Hierarchy and size distribution function of star formation regions in the spiral galaxy NGC 628

Гусев, А. С.

doi:10.1093/mnras/stu1095

Cited by 20 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…Figures 8 and 9 reveal the presence of a hierarchical organization of the young stellar population, in which a structure with low stellar density may contain one or more substructures with higher stellar densities inside it. This hierarchical structure is considered typical in several star-forming regions and galaxies (e.g., Gouliermis 2018;Sun et al 2018;Rodríguez et al 2018;Gusev 2014), and could be inherited from their parent molecular clouds, which present a self-similar or fractal distribution (Elmegreen 1999). In fact, this fractal behavior is consistent with a scenario of star formation regulated by turbulence and self-gravity of the interstellar medium (ISM), in which the molecular cloud is fragmented in successive smaller clouds (Elmegreen & Efremov 1996).…”

Section: Morphological Analysissupporting

confidence: 65%

The young stellar population in NGC 247

Rodríguez

Baume

Feinstein

2019

A&A

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Aims. We seek to investigate the characteristics of the young stellar population in the spiral galaxy NGC 247. In particular, we focused our attention in its hierarchical clustering distributions and the properties of the smallest groups. Methods. We used multiband Hubble Space Telescope (HST) data from three fields covering more than half of NGC 247 to select the young population. Then, through the path linkage criterion (PLC), we found compact young star groups and estimated their fundamental parameters, such as their stellar densities, sizes, number of members, and luminosity function (LF) slopes. We also performed a fractal analysis to determinate the clustering properties of this population. We built a stellar density map and dendrograms corresponding to the galactic young population to detect large structures and depict their main characteristics. Results. We detect 339 young star groups, for which we compute a mean radius of ∼60 pc and a maximum size distribution between 30 and 70 pc. We also obtain LF slopes with a bimodal distribution showing peaks at ∼0.1 and ∼0.2. We identify several candidates for HII regions that follow an excellent spatial correlation with the young groups found by the PLC. We observe that the young populations are hierarchically organized, wherein the smaller and denser structures are within larger and less dense structures. We notice that all these groups present a fractal subclustering, following the hierarchical distribution observed in the corresponding stellar density map. For the large young structures observed in this map, we obtain a fractal dimension of ∼1.6–1.8 using the perimeter-area relation and cumulative size distribution. These values are consistent with a scenario of hierarchical star formation.

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Section: Morphological Analysissupporting

confidence: 65%

The young stellar population in NGC 247

Rodríguez

Baume

Feinstein

2019

A&A

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“…quoted for them in literature -i.e. 1.5 for NGC 0628 (Elmegreen et al 2006;Gusev 2014) and 1.7 for NGC 6503 (Gouliermis et al 2015b). This difference could occur for several reasons.…”

Section: Fractal Dimension Of Young Clustersmentioning

confidence: 89%

The dependence of the hierarchical distribution of star clusters on galactic environment

Menon

Grasha

Elmegreen³

et al. 2021

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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We use the angular Two Point Correlation Function (TPCF) to investigate the hierarchical distribution of young star clusters in 12 local (3–18 Mpc) star-forming galaxies using star cluster catalogues obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) as part of the Treasury Program LEGUS (Legacy ExtraGalactic UV Survey). The sample spans a range of different morphological types, allowing us to infer how the physical properties of the galaxy affect the spatial distribution of the clusters. We also prepare a range of physically motivated toy models to compare with and interpret the observed features in the TPCFs. We find that, conforming to earlier studies, young clusters (T ≲ 10 Myr) have power-law TPCFs that are characteristic of fractal distributions with a fractal dimension D2, and this scale-free nature extends out to a maximum scale lcorr beyond which the distribution becomes Poissonian. However, lcorr, and D2 vary significantly across the sample, and are correlated with a number of host galaxy physical properties, suggesting that there are physical differences in the underlying star cluster distributions. We also find that hierarchical structuring weakens with age, evidenced by flatter TPCFs for older clusters (T ≳ 10 Myr), that eventually converges to the residual correlation expected from a completely random large-scale radial distribution of clusters in the galaxy in ∼100 Myr. Our study demonstrates that the hierarchical distribution of star clusters evolves with age, and is strongly dependent on the properties of the host galaxy environment.

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“…Thus, the young stars in the SMC exhibit a high degree of hierarchical subclustering, which is typical in many star-forming regions and galaxies (e.g. Gouliermis et al 2010Gouliermis et al , 2015Gusev 2014;Sun et al 2017a,b). Figure 8 also shows that many of the young stellar structures have very irregular boundaries, which are significantly different from smooth curves.…”

Section: The Hierarchical Patternmentioning

confidence: 98%

The VMC Survey. XXIX. Turbulence-controlled Hierarchical Star Formation in the Small Magellanic Cloud

Sun

Grijs

Cioni

et al. 2018

ApJ

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In this paper we report a clustering analysis of upper main-sequence stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud, using data from the VMC survey (the VISTA near-infrared Y JK s survey of the Magellanic system). Young stellar structures are identified as surface overdensities on a range of significance levels. They are found to be organized in a hierarchical pattern, such that larger structures at lower significance levels contain smaller ones at higher significance levels. They have very irregular morphologies, with a perimeter-area dimension of 1.44 ± 0.02 for their projected boundaries. They have a power-law mass-size relation, power-law size/mass distributions, and a lognormal surface density distribution. We derive a projected fractal dimension of 1.48 ± 0.03 from the mass-size relation, or of 1.4 ± 0.1 from the size distribution, reflecting significant lumpiness of the young stellar structures. These properties are remarkably similar to those of a turbulent interstellar medium (ISM), supporting a scenario of hierarchical star formation regulated by supersonic turbulence.

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Hierarchy and size distribution function of star formation regions in the spiral galaxy NGC 628

Cited by 20 publications

References 59 publications

The young stellar population in NGC 247

The young stellar population in NGC 247

The dependence of the hierarchical distribution of star clusters on galactic environment

The VMC Survey. XXIX. Turbulence-controlled Hierarchical Star Formation in the Small Magellanic Cloud

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