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Pre-supernova feedback mechanisms drive the destruction of molecular clouds in nearby star-forming disc galaxies

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Abstract
It is a major open question which physical processes stop gas accretion on to giant molecular clouds (GMCs) and limit the efficiency at which gas is converted into stars. While feedback from supernova explosions has been the popular feedback mechanism included in simulations of galaxy formation and evolution, 'early' feedback mechanisms such as stellar winds, photoionization, and radiation pressure are expected to play an important role in dispersing the gas after the onset of star formation. These feedback processes typically take place on small scales (similar to 10-100 pc) and their effects have therefore been difficult to constrain in environments other than the Milky Way. We apply a novel statistical method to similar to 1 arcsec resolution maps of CO and H a across a sample of nine nearby galaxies, to measure the time over which GMCs are dispersed by feedback from young, high-mass stars, as a function of the galactic environment. We find that GMCs are typically dispersed within similar to 3 Myr on average after the emergence of unembedded high-mass stars, with variations within galaxies associated with morphological features rather than radial trends. Comparison with analytical predictions demonstrates that, independently of the environment, early feedback mechanisms (particularly photoionization and stellar winds) play a crucial role in dispersing GMCs and limiting their star formation efficiency in nearby galaxies. Finally, we show that the efficiency at which the energy injected by these early feedback mechanisms couples with the parent GMC is relatively low (a few tens of per cent), such that the vast majority of momentum and energy emitted by the young stellar populations escapes the parent GMC.
Keywords
stars: formation, ISM: clouds, ISM: structure, galaxies: evolution, galaxies: ISM, galaxies: star formation, Astrophysics - Astrophysics of Galaxies, UV-RADIATION FEEDBACK, DIFFUSE IONIZED-GAS, STELLAR FEEDBACK, DARK-MATTER, UNCERTAINTY PRINCIPLE, FORMATION EFFICIENCY, INTERSTELLAR-MEDIUM, ALMA OBSERVATIONS, MAGNETIC-FIELDS, FORMATION CYCLE

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Citation

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MLA
Chevance, Mélanie, et al. “Pre-Supernova Feedback Mechanisms Drive the Destruction of Molecular Clouds in Nearby Star-Forming Disc Galaxies.” MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, vol. 509, no. 1, 2022, pp. 272–88, doi:10.1093/mnras/stab2938.
APA
Chevance, M., Kruijssen, J. ~M. D., Krumholz, M. R., Groves, B., Keller, B. W., Hughes, A., … Usero, A. (2022). Pre-supernova feedback mechanisms drive the destruction of molecular clouds in nearby star-forming disc galaxies. MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, 509(1), 272–288. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stab2938
Chicago author-date
Chevance, Mélanie, J.~M. Diederik Kruijssen, Mark R. Krumholz, Brent Groves, Benjamin W. Keller, Annie Hughes, Simon C.~O. Glover, et al. 2022. “Pre-Supernova Feedback Mechanisms Drive the Destruction of Molecular Clouds in Nearby Star-Forming Disc Galaxies.” MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY 509 (1): 272–88. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stab2938.
Chicago author-date (all authors)
Chevance, Mélanie, J.~M. Diederik Kruijssen, Mark R. Krumholz, Brent Groves, Benjamin W. Keller, Annie Hughes, Simon C.~O. Glover, Jonathan D. Henshaw, Cinthya N. Herrera, Jaeyeon Kim, Adam K. Leroy, Jérôme Pety, Alessandro Razza, Erik Rosolowsky, Eva Schinnerer, Andreas Schruba, Ashley T. Barnes, Frank Bigiel, Guillermo A. Blanc, Daniel A. Dale, Eric Emsellem, Christopher M. Faesi, Kathryn Grasha, Ralf S. Klessen, Kathryn Kreckel, Daizhong Liu, Steven N. Longmore, Sharon Meidt van der Wel, Miguel Querejeta, Toshiki Saito, Jiayi Sun, and Antonio Usero. 2022. “Pre-Supernova Feedback Mechanisms Drive the Destruction of Molecular Clouds in Nearby Star-Forming Disc Galaxies.” MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY 509 (1): 272–288. doi:10.1093/mnras/stab2938.
Vancouver
1.
Chevance M, Kruijssen J ~M. D, Krumholz MR, Groves B, Keller BW, Hughes A, et al. Pre-supernova feedback mechanisms drive the destruction of molecular clouds in nearby star-forming disc galaxies. MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY. 2022;509(1):272–88.
IEEE
[1]
M. Chevance et al., “Pre-supernova feedback mechanisms drive the destruction of molecular clouds in nearby star-forming disc galaxies,” MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, vol. 509, no. 1, pp. 272–288, 2022.
@article{8747476,
  abstract     = {{It is a major open question which physical processes stop gas accretion on to giant molecular clouds (GMCs) and limit the efficiency at which gas is converted into stars. While feedback from supernova explosions has been the popular feedback mechanism included in simulations of galaxy formation and evolution, 'early' feedback mechanisms such as stellar winds, photoionization, and radiation pressure are expected to play an important role in dispersing the gas after the onset of star formation. These feedback processes typically take place on small scales (similar to 10-100 pc) and their effects have therefore been difficult to constrain in environments other than the Milky Way. We apply a novel statistical method to similar to 1 arcsec resolution maps of CO and H a across a sample of nine nearby galaxies, to measure the time over which GMCs are dispersed by feedback from young, high-mass stars, as a function of the galactic environment. We find that GMCs are typically dispersed within similar to 3 Myr on average after the emergence of unembedded high-mass stars, with variations within galaxies associated with morphological features rather than radial trends. Comparison with analytical predictions demonstrates that, independently of the environment, early feedback mechanisms (particularly photoionization and stellar winds) play a crucial role in dispersing GMCs and limiting their star formation efficiency in nearby galaxies. Finally, we show that the efficiency at which the energy injected by these early feedback mechanisms couples with the parent GMC is relatively low (a few tens of per cent), such that the vast majority of momentum and energy emitted by the young stellar populations escapes the parent GMC.}},
  author       = {{Chevance, Mélanie and Kruijssen, J.~M. Diederik and Krumholz, Mark R. and Groves, Brent and Keller, Benjamin W. and Hughes, Annie and Glover, Simon C.~O. and Henshaw, Jonathan D. and Herrera, Cinthya N. and Kim, Jaeyeon and Leroy, Adam K. and Pety, Jérôme and Razza, Alessandro and Rosolowsky, Erik and Schinnerer, Eva and Schruba, Andreas and Barnes, Ashley T. and Bigiel, Frank and Blanc, Guillermo A. and Dale, Daniel A. and Emsellem, Eric and Faesi, Christopher M. and Grasha, Kathryn and Klessen, Ralf S. and Kreckel, Kathryn and Liu, Daizhong and Longmore, Steven N. and van der Wel, Sharon Meidt and Querejeta, Miguel and Saito, Toshiki and Sun, Jiayi and Usero, Antonio}},
  issn         = {{0035-8711}},
  journal      = {{MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY}},
  keywords     = {{stars: formation,ISM: clouds,ISM: structure,galaxies: evolution,galaxies: ISM,galaxies: star formation,Astrophysics - Astrophysics of Galaxies,UV-RADIATION FEEDBACK,DIFFUSE IONIZED-GAS,STELLAR FEEDBACK,DARK-MATTER,UNCERTAINTY PRINCIPLE,FORMATION EFFICIENCY,INTERSTELLAR-MEDIUM,ALMA OBSERVATIONS,MAGNETIC-FIELDS,FORMATION CYCLE}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{272--288}},
  title        = {{Pre-supernova feedback mechanisms drive the destruction of molecular clouds in nearby star-forming disc galaxies}},
  url          = {{http://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stab2938}},
  volume       = {{509}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}

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