The PHANGS-HST Survey: Physics at High Angular Resolution in Nearby Galaxies with the Hubble Space Telescope

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 diversity 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 μm imaging has been approved.

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Massive Star Formation in the Ultraviolet Observed with the Hubble Space Telescope

Galaxies ◽

10.3390/galaxies8010013 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

pp. 13 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Claus Leitherer

Keyword(s):

Star Formation ◽

Massive Star ◽

Hubble Space Telescope ◽

Spectral Synthesis ◽

Star Clusters ◽

Large Magellanic Cloud ◽

H Ii Regions ◽

Massive Star Formation ◽

Space Telescope ◽

Star Forming

Spectroscopic observations of a massive star formation in the ultraviolet and their interpretation are reviewed. After a brief historical retrospective, two well-studied resolved star clusters and the surrounding H II regions are introduced: NGC 2070 in the Large Magellanic Cloud and NGC 604 in M33. These regions serve as a training set for studies of more distant clusters, which can no longer be resolved into individual stars. Observations of recently formed star clusters and extended regions in star-forming galaxies in the nearby universe beyond the Local Group are presented. Their interpretation relies on spectral synthesis models. The successes and failures of such models are discussed, and future directions are highlighted. I present a case study of the extraordinary star cluster and giant H II region in the blue compact galaxy II Zw 40. The review concludes with a preview of two upcoming Hubble Space Telescope programs: ULLYSES, a survey of massive stars in nearby galaxies, and CLASSY, a study of massive star clusters in star-forming galaxies.

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Compact Star Clusters in M81. I. Data from [ITAL]HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE[/ITAL][ITAL]Hubble Space Telescope[/ITAL] Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 Imaging

The Astronomical Journal ◽

10.1086/322127 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 122 (3) ◽

pp. 1330-1341 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

Rupali Chandar ◽

Holland C. Ford ◽

Zlatan Tsvetanov

Keyword(s):

Hubble Space Telescope ◽

Compact Star ◽

Star Clusters ◽

Wide Field ◽

Space Telescope

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NGC 4314. IV. Photometry of Star Clusters with the [ITAL]Hubble Space Telescope:[/ITAL] History of Star Formation in the Vicinity of a Nuclear Ring

The Astronomical Journal ◽

10.1086/338895 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 123 (3) ◽

pp. 1411-1432 ◽

Cited By ~ 41

Author(s):

G. Fritz Benedict ◽

D. Andrew Howell ◽

Inger Jørgensen ◽

Jeffrey D. P. Kenney ◽

Beverly J. Smith

Keyword(s):

Star Formation ◽

Hubble Space Telescope ◽

Star Clusters ◽

Space Telescope ◽

Nuclear Ring ◽

History Of

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Star Clusters in Galactic Resonance Rings

Symposium - International Astronomical Union ◽

10.1017/s0074180900224169 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 207 ◽

pp. 447-449

Author(s):

R. Buta

Keyword(s):

Star Formation ◽

High Resolution ◽

Hubble Space Telescope ◽

Star Clusters ◽

Disk Galaxies ◽

Wide Field ◽

Space Telescope ◽

Lindblad Resonance ◽

Inner Lindblad Resonance

Resonance rings are intriguing sites of organized star formation in some galaxies. The Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 has been used to image several resonance rings at high resolution in order to study the star clusters in the rings. Here I summarize results on inner Lindblad resonance rings in ESO 565–11 and NGC 1326, and on an inner 4:1 resonance ring in the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 3081. The latter ring provides one of the strongest cases illustrating the connection between star formation and dynamics in disk galaxies.

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Search for giant planets around seven white dwarfs in the Hyades cluster with the Hubble Space Telescope

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society ◽

10.1093/mnras/staa3422 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 500 (3) ◽

pp. 3920-3925

Author(s):

Wolfgang Brandner ◽

Hans Zinnecker ◽

Taisiya Kopytova

Keyword(s):

White Dwarfs ◽

Near Infrared ◽

Hubble Space Telescope ◽

Infrared Camera ◽

Detection Limits ◽

Giant Planets ◽

High Angular Resolution ◽

Mass Detection ◽

Space Telescope ◽

Hyades Cluster

ABSTRACT Only a small number of exoplanets have been identified in stellar cluster environments. We initiated a high angular resolution direct imaging search using the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and its Near-Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) instrument for self-luminous giant planets in orbit around seven white dwarfs in the 625 Myr old nearby (≈45 pc) Hyades cluster. The observations were obtained with Near-Infrared Camera 1 (NIC1) in the F110W and F160W filters, and encompass two HST roll angles to facilitate angular differential imaging. The difference images were searched for companion candidates, and radially averaged contrast curves were computed. Though we achieve the lowest mass detection limits yet for angular separations ≥0.5 arcsec, no planetary mass companion to any of the seven white dwarfs, whose initial main-sequence masses were >2.8 M⊙, was found. Comparison with evolutionary models yields detection limits of ≈5–7 Jupiter masses (MJup) according to one model, and between 9 and ≈12 MJup according to another model, at physical separations corresponding to initial semimajor axis of ≥5–8 au (i.e. before the mass-loss events associated with the red and asymptotic giant branch phase of the host star). The study provides further evidence that initially dense cluster environments, which included O- and B-type stars, might not be highly conducive to the formation of massive circumstellar discs, and their transformation into giant planets (with m ≥ 6 MJup and a ≥6 au). This is in agreement with radial velocity surveys for exoplanets around G- and K-type giants, which did not find any planets around stars more massive than ≈3 M⊙.

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The Hubble PanCET program: Transit and Eclipse Spectroscopy of the Hot-Jupiter WASP-74b

The Astronomical Journal ◽

10.3847/1538-3881/ac3008 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 162 (6) ◽

pp. 271

Author(s):

Guangwei Fu ◽

Drake Deming ◽

Erin May ◽

Kevin Stevenson ◽

David K. Sing ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Rayleigh Scattering ◽

Hubble Space Telescope ◽

Absorption Feature ◽

Spectral Library ◽

Data Set ◽

Space Telescope ◽

Methane Absorption ◽

James Webb Space Telescope ◽

Hot Jupiter

Abstract Planets are like children with each one being unique and special. A better understanding of their collective properties requires a deeper understanding of each planet. Here we add the transit and eclipse spectra of hot-Jupiter WASP-74b into the ever growing data set of exoplanet atmosphere spectral library. With six transits and three eclipses using the Hubble Space Telescope and Spitzer Space Telescope (Spitzer), we present the most complete and precise atmospheric spectra of WASP-74b. We found no evidence for TiO/VO nor super-Rayleigh scattering reported in previous studies. The transit shows a muted water feature with strong Rayleigh scattering extending into the infrared. The eclipse shows a featureless blackbody-like WFC3/G141 spectrum and a weak methane absorption feature in the Spitzer 3.6 μm band. Future James Webb Space Telescope follow-up observations are needed to confirm these results.

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The Oldest Star Clusters in the Small Magellanic Cloud

Symposium - International Astronomical Union ◽

10.1017/s0074180900118510 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 190 ◽

pp. 445-445 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Kenneth J. Mighell ◽

Ata Sarajedini ◽

Rica S. French

Keyword(s):

Star Formation ◽

Theoretical Model ◽

Observational Data ◽

Hubble Space Telescope ◽

Star Clusters ◽

Magellanic Cloud ◽

Wide Field ◽

Small Magellanic Cloud ◽

Formation Model ◽

Age Sequence

We present our analysis of archival Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) observations in F450W (~B) and F555W (~V) of the intermediate-age populous star clusters NGC 121, NGC 339, NGC 361, NGC 416, and Kron 3 in the Small Magellanic Cloud. We use published photometry of two other SMC populous star clusters, Lindsay 1 and Lindsay 113, to investigate the age sequence of these seven star clusters in order to improve our understanding of the formation chronology of the SMC. We analyzed the V vs B–V and MV vs (B–V)o color-magnitude diagrams of these populous Small Magellanic Cloud star clusters using a variety of techniques and determined their ages, metallicities, and reddenings. These new data enable us to improve the age-metallicity relation of star clusters in the Small Magellanic Cloud. In particular, we find that a closed-box continuous star-formation model does not reproduce the age-metallicity relation adequately. However, a theoretical model punctuated by bursts of star formation is in better agreement with the observational data. The full details of this analysis are reported in Mighell, Sarajedini, & French (1998, AJ, 116, 2395).

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