scholarly journals Star Formation in the Large Magellanic Cloud

1987 ◽  
Vol 115 ◽  
pp. 521-533
Author(s):  
J. V. Feitzinger

Methods used in pattern recognition and cluster analysis are applied to investigate the spatial distribution of the star forming regions. The fractal dimension of these structures is deduced. The new 21 cm, radio continuum (1.4 GHz) and IRAS surveys reveal scale structures of 700 pc to 1500 pc being identical with the optically identified star forming sites. The morphological structures delineated by young stars reflect physical parameters which determine the star formation in this galaxy. The formation of spiral arm filaments is understandable by stochastic selfpropagating star formation processes.

2021 ◽  
Vol 923 (1) ◽  
pp. 38
Author(s):  
A. M. Nicuesa Guelbenzu ◽  
S. Klose ◽  
P. Schady ◽  
K. Belczynski ◽  
D. H. Hartmann ◽  
...  

Abstract Short-GRB progenitors could come in various flavors, depending on the nature of the merging compact stellar objects (including a stellar-mass black hole or not) or depending on their ages (millions or billions of years). At a redshift of z = 0.122, the nearly face-on spiral host of the short GRB 080905A is one of the closest short-GRB host galaxies identified so far. This made it a preferred target to explore spatially resolved star formation and to investigate the afterglow position in the context of its star formation structures. We used VLT/MUSE integral-field unit observations, supplemented by ATCA 5.5/9.0 GHz radio-continuum measurements and publicly available HST data, to study the star formation activity in the GRB 080905A host galaxy. The MUSE observations reveal that the entire host is characterized by strong line emission. Using the Hα line flux, we measure for the entire galaxy an SFR of about 1.6 M ⊙ yr−1, consistent with its non-detection by ATCA. Several individual star-forming regions are scattered across the host. The most luminous region has a Hα luminosity that is nearly four times as high as the luminosity of the Tarantula nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Even though star-forming activity can be traced as close to about 3 kpc (in projection) distance to the GRB explosion site, stellar population synthesis calculations show that none of the Hα-bright star-forming regions is a likely birthplace of the short-GRB progenitor.


2020 ◽  
Vol 494 (4) ◽  
pp. 4751-4770 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mallory Molina ◽  
Nikhil Ajgaonkar ◽  
Renbin Yan ◽  
Robin Ciardullo ◽  
Caryl Gronwall ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The attenuation of light from star-forming galaxies is correlated with a multitude of physical parameters including star formation rate, metallicity and total dust content. This variation in attenuation is even more evident on kiloparsec scales, which is the relevant size for many current spectroscopic integral field unit surveys. To understand the cause of this variation, we present and analyse Swift/UVOT near-UV (NUV) images and SDSS/MaNGA emission-line maps of 29 nearby (z < 0.084) star-forming galaxies. We resolve kiloparsec-sized star-forming regions within the galaxies and compare their optical nebular attenuation (i.e. the Balmer emission line optical depth, $\tau ^{l}_{B}\equiv \tau _{\textrm {H}\beta }-\tau _{\textrm {H}\alpha }$) and NUV stellar continuum attenuation (via the NUV power-law index, β) to the attenuation law described by Battisti et al. We show the data agree with that model, albeit with significant scatter. We explore the dependence of the scatter of the β–$\tau ^{l}_{B}$ measurements from the star-forming regions on different physical parameters, including distance from the nucleus, star formation rate and total dust content. Finally, we compare the measured $\tau ^{l}_{B}$ and β values for the individual star-forming regions with those of the integrated galaxy light. We find a strong variation in β between the kiloparsec scale and the larger galaxy scale that is not seen in $\tau ^{l}_{B}$. We conclude that the sightline dependence of UV attenuation and the reddening of β due to the light from older stellar populations could contribute to the scatter in the β–$\tau ^{l}_{B}$ relation.


2006 ◽  
Vol 2 (S235) ◽  
pp. 311-311
Author(s):  
I. Gonidakis ◽  
E. Livanou ◽  
E. Kontizas ◽  
U. Klein ◽  
M. Kontizas ◽  
...  

AbstractSMC has been going through an active star formation epoch, especially during the last 0.2 Gyr when the close encounter with the LMC occured. Our goal is to detect regions dominated by early-type stars and gas and examine their behaviour at different wavelengths. Spectral energy distributions, a colour-magnitude diagram and a two-colour diagram from IRAS data (Bontekoe, Koperet & Kester (1994); Bontekoe, Kester, Stanimirović, et al. (1999)) for these regions were used in order to compare their properties with those of starburst galaxies (Helou (1986); Lehnert & Heckman (1995)). We have selected 50 stellar complexes with increased 100-μm IRAS flux, with detetected emission in all IRAS bands and/or high concentration of young stars. Ranking them by size (Maragoudaki, Kontizas, Kontizas, et al. (1998)), a total of what we call 24 aggregates, 23 complexes and 3 super-complexes were found. Radio continuum maps at 8.6-GHz (Haynes, Murray, Klein, et al. (1986)) and the CO (1→0) line (Mizuno, Rubio, Mizuno, et al. (2001)) were also correlated with the map of the complexes. Only 8 of them show enhanced star formation activity according to their IR properties and 8.6-GHz map, however, none of them resembles the IR behaviour of starburst regions found in the LMC and starburst galaxies (Livanou, Kontizas, Gonidakis, et al. (2006)). The south-west part of the “bar” has the most diverse intensity of star formation, with CO emission coincident with the largest structure. In the north-eastern end of the “bar”, star formation is likely to have commenced in the recent past, with molecular gas being abundant in this region. Ongoing and future star formation are revealed in the wing, while it appears to have ceased in the central “bar”.


2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (S319) ◽  
pp. 53-53
Author(s):  
Rhythm Shimakawa ◽  
Tadayuki Kodama ◽  
Masao Hayashi ◽  
Ken-ichi Tadaki ◽  
Tomoko L. Suzuki ◽  
...  

AbstractThe redshift interval z = 2–3 is known as the cosmic noon that is the most active era of star formation across the Universe (Hopkins & Beacom 2006). In the past decade, many authors have investigated global properties of star-forming (SF) galaxies in this turbulent era, such as gas fractions and gaseous metallicities (e.g. Erb et al. 2006). With those achievements, we are going on to the next stage to understand more details i.e. those physical parameters in star-forming regions. Recent advent of near-infrared instruments typified by MOSFIRE on the Keck telescope, enable us with identifying the physical parameters of Hii regions in ‘typical’ SF galaxies individually (Steidel et al. 2014). Recent highlights suggest higher electron densities, higher ionization parameters, and harder UV radiation fields may be common.In order to know how galaxy evolution physically correlates with the natures of their star-forming regions, we have explored relationships between the electron density (ne) of ionized gas from the oxygen line ratio and other physical properties, based on the deep spectra of Hα emitters at z = 2.5 by the MOSFIRE. MOSFIRE for the first time provides ne of the galaxies at high-z with a high level of confidence. The result shows the specific star formation rate (sSFR) and the SFR surface density (ΣSFR) are correlated with ne (Shimakawa et al. 2015). The ne-ΣSFR relation could be linked to the star formation law in Hii regions if we assume that hydrogen in Hii regions is fully-ionized. Otherwise, more active star formation per unit area (higher ΣSFRs), may cause higher ionization states. However, we need some specific concerns that obtained physical parameters should depend on the scale dependence, since typical size of Hii region is only <100 pc despite that we study physical states of entire galaxies. Thus we obtain surface-brightness-weighted and ensemble averaged line fluxes for the entire galaxy or the part that falls into the slit width (a few kpc scale size). The thirty meter telescope (TMT) is a powerful instrument to resolve such a difficulty, since its spatial resolution reaches <100 pc on the physical scale at z ~ 2 by AO assistance.


1985 ◽  
Vol 106 ◽  
pp. 301-302 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce G. Elmegreen

A variety of observations suggest that clouds of 106-107 M⊙ and extended regions of star formation are the best tracers of spiral structure in the Milky Way.


2020 ◽  
Vol 641 ◽  
pp. A54 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Coletta ◽  
F. Fontani ◽  
V. M. Rivilla ◽  
C. Mininni ◽  
L. Colzi ◽  
...  

We have studied four complex organic molecules (COMs), the oxygen-bearing methyl formate (CH3OCHO) and dimethyl ether (CH3OCH3) as well as the nitrogen-bearing formamide (NH2CHO) and ethyl cyanide (C2H5CN), towards a large sample of 39 high-mass star-forming regions representing different evolutionary stages, from early to evolved phases. We aim to identify potential correlations and chemical links between the molecules and to trace their evolutionary sequence through the star formation process. We analysed spectra obtained at 3, 2, and 0.9 mm with the IRAM-30m telescope. We derived the main physical parameters for each species by fitting the molecular lines. We compared them and evaluated their evolution while also taking several other interstellar environments into account. We report detections in 20 sources, revealing a clear dust absorption effect on column densities. Derived abundances range between ~ 10−10−10−7 for CH3OCHO and CH3OCH3, ~ 10−12−10−10 for NH2CHO, and ~ 10−11−10−9 for C2H5CN. The abundances of CH3OCHO, CH3OCH3, and C2H5CN are very strongly correlated (r ≥ 0.92) across ~ 4 orders of magnitude. We note that CH3OCHO and CH3OCH3 show the strongest correlations in most parameters, and a nearly constant ratio (~ 1) over a remarkable ~ 9 orders of magnitude in luminosity for the following wide variety of sources: pre-stellar to evolved cores, low- to high-mass objects, shocks, Galactic clouds, and comets. This indicates that COMs chemistry is likely early developed and then preserved through evolved phases. Moreover, the molecular abundances clearly increase with evolution, covering ~ 6 orders of magnitude in the luminosity/mass ratio. We consider CH3OCHO and CH3OCH3 to be most likely chemically linked. They could, for example, share a common precursor, or be formed one from the other. Based on correlations, ratios, and the evolutionary trend, we propose a general scenario for all COMs, involving a formation in the cold, earliest phases of star formation and a following increasing desorption with the progressive thermal and shock-induced heating of the evolving core.


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (S359) ◽  
pp. 462-463
Author(s):  
Yiqing Song ◽  
Sean T. Linden ◽  
Aaron S. Evans ◽  
Loreto Barcos-Muñoz ◽  
Eric J. Murphy

AbstractNuclear rings are excellent laboratories to study star formation (SF) under extreme conditions. We compiled a sample of 9 galaxies that exhibit bright nuclear rings at 3-33 GHz radio continuum observed with the Jansky Very Large Array, of which 5 are normal star-forming galaxies and 4 are Luminous Infrared Galaxies (LIRGs). Using high frequency radio continuum as an extinction-free tracer of SF, we estimated the size and star formation rate of each nuclear ring and a total of 37 individual circumnuclear star-forming regions. Our results show that majority of the SF in the sample LIRGs take place in their nuclear rings, and circumnuclear SF in local LIRGs are much more spatially concentrated compared to those in the local normal galaxies and previously studied nuclear and extra-nuclear SF in normal galaxies at both low and high redshifts.


2006 ◽  
Vol 2 (S237) ◽  
pp. 451-451
Author(s):  
K. Muraoka ◽  
K. Kohno ◽  
T. Tosaki ◽  
N. Kuno ◽  
K. Nakanishi ◽  
...  

AbstractWe have performed CO(J=3−2) emission observations with the Atacama Submillimeter Telescope Experiment (ASTE) toward the 5′ × 5′ (or 6.6 × 6.6 kpc at the distance D = 4.5 Mpc) region of the nearby barred spiral galaxy M 83. We successfully resolved the major structures, i.e., the nuclear starburst region, bar, and inner spiral arms in CO(J=3−2) emission at a resolution of 22'' (or 480 pc), showing a good spatial coincidence between CO(J=3−2) and 6 cm continuum emissions.From a comparison of CO(J=3−2) data with CO(J=1−0) intensities measured with Nobeyama 45-m telescope, we found that the radial profile of CO(J=3−2)/CO(J=1−0) integrated intensity ratio R3−2/1−0 is almost unity in the central region (r<0.25 kpc), whereas it drops to a constant value, 0.6–0.7, in the disk region. The radial profile of star formation efficiencies (SFEs), determined from 6 cm radio continuum and CO(J=1−0) emission, shows the same trend as that of R3−2/1−0. At the bar-end (r ~ 2.4 kpc), the amounts of molecular gas and the massive stars are enhanced when compared with other disk regions, whereas there is no excess of R3−2/1−0 and SFE in that region. This means that a simple summation of the star forming regions at the bar-end and the disk cannot reproduce the nuclear starburst of M 83, implying that the spatial variation of the dense gas fraction traced by R3−2/1−0 governs the spatial variation of SFE in M 83.


Author(s):  
Jonathan Freundlich ◽  
Françoise Combes ◽  
Linda Tacconi ◽  
Michael Cooper ◽  
Reinhard Genzel ◽  
...  

AbstractObserved massive galaxies in the distant Universe form stars at much higher rates than today. High levels of star formation are sustained by a continuous supply of fresh gas and high molecular gas fractions. But after a peak around redshift z=2-3, the star formation rate decreases by an order of magnitude. Is this evolution mostly driven by the available cold gas reservoir, or are the star formation processes qualitatively different near the star formation peak? The Kennicutt-Schmidt relation enables to characterize the star formation efficiency at low and high redshift, but resolved measurements at the scale of the star-forming regions themselves are still challenging at high redshift. Molecular gas observations carried out at the IRAM Plateau de Bure interferometer within the PHIBSS program (Tacconi, Combes et al.) permit us to study the star formation efficiency at sub-galactic scales around z=1.2 and 1.5 for a limited sample of galaxies, and thus help characterize the star formation processes at this epoch. Our results lay in the continuation of the resolved low-redshift measurements, but further studies would be necessary to complement our sample and validate our conclusions.


2010 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 340-346 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Zhang ◽  
A. Hopkins ◽  
P. J. Barnes ◽  
M. Cagnes ◽  
Y. Yonekura ◽  
...  

AbstractWe investigate the scale on which the correlation arises between the 843 MHz radio and the 60 μm far-infrared (FIR) emission from star forming regions in the Milky way. The correlation, which exists on the smallest scales investigated (down to ≈ 4 pc), becomes noticeably tight on fields of size 30′, corresponding to physical scales of ≈ 20–50 pc. The FIR to radio flux ratio on this scale is consi stent with the radio emission being dominated by thermal emission. We also investigate the location dependence of qmean, a parameter measuring the mean FIR to radio flux ratio, of a sample of star forming regions. We show that qmean displays a modest dependence on galactic latitude. If this is interpreted as a dependence on the intensity of star formation activity, the result is consistent with studies of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and other near by galaxies that show elevated values for q in regions of enhanced star formation.


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