Bibcode
Colombo, D.; Kalinova, V.; Utomo, D.; Rosolowsky, E.; Bolatto, A. D.; Levy, R. C.; Wong, T.; Sanchez, S. F.; Leroy, A. K.; Ostriker, E.; Blitz, L.; Vogel, S.; Mast, D.; García-Benito, R.; Husemann, B.; Dannerbauer, H.; Ellmeier, L.; Cao, Y.
Bibliographical reference
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 475, Issue 2, p.1791-1808
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4
2018
Citations
54
Refereed citations
52
Description
We present a kpc-scale analysis of the relationship between the
molecular depletion time (τ^mol_dep) and the orbital time
(τorb) across the field of 39 face-on local galaxies,
selected from the EDGE-CALIFA sample. We find that, on average, 5 per
cent of the available molecular gas is converted into stars per orbital
time, or τ^mol_dep˜ 20 τ_orb. The resolved relation shows
a scatter of ˜0.5 dex. The scatter is ascribable to galaxies of
different morphologies that follow different
τ^mol_dep-τorb relations which decrease in steepness
from early- to late types. The morphologies appear to be linked with the
star formation rate surface density, the molecular depletion time, and
the orbital time, but they do not correlate with the molecular gas
content of the galaxies in our sample. We speculate that in our
molecular gas rich, early-type galaxies, the morphological quenching (in
particular the disc stabilization via shear), rather than the absence of
molecular gas, is the main factor responsible for their current
inefficient star formation.
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Molecular Gas and Dust in Galaxies Across Cosmic Time
Two of the most fundamental questions in astrophysics are the conversion of molecular gas into stars and how this physical process is a function of environments on all scales, ranging from planetary systems, stellar clusters, galaxies to galaxy clusters. The main goal of this internal project is to get insight into the formation and evolution of
Helmut
Dannerbauer