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Molecular cloud populations in the context of their host galaxy environments : a multiwavelength perspective

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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 similar to 5-20 Myr, comparable to previous cloud lifetime estimates. The timescales for orbital motion, shearing, and cloud-cloud collisions are longer, similar to 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.
Keywords
CO-TO-H-2 CONVERSION FACTOR, STAR-FORMATION EFFICIENCY, LARGE-MAGELLANIC-CLOUD, SCALE ISM STRUCTURE, EDGE-CALIFA SURVEY, NEARBY GALAXIES, GAS PROPERTIES, GALACTIC ROTATION, SPIRAL GALAXIES, WISDOM PROJECT

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MLA
Sun, Jiayi, et al. “Molecular Cloud Populations in the Context of Their Host Galaxy Environments : A Multiwavelength Perspective.” ASTRONOMICAL JOURNAL, vol. 164, no. 2, 2022, doi:10.3847/1538-3881/ac74bd.
APA
Sun, J., K. Leroy, A., Rosolowsky, E., Hughes, A., Schinnerer, E., Schruba, A., … A. Thilker, D. (2022). Molecular cloud populations in the context of their host galaxy environments : a multiwavelength perspective. ASTRONOMICAL JOURNAL, 164(2). https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/ac74bd
Chicago author-date
Sun, Jiayi, Adam K. Leroy, Erik Rosolowsky, Annie Hughes, Eva Schinnerer, Andreas Schruba, Eric W. Koch, et al. 2022. “Molecular Cloud Populations in the Context of Their Host Galaxy Environments : A Multiwavelength Perspective.” ASTRONOMICAL JOURNAL 164 (2). https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/ac74bd.
Chicago author-date (all authors)
Sun, Jiayi, 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 van der Wel, Hsi-An Pan, Jerome 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, Mederic Boquien, Melanie 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, and David A. Thilker. 2022. “Molecular Cloud Populations in the Context of Their Host Galaxy Environments : A Multiwavelength Perspective.” ASTRONOMICAL JOURNAL 164 (2). doi:10.3847/1538-3881/ac74bd.
Vancouver
1.
Sun J, K. Leroy A, Rosolowsky E, Hughes A, Schinnerer E, Schruba A, et al. Molecular cloud populations in the context of their host galaxy environments : a multiwavelength perspective. ASTRONOMICAL JOURNAL. 2022;164(2).
IEEE
[1]
J. Sun et al., “Molecular cloud populations in the context of their host galaxy environments : a multiwavelength perspective,” ASTRONOMICAL JOURNAL, vol. 164, no. 2, 2022.
@article{01GKMJ3TJCG8WQN2C8ZAN04N9Q,
  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 similar to 5-20 Myr, comparable to previous cloud lifetime estimates. The timescales for orbital motion, shearing, and cloud-cloud collisions are longer, similar to 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.}},
  articleno    = {{43}},
  author       = {{Sun, Jiayi and K. Leroy, Adam and Rosolowsky, Erik and Hughes, Annie and Schinnerer, Eva and Schruba, Andreas and W. Koch, Eric and A. Blanc, Guillermo and Chiang, I-Da and Groves, Brent and Liu, Daizhong and van der Wel, Sharon Meidt and Pan, Hsi-An and Pety, Jerome and Querejeta, Miguel and Saito, Toshiki and Sandstrom, Karin and Sardone, Amy and Usero, Antonio and Utomo, Dyas and G. Williams, Thomas and T. Barnes, Ashley and M. Benincasa, Samantha and Bigiel, Frank and D. Bolatto, Alberto and Boquien, Mederic and Chevance, Melanie and A. Dale, Daniel and Deger, Sinan and Emsellem, Eric and C. O. Glover, Simon and Grasha, Kathryn and D. Henshaw, Jonathan and S. Klessen, Ralf and Kreckel, Kathryn and M. Diederik Kruijssen, J. and C. Ostriker, Eve and A. Thilker, David}},
  issn         = {{0004-6256}},
  journal      = {{ASTRONOMICAL JOURNAL}},
  keywords     = {{CO-TO-H-2 CONVERSION FACTOR,STAR-FORMATION EFFICIENCY,LARGE-MAGELLANIC-CLOUD,SCALE ISM STRUCTURE,EDGE-CALIFA SURVEY,NEARBY GALAXIES,GAS PROPERTIES,GALACTIC ROTATION,SPIRAL GALAXIES,WISDOM PROJECT}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{2}},
  pages        = {{39}},
  title        = {{Molecular cloud populations in the context of their host galaxy environments : a multiwavelength perspective}},
  url          = {{http://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/ac74bd}},
  volume       = {{164}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}

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