scholarly journals Star Formation in the Milky Way: The Infrared View

Author(s):  
Alberto Noriega-Crespo
Keyword(s):  
2020 ◽  
Vol 633 ◽  
pp. L3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nushkia Chamba ◽  
Ignacio Trujillo ◽  
Johan H. Knapen

Now almost 70 years since its introduction, the effective or half-light radius has become a very popular choice for characterising galaxy size. However, the effective radius measures the concentration of light within galaxies and thus does not capture our intuitive definition of size which is related to the edge or boundary of objects. For this reason, we aim to demonstrate the undesirable consequence of using the effective radius to draw conclusions about the nature of faint ultra-diffuse galaxies (UDGs) when compared to dwarfs and Milky Way-like galaxies. Instead of the effective radius, we use a measure of galaxy size based on the location of the gas density threshold required for star formation. Compared to the effective radius, this physically motivated definition places the sizes much closer to the boundary of a galaxy. Therefore, considering the sizes and stellar mass density profiles of UDGs and regular dwarfs, we find that the UDGs have sizes that are within the size range of dwarfs. We also show that currently known UDGs do not have sizes comparable to Milky Way-like objects. We find that, on average, UDGs are ten times smaller in extension than Milky Way-like galaxies. These results show that the use of size estimators sensitive to the concentration of light can lead to misleading results.


2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (S315) ◽  
pp. 163-166
Author(s):  
Jens Kauffmann

AbstractThe Central Molecular Zone (CMZ; inner ~100 pc) hosts some of the most dense and massive molecular clouds of the Milky Way. These clouds might serve as local templates for dense clouds seen in nearby starburst galaxies or in the early universe. The clouds have a striking feature: they form stars at a very slow pace, considering their mass and high average density. Here we use interferometer data from ALMA and the SMA to show that this slow star formation is a consequence of the cloud density structure: CMZ clouds have a very flat density structure. They might, for example, exceed the average density of the Orion A molecular cloud by an order of magnitude on spatial scales ~5 pc, but CMZ “cores” of ~0.1 pc radius have masses and densities lower than what is found in the Orion KL region. This absence of highest–density gas probably explains the suppression of star formation. The clouds are relatively turbulent, and ALMA observations of H2CO and SiO indicate that the turbulence is induced by high–velocity shocks. We speculate that these shocks might prevent the formation of high–mass cores. It has been argued that the state of CMZ clouds depends on their position along the orbit around Sgr A*. Our incomplete data indicate no evolution in the density structure, and only a modest evolution in star formation activity per unit mass.


2015 ◽  
Vol 576 ◽  
pp. A131 ◽  
Author(s):  
X. H. Han ◽  
J. J. Zhou ◽  
J. Z. Wang ◽  
J. Esimbek ◽  
J. S. Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  

2006 ◽  
Vol 2 (S237) ◽  
pp. 212-216 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Deharveng ◽  
A. Zavagno ◽  
B. Lefloch ◽  
J. Caplan ◽  
M. Pomarès

AbstractWe show how the expansion of classical Galactic Hiiregions can trigger massive-star formation via the collect & collapse process. We give examples of this process at work. We suggest that it also works in a turbulent medium.


Author(s):  
M Wienen ◽  
C M Brunt ◽  
C L Dobbs ◽  
D Colombo

Abstract Expansion of (sub)millimetre capabilities to high angular resolution offered with interferometers allows to resolve giant molecular clouds (GMCs) in nearby galaxies. This enables us to place the Milky Way in the context of other galaxies to advance our understanding of star formation in our own Galaxy. We thus remap 12CO (1 - 0) data along the Perseus spiral arm in the outer Milky Way to a fixed physical resolution and present the first spiral arm data cube at a common distance as it would be seen by an observer outside the Milky Way. To achieve this goal we calibrated the longitude-velocity structure of 12CO gas of the outer Perseus arm based on trigonometric distances and maser velocities provided by the BeSSeL survey. The molecular gas data were convolved to the same spatial resolution along the whole spiral arm and regridded on to a linear scale map with the coordinate system transformed to the spiral arm reference frame. We determined the width of the Perseus spiral arm to be 7.8 ± 0.2 km s−1 around the kinematic arm centre. To study the large scale structure we derived the 12CO gas mass surface density distribution of velocities shifted to the kinematic arm centre and arm length. This yields a variation of the gas mass surface density along the arm length and a compression of molecular gas mass at linear scale. We determined a thickness of ∼63 pc on average for the Perseus spiral arm and a centroid of the molecular layer of 8.7 pc.


2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (S353) ◽  
pp. 24-25
Author(s):  
Maria Messineo

AbstractI would like to present an overview of red supergiants (RSGs) in the Milky Way. There are only about 1400 objects listed as RSGs in the spectroscopic catalog by Skiff (2014); moreover, we are not sure yet about how they formed and where they formed. Indeed, most of them are strangely found in isolation, while extraordinary massive clusters of RSGs are observed at the near-end of the Galactic Bar. This intriguing overdensity poses some questions about the continuity of star formation in the Galactic Disk.


2020 ◽  
Vol 638 ◽  
pp. A122 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Caffau ◽  
L. Monaco ◽  
P. Bonifacio ◽  
L. Sbordone ◽  
M. Haywood ◽  
...  

Context. The search for stars born in the very early stages of the Milky Way star formation history is of paramount importance in the study of the early Universe since their chemistry carries irreplaceable information on the conditions in which early star formation and galaxy buildup took place. The search for these objects has generally taken the form of expensive surveys for faint extremely metal-poor stars, the most obvious but not the only candidates to a very early formation. Aims. Thanks to Gaia DR2 radial velocities and proper motions, we identified 72 bright cool stars displaying heliocentric transverse velocities in excess of 500 km s−1. These objects are most likely members of extreme outer-halo populations, either formed in the early Milky Way build-up or accreted from since-destroyed self-gravitating stellar systems. Methods. We analysed low-resolution FORS spectra of the 72 stars in the sample and derived the abundances of a few elements. Despite the large uncertainties on the radial velocity determination, we derived reliable orbital parameters for these objects. Results. The stars analysed are mainly slightly metal poor, with a few very metal-poor stars. Their chemical composition is much more homogeneous than expected. All the stars have very eccentric halo orbits, some extending well beyond the expected dimension of the Milky Way. Conclusions. These stars can be the result of a disrupted small galaxy or they could have been globular cluster members. Age estimates suggest that some of them are evolved blue stragglers, now on the subgiant or asymptotic giant branches.


2020 ◽  
Vol 634 ◽  
pp. A33
Author(s):  
Leire Beitia-Antero ◽  
Ana Inés Gómez de Castro ◽  
Raúl de la Fuente Marcos

Context. Deep GALEX UV data show that the extreme outskirts of some spiral galaxies are teeming with star formation. Such young stellar populations evolving so far away from the bulk of their host galaxies challenge our overall understanding of how star formation proceeds at galactic scales. It is at present unclear whether our own Milky Way may also exhibit ongoing and recent star formation beyond the conventional edge of the disk (∼15 kpc). Aims. Using Gaia DR2 data, we aim to determine if such a population is present in the Galactic halo, beyond the nominal radius of the Milky Way disk. Methods. We studied the kinematics of Gaia DR2 sources with parallax values between 1/60 and 1/30 milliarcseconds towards two regions that show abnormally high values of extinction and reddening; the results are compared with predictions from GALAXIA Galactic model. We also plotted the color–magnitude (CM) diagrams with heliocentric distances computed inverting the parallaxes, and studied the effects of the large parallax errors by Monte Carlo sampling. Results. The kinematics point towards a Galactic origin for one of the regions, while the provenance of the stars in the other is not clear. A spectroscopic analysis of some of the sources in the first region confirms that they are located in the halo. The CM diagram of the sources suggests that some of them are young.


1988 ◽  
Vol 101 ◽  
pp. 447-459
Author(s):  
Richard McCray

AbstractRepeated supernovae from an OB association will, in a few ×107 yr, create a cavity of coronal gas in the interstellar medium, with radius > 100 pc, surrounded by a dense expanding shell of cool interstellar gas. Such a cavity will likely burst through the gas layer of a disk galaxy. Such holes and “supershells” have been observed in optical and H I radio emission maps of the Milky Way and other nearby galaxies. The gas swept up in the supershell is likely to become gravitationally unstable, providing a mechanism for propagating star formation that may be particularly effective in irregular galaxies.


1983 ◽  
Vol 100 ◽  
pp. 159-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Beck

Interstellar magnetic fields are known to be a constraint for star formation, but their influence on the formation of spiral structures and the evolution of galaxies is generally neglected. Structure, strength and degree of uniformity of interstellar magnetic fields can be determined by measuring the linearly polarised radio continuum emission at several frequencies (e.g. Beck, 1982). Results for 7 galaxies observed until now with the Effelsberg and Westerbork radio telescopes are given in the table. The Milky Way is also included for comparison.


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