Speaker
Alex Hygate
(Max Planck Institute of Astronomy (MPIA)/Astronomisches Rechen-Institut, University of Heidelberg (ARI/ZAH), Heidelberg, Germany)
Description
In this contribution, I will discuss a new method of observationally measuring the
key quantities describing the cloud-scale physics of star formation and feedback,
such as the cloud lifetime, feedback timescale, star formation efficiency, mass
loading factor, etc. (Kruijssen & Longmore, 2014). This method for the first time
allows us to probe these physics over a large galaxy sample and across cosmic time. I
will present results from the first sample of galaxies that the method has been
applied to: the two flocculent disc galaxies NGC300 (Kruijssen+ in prep.) and M33
(Hygate+ in prep.), as well as the massive spiral galaxy M31 (Schruba+ in prep.).
Using these results, I will compare the lifecycle of molecular clouds, star
formation, and feedback in these three galaxies. Furthermore, I will discuss how,
using the increased resolving power of modern instruments such as ALMA and MUSE, this
method will be applied to a large number of galaxies in differing environments from
the local Universe out to redshift z~4, i.e. across a cosmologically representative
part of the galaxy population rather than the limited sample of Local Group galaxies
where such measurements were previously possible. This enables the systematic study
of SF physics as a function of the cosmic environment.
Primary author
Alex Hygate
(Max Planck Institute of Astronomy (MPIA)/Astronomisches Rechen-Institut, University of Heidelberg (ARI/ZAH), Heidelberg, Germany)
Co-authors
Dr
Andreas Schruba
(Max Planck Institute for extraterrestrial physics, Garching bei München, Germany)
Dr
Diederik Kruijssen
(Astronomisches Rechen-Institut, University of Heidelberg (ARI/ZAH), Heidelberg, Germany)
Dr
Fabian Walter
(Max Planck Institute of Astronomy (MPIA), Heidelberg, Germany)
