESO but additionally allows for mosaicking and homogenisation of the point spread function. We further present a detailed quality assessment and a brief illustration of the potential scientific applications of the large set of PHANGS-MUSE data products generated by our data analysis framework. The data cubes and analysis data products described in this paper represent the basis for the first PHANGS-MUSE public data release and are available in the ESO archive and via the Canadian Astronomy Data Centre.
Publisher: European Southern Observatory (ESO)
Date: 2019
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 2022
Abstract: The PHANGS program is building the first data set to enable the multiphase, multiscale study of star formation across the nearby spiral galaxy population. This effort is enabled by large survey programs with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), MUSE on the Very Large Telescope, and the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), with which we have obtained CO(2–1) imaging, optical spectroscopic mapping, and high-resolution UV–optical imaging, respectively. Here, we present PHANGS-HST, which has obtained NUV– U – B – V – I imaging of the disks of 38 spiral galaxies at distances of 4–23 Mpc, and parallel V - and I -band imaging of their halos, to provide a census of tens of thousands of compact star clusters and multiscale stellar associations. The combination of HST, ALMA, and VLT/MUSE observations will yield an unprecedented joint catalog of the observed and physical properties of ∼100,000 star clusters, associations, H ii regions, and molecular clouds. With these basic units of star formation, PHANGS will systematically chart the evolutionary cycling between gas and stars across a ersity of galactic environments found in nearby galaxies. We discuss the design of the PHANGS-HST survey and provide an overview of the HST data processing pipeline and first results. We highlight new methods for selecting star cluster candidates, morphological classification of candidates with convolutional neural networks, and identification of stellar associations over a range of physical scales with a watershed algorithm. We describe the cross-observatory imaging, catalogs, and software products to be released. The PHANGS high-level science products will seed a broad range of investigations, in particular, the study of embedded stellar populations and dust with the James Webb Space Telescope, for which a PHANGS Cycle 1 Treasury program to obtain eight-band 2–21 μ m imaging has been approved.
Publisher: EDP Sciences
Date: 06-2021
DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/202140733
Abstract: Aims. The complexity of star formation at the physical scale of molecular clouds is not yet fully understood. We investigate the mechanisms regulating the formation of stars in different environments within nearby star-forming galaxies from the Physics at High Angular resolution in Nearby GalaxieS (PHANGS) s le. Methods. Integral field spectroscopic data and radio-interferometric observations of 18 galaxies were combined to explore the existence of the resolved star formation main sequence (Σ stellar versus Σ SFR ), resolved Kennicutt–Schmidt relation (Σ mol. gas versus Σ SFR ), and resolved molecular gas main sequence (Σ stellar versus Σ mol. gas ), and we derived their slope and scatter at spatial resolutions from 100 pc to 1 kpc (under various assumptions). Results. All three relations were recovered at the highest spatial resolution (100 pc). Furthermore, significant variations in these scaling relations were observed across different galactic environments. The exclusion of non-detections has a systematic impact on the inferred slope as a function of the spatial scale. Finally, the scatter of the Σ mol. gas + stellar versus Σ SFR correlation is smaller than that of the resolved star formation main sequence, but higher than that found for the resolved Kennicutt–Schmidt relation. Conclusions. The resolved molecular gas main sequence has the tightest relation at a spatial scale of 100 pc (scatter of 0.34 dex), followed by the resolved Kennicutt–Schmidt relation (0.41 dex) and then the resolved star formation main sequence (0.51 dex). This is consistent with expectations from the timescales involved in the evolutionary cycle of molecular clouds. Surprisingly, the resolved Kennicutt–Schmidt relation shows the least variation across galaxies and environments, suggesting a tight link between molecular gas and subsequent star formation. The scatter of the three relations decreases at lower spatial resolutions, with the resolved Kennicutt–Schmidt relation being the tightest (0.27 dex) at a spatial scale of 1 kpc. Variation in the slope of the resolved star formation main sequence among galaxies is partially due to different detection fractions of Σ SFR with respect to Σ stellar .
Publisher: EDP Sciences
Date: 02-2023
DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/202244863
Abstract: Mapping star-formation rates (SFR) within galaxies is key to unveiling their assembly and evolution. Calibrations exist for computing the SFR from a combination of ultraviolet and infrared bands for galaxies as integrated systems, but their applicability to sub-galactic (kiloparsec) scales remains largely untested. We used integral field spectroscopy of 19 nearby ( D 20 Mpc) galaxies obtained by PHANGS–MUSE to derive accurate Balmer decrements (H α /H β ) and attenuation-corrected H α maps. We combined this information with mid-infrared maps from WISE at 22 μm and ultraviolet maps from GALEX in the far-UV band to derive SFR surface densities in nearby galaxies on resolved (kiloparsec) scales. Using the H α 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 calibrated this effect by proposing functional forms for the coefficients in front of the IR term that depend on band ratios sensitive to the sSFR. These recipes return SFR estimates that agree with those in the literature at high sSFR (log(sSFR/yr −1 ) − 9.9). Moreover, they lead to negligible bias and 0.16 dex scatter when compared to our reference attenuation-corrected SFR from H α . 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, but 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 (∼100 pc) resolution mid-IR imaging.
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 13-10-2021
Abstract: It is a major open question which physical processes stop gas accretion on to giant molecular clouds (GMCs) and limit the efficiency at which gas is converted into stars. While feedback from supernova explosions has been the popular feedback mechanism included in simulations of galaxy formation and evolution, ‘early’ feedback mechanisms such as stellar winds, photoionization, and radiation pressure are expected to play an important role in dispersing the gas after the onset of star formation. These feedback processes typically take place on small scales (∼10–100 pc) and their effects have therefore been difficult to constrain in environments other than the Milky Way. We apply a novel statistical method to ∼1 arcsec resolution maps of CO and H α across a s le of nine nearby galaxies, to measure the time over which GMCs are dispersed by feedback from young, high-mass stars, as a function of the galactic environment. We find that GMCs are typically dispersed within ∼3 Myr on average after the emergence of unembedded high-mass stars, with variations within galaxies associated with morphological features rather than radial trends. Comparison with analytical predictions demonstrates that, independently of the environment, early feedback mechanisms (particularly photoionization and stellar winds) play a crucial role in dispersing GMCs and limiting their star formation efficiency in nearby galaxies. Finally, we show that the efficiency at which the energy injected by these early feedback mechanisms couples with the parent GMC is relatively low (a few tens of per cent), such that the vast majority of momentum and energy emitted by the young stellar populations escapes the parent GMC.
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 09-2020
Abstract: Using the PHANGS–ALMA CO(2–1) survey, we characterize molecular gas properties on ∼100 pc scales across 102,778 independent sightlines in 70 nearby galaxies. This yields the best synthetic view of molecular gas properties on cloud scales across the local star-forming galaxy population obtained to date. Consistent with previous studies, we observe a wide range of molecular gas surface densities (3.4 dex), velocity dispersions (1.7 dex), and turbulent pressures (6.5 dex) across the galaxies in our s le. Under simplifying assumptions about subresolution gas structure, the inferred virial parameters suggest that the kinetic energy of the molecular gas typically exceeds its self-gravitational binding energy at ∼100 pc scales by a modest factor (1.3 on average). We find that the cloud-scale surface density, velocity dispersion, and turbulent pressure (1) increase toward the inner parts of galaxies, (2) are exceptionally high in the centers of barred galaxies (where the gas also appears less gravitationally bound), and (3) are moderately higher in spiral arms than in inter-arm regions. The galaxy-wide averages of these gas properties also correlate with the integrated stellar mass, star formation rate, and offset from the star-forming main sequence of the host galaxies. These correlations persist even when we exclude regions with extraordinary gas properties in galaxy centers, which contribute significantly to the inter-galaxy variations. Our results provide key empirical constraints on the physical link between molecular cloud populations and their galactic environment.
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 02-2023
Abstract: The PHANGS collaboration has been building a reference data set for the multiscale, multiphase study of star formation and the interstellar medium (ISM) 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 (∼5–50 pc). In Cycle 1, PHANGS is conducting an eight-band imaging survey from 2 to 21 μ m of 19 nearby spiral galaxies. Optical integral field spectroscopy, CO(2–1) mapping, 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 ∼10,000 star clusters, MUSE spectroscopic mapping of ∼20,000 H ii regions, and ∼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 ersity 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.
Publisher: EDP Sciences
Date: 02-2020
DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/201936060
Abstract: Context. Cloud-scale surveys of molecular gas reveal the link between giant molecular cloud properties and star formation across a range of galactic environments. Cloud populations in galaxy disks are considered to be representative of the normal star formation process, while galaxy centers tend to harbor denser gas that exhibits more extreme star formation. At high resolution, however, molecular clouds with exceptional gas properties and star formation activity may also be observed in normal disk environments. In this paper we study the brightest cloud traced in CO(2–1) emission in the disk of nearby spiral galaxy NGC 628. Aims. We characterize the properties of the molecular and ionized gas that is spatially coincident with an extremely bright H II region in the context of the NGC 628 galactic environment. We investigate how feedback and large-scale processes influence the properties of the molecular gas in this region. Methods. High-resolution ALMA observations of CO(2–1) and CO(1−0) emission were used to characterize the mass and dynamical state of the “headlight” molecular cloud. The characteristics of this cloud are compared to the typical properties of molecular clouds in NGC 628. A simple large velocity gradient (LVG) analysis incorporating additional ALMA observations of 13 CO(1−0), HCO + (1−0), and HCN(1−0) emission was used to constrain the beam-diluted density and temperature of the molecular gas. We analyzed the MUSE spectrum using Starburst99 to characterize the young stellar population associated with the H II region. Results. The unusually bright headlight cloud is massive (1 − 2 × 10 7 M ⊙ ), with a beam-diluted density of n H 2 = 5 × 10 4 cm −3 based on LVG modeling. It has a low virial parameter, suggesting that the CO emission associated with this cloud may be overluminous due to heating by the H II region. A young (2 − 4 Myr) stellar population with mass 3 × 10 5 M ⊙ is associated. Conclusions. We argue that the headlight cloud is currently being destroyed by feedback from young massive stars. Due to the large mass of the cloud, this phase of the its evolution is long enough for the impact of feedback on the excitation of the gas to be observed. The high mass of the headlight cloud may be related to its location at a spiral co-rotation radius, where gas experiences reduced galactic shear compared to other regions of the disk and receives a sustained inflow of gas that can promote the mass growth of the cloud.
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 08-02-2023
Abstract: We use new HCN(1–0) data from the ACA Large-s le Mapping Of Nearby galaxies in Dense gas (ALMOND) survey to trace the kpc-scale molecular gas density structure and CO(2–1) data from the Physics at High Angular resolution in Nearby GalaxieS–Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (PHANGS–ALMA) to trace the bulk molecular gas across 25 nearby star-forming galaxies. At 2.1 kpc scale, we measure the density-sensitive HCN/CO line ratio and the star formation rate (SFR)/HCN ratio to trace the star formation efficiency in the denser molecular medium. At 150 pc scale, we measure structural and dynamical properties of the molecular gas via CO(2–1) line emission, which is linked to the lower resolution data using an intensity-weighted averaging method. We find positive correlations (negative) of HCN/CO (SFR/HCN) with the surface density, the velocity dispersion, and the internal turbulent pressure of the molecular gas. These observed correlations agree with expected trends from turbulent models of star formation, which consider a single free-fall time gravitational collapse. Our results show that the kpc-scale HCN/CO line ratio is a powerful tool to trace the 150 pc scale average density distribution of the molecular clouds. Lastly, we find systematic variations of the SFR/HCN ratio with cloud-scale molecular gas properties, which are incompatible with a universal star formation efficiency. Overall, these findings show that mean molecular gas density, molecular cloud properties, and star formation are closely linked in a coherent way, and observations of density-sensitive molecular gas tracers are a useful tool to analyse these variations, linking molecular gas physics to stellar output across galaxy discs.
Publisher: EDP Sciences
Date: 09-2021
DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/202141093
Abstract: Central molecular outflows in spiral galaxies are assumed to modulate their host galaxy’s star formation rate (SFR) by removing gas from the inner region of the galaxy. Outflows consisting of different gas phases appear to be a common feature in local galaxies, yet, little is known about the frequency of molecular outflows in main sequence galaxies in the nearby universe. We develop a rigorous set of selection criteria, which allow the reliable identification of outflows in large s les of galaxies. Our criteria make use of central spectra, position-velocity diagrams and velocity-integrated intensity maps (line-wing maps). We use this method on high-angular resolution CO (2–1) observations from the PHANGS-ALMA survey, which provides observations of the molecular gas for a homogeneous s le of 90 nearby main sequence galaxies at a resolution of ∼100 pc. We find correlations between the assigned outflow confidence and stellar mass or global SFR. We determine the frequency of central molecular outflows to be 25 ± 2% considering all outflow candidates, or 20 ± 2% for secure outflows only. Our resulting outflow candidate s le of 16−20 galaxies shows an overall enhanced fraction of active galactic nuclei (AGN) (50%) and bars (89%) compared to the full s le (galaxies with AGN: 24%, with bar: 61%). We extend the trend between mass outflow rates and SFR known for high outflow rates down to lower values (log 10 Ṁ out [ M ⊙ yr −1 ] 0). Mass loading factors are of order unity, indicating that these outflows are not efficient in quenching the SFR in main sequence galaxies.
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 03-2022
Abstract: The relative distribution of molecular gas and star formation in galaxies gives insight into the physical processes and timescales of the cycle between gas and stars. In this work, we track the relative spatial configuration of CO and H α emission at high resolution in each of our galaxy targets and use these measurements to quantify the distributions of regions in different evolutionary stages of star formation: from molecular gas without star formation traced by H α to star-forming gas, and to H ii regions. The large s le, drawn from the Physics at High Angular resolution in Nearby GalaxieS ALMA and narrowband H α (PHANGS-ALMA and PHANGS-H α ) surveys, spans a wide range of stellar masses and morphological types, allowing us to investigate the dependencies of the gas‒star formation cycle on global galaxy properties. At a resolution of 150 pc, the incidence of regions in different stages shows a dependence on stellar mass and Hubble type of galaxies over the radial range probed. Massive and/or earlier-type galaxies in our s le exhibit a significant reservoir of molecular gas without star formation traced by H α , while lower-mass galaxies harbor substantial H ii regions that may have dispersed their birth clouds or formed from low-mass, more isolated clouds. Galactic structures add a further layer of complexity to the relative distribution of CO and H α emission. Trends between galaxy properties and distributions of gas traced by CO and H α are visible only when the observed spatial scale is ≪500 pc, reflecting the critical resolution requirement to distinguish stages of the star formation process.
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 24-11-2021
Abstract: We present PHANGS–ALMA, the first survey to map CO J = 2 → 1 line emission at ∼1″ ∼100 pc spatial resolution from a representative s le of 90 nearby ( d ≲ 20 Mpc) galaxies that lie on or near the z = 0 “main sequence” of star-forming galaxies. CO line emission traces the bulk distribution of molecular gas, which is the cold, star-forming phase of the interstellar medium. At the resolution achieved by PHANGS–ALMA, each beam reaches the size of a typical in idual giant molecular cloud, so that these data can be used to measure the demographics, life cycle, and physical state of molecular clouds across the population of galaxies where the majority of stars form at z = 0. This paper describes the scientific motivation and background for the survey, s le selection, global properties of the targets, Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observations, and characteristics of the delivered data and derived data products. As the ALMA s le serves as the parent s le for parallel surveys with MUSE on the Very Large Telescope, the Hubble Space Telescope, AstroSat, the Very Large Array, and other facilities, we include a detailed discussion of the s le selection. We detail the estimation of galaxy mass, size, star formation rate, CO luminosity, and other properties, compare estimates using different systems and provide best-estimate integrated measurements for each target. We also report the design and execution of the ALMA observations, which combine a Cycle 5 Large Program, a series of smaller programs, and archival observations. Finally, we present the first 1″ resolution atlas of CO emission from nearby galaxies and describe the properties and contents of the first PHANGS–ALMA public data release.
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 03-2023
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 Physics at High Angular Resolution in Nearby Galaxies (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 ∼10% larger scatter than the other three. The slope of this relation ranges β ≈ 0.9–1.2, implying that the molecular gas depletion time remains roughly constant across the environments probed in our s le. The other relations have shallower slopes ( β ≈ 0.6–1.0), suggesting that the star formation efficiency per orbital time, the star formation efficiency per free fall time, and the pressure-to-SFR surface density ratio (i.e., the feedback yield) 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.
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 26-03-2021
Abstract: Feedback from massive stars plays a key role in molecular cloud evolution. After the onset of star formation, the young stellar population is exposed by photoionization, winds, supernovae, and radiation pressure from massive stars. Recent observations of nearby galaxies have provided the evolutionary timeline between molecular clouds and exposed young stars, but the duration of the embedded phase of massive star formation is still ill-constrained. We measure how long massive stellar populations remain embedded within their natal cloud, by applying a statistical method to six nearby galaxies at $20{-}100~\\mbox{${\\rm ~pc}$}$ resolution, using CO, Spitzer 24$\\rm \\, \\mu m$, and H α emission as tracers of molecular clouds, embedded star formation, and exposed star formation, respectively. We find that the embedded phase (with CO and 24$\\rm \\, \\mu m$ emission) lasts for 2−7 Myr and constitutes $17{-}47{{\\ \\rm per\\ cent}}$ of the cloud lifetime. During approximately the first half of this phase, the region is invisible in H α, making it heavily obscured. For the second half of this phase, the region also emits in H α and is partially exposed. Once the cloud has been dispersed by feedback, 24$\\rm \\, \\mu m$ emission no longer traces ongoing star formation, but remains detectable for another 2−9 Myr through the emission from ambient CO-dark gas, tracing star formation that recently ended. The short duration of massive star formation suggests that pre-supernova feedback (photoionization and winds) is important in disrupting molecular clouds. The measured time-scales do not show significant correlations with environmental properties (e.g. metallicity). Future JWST observations will enable these measurements routinely across the nearby galaxy population.
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 10-12-2019
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 07-2021
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 11-07-2022
Abstract: 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 subgalactic 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 freefall time and turbulence crossing time are ∼5–20 Myr, comparable to previous cloud lifetime estimates. The timescales for orbital motion, shearing, and cloud–cloud collisions are longer, ∼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.
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 24-01-2202
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 Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array multi- J CO (1–0, 2–1 and 4–3) and [ C i ] (1–0) mapping, which we use to trace CO excitation via R 42 = I CO(4−3) / I CO(2−1) and R 21 = I CO(2−1) / I CO(1−0) and dissociation via R CICO = 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 R 42 ) and increased signatures of dissociation (higher R CICO ) 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 R 42 and R CICO with local conditions across the regions and find that both correlate with near-IR 2 μ m emission tracing the YMCs and with both polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (11.3 μ m) and dust continuum (21 μ m) emission. In general, R CICO exhibits ∼0.1 dex tighter correlations than R 42 , suggesting C i 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.
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 06-2021
Abstract: In this paper we examine the factors that shape the distribution of molecular gas surface densities on the 150 pc scale across 67 morphologically erse star-forming galaxies in the PHANGS-ALMA CO (2–1) survey. Dividing each galaxy into radial bins, we measure molecular gas surface density contrasts, defined here as the ratio between a fixed high percentile of the CO distribution and a fixed reference level in each bin. This reference level captures the level of the faint CO floor that extends between bright filamentary features, while the intensity level of the higher percentile probes the structures visually associated with bright, dense interstellar medium features like spiral arms, bars, and filaments. We compare these contrasts to matched percentile-based measurements of the 3.6 μ m emission measured using Spitzer/IRAC imaging, which trace the underlying stellar mass density. We find that the logarithms of CO contrasts on 150 pc scales are 3–4 times larger than, and positively correlated with, the logarithms of 3.6 μ m contrasts probing smooth nonaxisymmetric stellar bar and spiral structures. The correlation appears steeper than linear, consistent with the compression of gas as it flows supersonically in response to large-scale stellar structures, even in the presence of weak or flocculent spiral arms. Stellar dynamical features appear to play an important role in setting the cloud-scale gas density in our galaxies, with gas self-gravity perhaps playing a weaker role in setting the 150 pc scale distribution of gas densities.
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 12-2022
Abstract: We combine JWST observations with Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array CO and Very Large Telescope MUSE H α data to examine off-spiral arm star formation in the face-on, grand-design spiral galaxy NGC 628. We focus on the northern spiral arm, around a galactocentric radius of 3–4 kpc, and study two spurs. These form an interesting contrast, as one is CO-rich and one CO-poor, and they have a maximum azimuthal offset in MIRI 21 μ m and MUSE H α of around 40° (CO-rich) and 55° (CO-poor) from the spiral arm. The star formation rate is higher in the regions of the spurs near spiral arms, but the star formation efficiency appears relatively constant. Given the spiral pattern speed and rotation curve of this galaxy and assuming material exiting the arms undergoes purely circular motion, these offsets would be reached in 100–150 Myr, significantly longer than the 21 μ m and H α star formation timescales (both 10 Myr). The invariance of the star formation efficiency in the spurs versus the spiral arms indicates massive star formation is not only triggered in spiral arms, and cannot simply occur in the arms and then drift away from the wave pattern. These early JWST results show that in situ star formation likely occurs in the spurs, and that the observed young stars are not simply the “leftovers” of stellar birth in the spiral arms. The excellent physical resolution and sensitivity that JWST can attain in nearby galaxies will well resolve in idual star-forming regions and help us to better understand the earliest phases of star formation.
No related grants have been discovered for Jiayi Sun.