Galactic Structure Dependence of Cloud–Cloud-collision-driven Star Formation in the Barred Galaxy NGC 3627
While cloud–cloud collisions (CCCs) have been proposed as a mechanism for triggering massive star formation, it is suggested that higher collision velocities ( v _col ) and lower giant molecular cloud (GMC) mass ( M _GMC ) and/or density (Σ _GMC ) tend to suppress star formation. In this study, we c...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2025-01-01
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| Series: | The Astrophysical Journal |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adb41e |
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| author | Fumiya Maeda Kouji Ohta Fumi Egusa Yusuke Fujimoto Masato I. N. Kobayashi Shin Inoue Asao Habe |
| author_facet | Fumiya Maeda Kouji Ohta Fumi Egusa Yusuke Fujimoto Masato I. N. Kobayashi Shin Inoue Asao Habe |
| author_sort | Fumiya Maeda |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | While cloud–cloud collisions (CCCs) have been proposed as a mechanism for triggering massive star formation, it is suggested that higher collision velocities ( v _col ) and lower giant molecular cloud (GMC) mass ( M _GMC ) and/or density (Σ _GMC ) tend to suppress star formation. In this study, we choose the nearby barred galaxy NGC 3627 to examine the star formation rate and star formation efficiency (SFE) of a colliding GMC ( ${m}_{{\rm{CCC}}}^{\star }$ and ϵ _CCC ) and explore the connections between ${m}_{{\rm{CCC}}}^{\star }$ and ϵ _CCC , M _GMC (Σ _GMC ) and v _col , and galactic structures (disk, bar, and bar end). Using Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array CO (2–1) data (60 pc resolution), we estimated v _col within 500 pc apertures, based on line-of-sight GMC velocities, assuming random motion in a two-dimensional plane. We extracted apertures where at least 0.1 collisions occur per 1 Myr, identifying them as regions dominated by CCC-driven star formation, and then calculated ${m}_{{\rm{CCC}}}^{\star }$ and ϵ _CCC using attenuation-corrected H α data from MUSE on the Very Large Telescope. We found that both ${m}_{{\rm{CCC}}}^{\star }$ and ϵ _CCC are lower in the bar (median values: 10 ^3.84 M _⊙ and 0.18%) and higher in the bar end (10 ^4.89 M _⊙ and 1.10%) compared to the disk (10 ^4.28 M _⊙ and 0.75%). Furthermore, we found that structural differences within the parameter space of v _col and M _GMC (Σ _GMC ), with higher M _GMC (Σ _GMC ) in the bar end and higher v _col in the bar compared to the disk, lead to higher star formation activity in the bar end and lower activity in the bar. Our results support the scenario in which variations in CCC properties across different galactic structures can explain the observed differences in SFE on a kiloparsec scale within a disk galaxy. |
| first_indexed | 2025-03-14T05:19:48Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c9f09cea903c4493bab2c00611299293 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1538-4357 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-03-14T05:19:48Z |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
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| series | The Astrophysical Journal |
| spelling | doaj.art-c9f09cea903c4493bab2c006112992932025-03-06T07:06:43ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal1538-43572025-01-01981215610.3847/1538-4357/adb41eGalactic Structure Dependence of Cloud–Cloud-collision-driven Star Formation in the Barred Galaxy NGC 3627Fumiya Maeda0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8868-1255Kouji Ohta1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3844-1517Fumi Egusa2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1639-1515Yusuke Fujimoto3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2107-1460Masato I. N. Kobayashi4https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3990-1204Shin Inoue5https://orcid.org/0009-0004-6347-0613Asao Habe6Research Center for Physics and Mathematics, Osaka Electro-Communication University , 18-8 Hatsucho, Neyagawa, Osaka 572-8530, JapanDepartment of Astronomy, Kyoto University , Kitashirakawa-Oiwake-Cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8502, JapanInstitute of Astronomy, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo , 2-21-1 Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-0015, JapanDepartment of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Aizu , Tsuruga Ikki-machi, Aizu-Wakamatsu, Fukushima 965-8580, JapanI. Physikalisches Institut, Universität zu Köln , Zülpicher Str 77, D-50937 Köln, GermanyDepartment of Astronomy, Kyoto University Sakyo-ku , Kyoto 606-8502, JapanGraduate School of Science, Hokkaido University , Kita 10 Nishi 8, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-0810, JapanWhile cloud–cloud collisions (CCCs) have been proposed as a mechanism for triggering massive star formation, it is suggested that higher collision velocities ( v _col ) and lower giant molecular cloud (GMC) mass ( M _GMC ) and/or density (Σ _GMC ) tend to suppress star formation. In this study, we choose the nearby barred galaxy NGC 3627 to examine the star formation rate and star formation efficiency (SFE) of a colliding GMC ( ${m}_{{\rm{CCC}}}^{\star }$ and ϵ _CCC ) and explore the connections between ${m}_{{\rm{CCC}}}^{\star }$ and ϵ _CCC , M _GMC (Σ _GMC ) and v _col , and galactic structures (disk, bar, and bar end). Using Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array CO (2–1) data (60 pc resolution), we estimated v _col within 500 pc apertures, based on line-of-sight GMC velocities, assuming random motion in a two-dimensional plane. We extracted apertures where at least 0.1 collisions occur per 1 Myr, identifying them as regions dominated by CCC-driven star formation, and then calculated ${m}_{{\rm{CCC}}}^{\star }$ and ϵ _CCC using attenuation-corrected H α data from MUSE on the Very Large Telescope. We found that both ${m}_{{\rm{CCC}}}^{\star }$ and ϵ _CCC are lower in the bar (median values: 10 ^3.84 M _⊙ and 0.18%) and higher in the bar end (10 ^4.89 M _⊙ and 1.10%) compared to the disk (10 ^4.28 M _⊙ and 0.75%). Furthermore, we found that structural differences within the parameter space of v _col and M _GMC (Σ _GMC ), with higher M _GMC (Σ _GMC ) in the bar end and higher v _col in the bar compared to the disk, lead to higher star formation activity in the bar end and lower activity in the bar. Our results support the scenario in which variations in CCC properties across different galactic structures can explain the observed differences in SFE on a kiloparsec scale within a disk galaxy.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adb41eStar formationInterstellar mediumMolecular gasGiant molecular cloudsBarred spiral galaxies |
| spellingShingle | Fumiya Maeda Kouji Ohta Fumi Egusa Yusuke Fujimoto Masato I. N. Kobayashi Shin Inoue Asao Habe Galactic Structure Dependence of Cloud–Cloud-collision-driven Star Formation in the Barred Galaxy NGC 3627 The Astrophysical Journal Star formation Interstellar medium Molecular gas Giant molecular clouds Barred spiral galaxies |
| title | Galactic Structure Dependence of Cloud–Cloud-collision-driven Star Formation in the Barred Galaxy NGC 3627 |
| title_full | Galactic Structure Dependence of Cloud–Cloud-collision-driven Star Formation in the Barred Galaxy NGC 3627 |
| title_fullStr | Galactic Structure Dependence of Cloud–Cloud-collision-driven Star Formation in the Barred Galaxy NGC 3627 |
| title_full_unstemmed | Galactic Structure Dependence of Cloud–Cloud-collision-driven Star Formation in the Barred Galaxy NGC 3627 |
| title_short | Galactic Structure Dependence of Cloud–Cloud-collision-driven Star Formation in the Barred Galaxy NGC 3627 |
| title_sort | galactic structure dependence of cloud cloud collision driven star formation in the barred galaxy ngc 3627 |
| topic | Star formation Interstellar medium Molecular gas Giant molecular clouds Barred spiral galaxies |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adb41e |
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