Molecular Cloud Populations in the Context of Their Host Galaxy Environments: A Multiwavelength Perspective

Jiayi Sun; Adam K. Leroy; Erik Rosolowsky; Annie Hughes; Eva Schinnerer; Andreas Schruba; Eric W. Koch; Guillermo A. Blanc; I. Da Chiang; Brent Groves; Daizhong Liu; Sharon Meidt; Hsi An Pan; Jérôme Pety; Miguel Querejeta; Toshiki Saito; Karin Sandstrom; Amy Sardone; Antonio Usero; Dyas Utomo; Thomas G. Williams; Ashley T. Barnes; Samantha M. Benincasa; Frank Bigiel; Alberto D. Bolatto; Médéric Boquien; Mélanie Chevance; Daniel A. Dale; Sinan Deger; Eric Emsellem; Simon C.O. Glover; Kathryn Grasha; Jonathan D. Henshaw; Ralf S. Klessen; Kathryn Kreckel; J. M.Diederik Kruijssen; Eve C. Ostriker; David A. Thilker

doi:10.3847/1538-3881/ac74bd

Molecular Cloud Populations in the Context of Their Host Galaxy Environments: A Multiwavelength Perspective

Jiayi Sun^*, Adam K. Leroy, Erik Rosolowsky, Annie Hughes, Eva Schinnerer, Andreas Schruba, Eric W. Koch, Guillermo A. Blanc, I. Da Chiang, Brent Groves, Daizhong Liu, Sharon Meidt, Hsi An Pan, Jérôme Pety, Miguel Querejeta, Toshiki Saito, Karin Sandstrom, Amy Sardone, Antonio Usero, Dyas UtomoThomas G. Williams, Ashley T. Barnes, Samantha M. Benincasa, Frank Bigiel, Alberto D. Bolatto, Médéric Boquien, Mélanie Chevance, Daniel A. Dale, Sinan Deger, Eric Emsellem, Simon C.O. Glover, Kathryn Grasha, Jonathan D. Henshaw, Ralf S. Klessen, Kathryn Kreckel, J. M.Diederik Kruijssen, Eve C. Ostriker, David A. Thilker

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

42 Citations (Scopus)

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.

Original language	English
Article number	43
Journal	Astronomical Journal
Volume	164
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/ac74bd
Publication status	Published - 1 Aug 2022

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Sun, J., Leroy, A. K., Rosolowsky, E., Hughes, A., Schinnerer, E., Schruba, A., Koch, E. W., Blanc, G. A., Chiang, I. D., Groves, B., Liu, D., Meidt, S., Pan, H. A., Pety, J., Querejeta, M., Saito, T., Sandstrom, K., Sardone, A., Usero, A., ... Thilker, D. A. (2022). Molecular Cloud Populations in the Context of Their Host Galaxy Environments: A Multiwavelength Perspective. Astronomical Journal, 164(2), Article 43. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/ac74bd

@article{37c6d9bccfeb4604ad3546c77e173021,

title = "Molecular Cloud Populations in the Context of Their Host Galaxy Environments: A Multiwavelength Perspective",

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.",

author = "Jiayi Sun and Leroy, {Adam K.} and Erik Rosolowsky and Annie Hughes and Eva Schinnerer and Andreas Schruba and Koch, {Eric W.} and Blanc, {Guillermo A.} and Chiang, {I. Da} and Brent Groves and Daizhong Liu and Sharon Meidt and Pan, {Hsi An} and J{\'e}r{\^o}me Pety and Miguel Querejeta and Toshiki Saito and Karin Sandstrom and Amy Sardone and Antonio Usero and Dyas Utomo and Williams, {Thomas G.} and Barnes, {Ashley T.} and Benincasa, {Samantha M.} and Frank Bigiel and Bolatto, {Alberto D.} and M{\'e}d{\'e}ric Boquien and M{\'e}lanie Chevance and Dale, {Daniel A.} and Sinan Deger and Eric Emsellem and Glover, {Simon C.O.} and Kathryn Grasha and Henshaw, {Jonathan D.} and Klessen, {Ralf S.} and Kathryn Kreckel and Kruijssen, {J. M.Diederik} and Ostriker, {Eve C.} and Thilker, {David A.}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society.",

year = "2022",

month = aug,

day = "1",

doi = "10.3847/1538-3881/ac74bd",

language = "English",

volume = "164",

journal = "Astronomical Journal",

issn = "0004-6256",

publisher = "American Astronomical Society",

number = "2",

}

Sun, J, Leroy, AK, Rosolowsky, E, Hughes, A, Schinnerer, E, Schruba, A, Koch, EW, Blanc, GA, Chiang, ID, Groves, B, Liu, D, Meidt, S, Pan, HA, Pety, J, Querejeta, M, Saito, T, Sandstrom, K, Sardone, A, Usero, A, Utomo, D, Williams, TG, Barnes, AT, Benincasa, SM, Bigiel, F, Bolatto, AD, Boquien, M, Chevance, M, Dale, DA, Deger, S, Emsellem, E, Glover, SCO, Grasha, K, Henshaw, JD, Klessen, RS, Kreckel, K, Kruijssen, JMD, Ostriker, EC & Thilker, DA 2022, 'Molecular Cloud Populations in the Context of Their Host Galaxy Environments: A Multiwavelength Perspective', Astronomical Journal, vol. 164, no. 2, 43. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/ac74bd

TY - JOUR

T1 - Molecular Cloud Populations in the Context of Their Host Galaxy Environments

T2 - A Multiwavelength Perspective

AU - Sun, Jiayi

AU - Leroy, Adam K.

AU - Rosolowsky, Erik

AU - Hughes, Annie

AU - Schinnerer, Eva

AU - Schruba, Andreas

AU - Koch, Eric W.

AU - Blanc, Guillermo A.

AU - Chiang, I. Da

AU - Groves, Brent

AU - Liu, Daizhong

AU - Meidt, Sharon

AU - Pan, Hsi An

AU - Pety, Jérôme

AU - Querejeta, Miguel

AU - Saito, Toshiki

AU - Sandstrom, Karin

AU - Sardone, Amy

AU - Usero, Antonio

AU - Utomo, Dyas

AU - Williams, Thomas G.

AU - Barnes, Ashley T.

AU - Benincasa, Samantha M.

AU - Bigiel, Frank

AU - Bolatto, Alberto D.

AU - Boquien, Médéric

AU - Chevance, Mélanie

AU - Dale, Daniel A.

AU - Deger, Sinan

AU - Emsellem, Eric

AU - Glover, Simon C.O.

AU - Grasha, Kathryn

AU - Henshaw, Jonathan D.

AU - Klessen, Ralf S.

AU - Kreckel, Kathryn

AU - Kruijssen, J. M.Diederik

AU - Ostriker, Eve C.

AU - Thilker, David A.

PY - 2022/8/1

Y1 - 2022/8/1

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85134820100&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.3847/1538-3881/ac74bd

DO - 10.3847/1538-3881/ac74bd

M3 - Article

SN - 0004-6256

VL - 164

JO - Astronomical Journal

JF - Astronomical Journal

IS - 2

M1 - 43

ER -

Molecular Cloud Populations in the Context of Their Host Galaxy Environments: A Multiwavelength Perspective

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