No Arabic abstract
Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) 12CO(J=1-0) observations are used to study the cold molecular ISM of the Cartwheel ring galaxy and its relation to HI and massive star formation (SF). CO moment maps find $(2.69pm0.05)times10^{9}$ M$_{odot}$ of H$_2$ associated with the inner ring (72%) and nucleus (28%) for a Galactic I(CO)-to-N(H2) conversion factor ($alpha_{rm CO}$). The spokes and disk are not detected. Analysis of the inner rings CO kinematics show it to be expanding ($V_{rm exp}=68.9pm4.9$ km s$^{-1}$) implying an $approx70$ Myr age. Stack averaging reveals CO emission in the starburst outer ring for the first time, but only where HI surface density ($Sigma_{rm HI}$) is high, representing $M_{rm H_2}=(7.5pm0.8)times10^{8}$ M$_{odot}$ for a metallicity appropriate $alpha_{rm CO}$, giving small $Sigma_{rm H_2}$ ($3.7$ M$_{odot}$ pc$^{-2}$), molecular fraction ($f_{rm mol}=0.10$), and H$_2$ depletion timescales ($tau_{rm mol} approx50-600$ Myr). Elsewhere in the outer ring $Sigma_{rm H_2}lesssim 2$ M$_{odot}$ pc$^{-2}$, $f_{rm mol}lesssim 0.1$ and $tau_{rm mol}lesssim 140-540$ Myr (all $3sigma$). The inner ring and nucleus are H$_2$-dominated and are consistent with local spiral SF laws. $Sigma_{rm SFR}$ in the outer ring appears independent of $Sigma_{rm H_2}$, $Sigma_{rm HI}$ or $Sigma_{rm HI+H_2}$. The ISMs long confinement in the robustly star forming rings of the Cartwheel and AM0644-741 may result in either a large diffuse H$_2$ component or an abundance of CO-faint low column density molecular clouds. The H$_2$ content of evolved starburst rings may therefore be substantially larger. Due to its lower $Sigma_{rm SFR}$ and age the Cartwheels inner ring has yet to reach this state. Alternately, the outer ring may trigger efficient SF in an HI-dominated ISM.
We present the detection of molecular gas using CO(1-0) line emission and follow up Halpha imaging observations of galaxies located in nearby voids. The CO(1-0) observations were done using the 45m telescope of the Nobeyama Radio Observatory (NRO) and the optical observations were done using the Himalayan Chandra Telescope (HCT). Although void galaxies lie in the most under dense parts of our universe, a significant fraction of them are gas rich, spiral galaxies that show signatures of ongoing star formation. Not much is known about their cold gas content or star formation properties. In this study we searched for molecular gas in five void galaxies using the NRO. The galaxies were selected based on their relatively higher IRAS fluxes or Halpha line luminosities. CO(1--0) emission was detected in four galaxies and the derived molecular gas masses lie between (1 - 8)E+9 Msun. The H$alpha$ imaging observations of three galaxies detected in CO emission indicates ongoing star formation and the derived star formation rates vary between from 0.2 - 1.0 Msun/yr, which is similar to that observed in local galaxies. Our study shows that although void galaxies reside in under dense regions, their disks may contain molecular gas and have star formation rates similar to galaxies in denser environments.
We use hydrodynamical simulations of a Cartwheel-like ring galaxy, modelled as a nearly head-on collision of a small companion with a larger disc galaxy, to probe the evolution of the gaseous structures and flows, and to explore the physical conditions setting the star formation activity. Star formation is first quenched by tides as the companion approaches, before being enhanced shortly after the collision. The ring ploughs the disc material as it radially extends, and almost simultaneously depletes its stellar and gaseous reservoir into the central region, through the spokes, and finally dissolve 200 Myr after the collision. Most of star formation first occurs in the ring before this activity is transferred to the spokes and then the nucleus. We thus propose that the location of star formation traces the dynamical stage of ring galaxies, and could help constrain their star formation histories. The ring hosts tidal compression associated with strong turbulence. This compression yields an azimuthal asymmetry, with maxima reached in the side furthest away from the nucleus, which matches the star formation activity distribution in our models and in observed ring systems. The interaction triggers the formation of star clusters significantly more massive than before the collision, but less numerous than in more classical galaxy interactions. The peculiar geometry of Cartwheel-like objects thus yields a star (cluster) formation activity comparable to other interacting objects, but with notable second order differences in the nature of turbulence, the enhancement of the star formation rate, and the number of massive clusters formed.
We performed a multi-wavelength study toward the filamentary cloud G47.06+0.26 to investigate the gas kinematics and star formation. We present the 12CO (J=1-0), 13CO (J=1-0) and C18O (J=1-0) observations of G47.06+0.26 obtained with the Purple Mountain Observation (PMO) 13.7 m radio telescope to investigate the detailed kinematics of the filament. The 12CO (J=1-0) and 13CO (J=1-0) emission of G47.06+0.26 appear to show a filamentary structure. The filament extends about 45 arcmin (58.1 pc) along the east-west direction. The mean width is about 6.8 pc, as traced by the 13CO (J=1-0) emission. G47.06+0.26 has a linear mass density of about 361.5 Msun/pc. The external pressure (due to neighboring bubbles and H II regions) may help preventing the filament from dispersing under the effects of turbulence. From the velocity-field map, we discern a velocity gradient perpendicular to G47.06+0.26. From the Bolocam Galactic Plane Survey (BGPS) catalog, we found nine BGPS sources in G47.06+0.26, that appear to these sources have sufficient mass to form massive stars. We obtained that the clump formation efficiency (CFE) is about 18% in the filament. Four infrared bubbles were found to be located in, and adjacent to, G47.06+0.26. Particularly, infrared bubble N98 shows a cometary structure. CO molecular gas adjacent to N98 also shows a very intense emission. H II regions associated with infrared bubbles can inject the energy to surrounding gas. We calculated the kinetic energy, ionization energy, and thermal energy of two H II regions in G47.06+0.26. From the GLIMPSE I catalog, we selected some Class I sources with an age of about 100000 yr, which are clustered along the filament. The feedback from the H II regions may cause the formation of a new generation of stars in filament G47.06+0.26.
A key uncertainty in galaxy evolution is the physics regulating star formation, ranging from small-scale processes related to the life-cycle of molecular clouds within galaxies to large-scale processes such as gas accretion onto galaxies. We study the imprint of such processes on the time-variability of star formation with an analytical approach tracking the gas mass of galaxies (regulator model). Specifically, we quantify the strength of the fluctuation in the star-formation rate (SFR) on different timescales, i.e. the power spectral density (PSD) of the star-formation history, and connect it to gas inflow and the life-cycle of molecular clouds. We show that in the general case the PSD of the SFR has three breaks, corresponding to the correlation time of the inflow rate, the equilibrium timescale of the gas reservoir of the galaxy, and the average lifetime of individual molecular clouds. On long and intermediate timescales (relative to the dynamical timescale of the galaxy), the PSD is typically set by the variability of the inflow rate and the interplay between outflows and gas depletion. On short timescales, the PSD shows an additional component related to the life-cycle of molecular clouds, which can be described by a damped random walk with a power-law slope of $betaapprox2$ at high frequencies with a break near the average cloud lifetime. We discuss star-formation burstiness in a wide range of galaxy regimes, study the evolution of galaxies about the main sequence ridgeline, and explore the applicability of our method for understanding the star-formation process on cloud-scale from galaxy-integrated measurements.
We investigate the role of dense Mpc-scale environments in processing molecular gas of cluster galaxies as they fall into the cluster cores. We consider $sim20$ luminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs) in intermediate-$z$ clusters, from the Hershel Lensing Survey and the Local Cluster Substructure Survey. They include MACS J0717.5+3745 at $z=0.546$ and Abell 697, 963, 1763, and 2219 at $z=0.2-0.3$. We have performed far infrared to ultraviolet spectral energy distribution modeling of the LIRGs, which span cluster-centric distances within $r/r_{200}simeq0.2-1.6$. We have observed the LIRGs in CO(1$rightarrow$0) or CO(2$rightarrow$1) with the Plateau de Bure interferometer and its successor NOEMA, as part of five observational programs carried out between 2012 and 2017. We have compared the molecular gas to stellar mass ratio $M(H_2)/M_star$, star formation rate (SFR), and depletion time ($tau_{rm dep}$) of the LIRGs with those of a compilation of cluster and field star forming galaxies. The targeted LIRGs have SFR, $M(H_2)/M_star$, and $tau_{rm dep}$ that are consistent with those of both main sequence (MS) field galaxies and star forming galaxies from the comparison sample. However we find that the depletion time, normalized to the MS value, increases with increasing $r/r_{200}$, with a significance of $2.8sigma$, which is ultimately due to a deficit of cluster core LIRGs with $tau_{rm dep}gtrsimtau_{rm dep,MS}$. We suggest that a rapid exhaustion of the molecular gas reservoirs occurs in the cluster LIRGs and is effective in suppressing their star formation. This mechanism may explain the exponential decrease of the fraction of cluster LIRGs with cosmic time. The compression of the gas in LIRGs, possibly induced by intra-cluster medium shocks, may be responsible for the short depletion timescales, observed in a large fraction of cluster core LIRGs.