Star formation scales and efficiency in Galactic spiral arms

D.~J. Eden; T.~J.~T. Moore; J.~S. Urquhart; D. Elia; R. Plume; A.~J. Rigby; M.~A. Thompson

doi:10.1093/mnras/stv1323

Star formation scales and efficiency in Galactic spiral arms

D.~J. Eden, T.~J.~T. Moore, J.~S. Urquhart, D. Elia, R. Plume, A.~J. Rigby, M.~A. Thompson

Centre for Astrophysics Research (CAR)

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Abstract

We positionally match a sample of infrared-selected young stellar objects, identified by combining the Spitzer Galactic Legacy Infrared Mid-Plane Survey Extraordinaire, Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer and Herschel Space Observatory Herschel infrared Galactic Plane Survey, to the dense clumps identified in the millimetre continuum by the Bolocam Galactic Plane Survey in two Galactic lines of sight centred towards l = 30° and 40°. We calculate the ratio of infrared luminosity, LIR, to the mass of the clump, Mclump, in a variety of Galactic environments and find it to be somewhat enhanced in spiral arms compared to the interarm regions when averaged over kiloparsec scales. We find no compelling evidence that these changes are due to the mechanical influence of the spiral arm on the star formation efficiency rather than, e.g. different gradients in the star formation rate due to patchy or intermittent star formation, or local variations that are not averaged out due to small source samples. The largest variation in LIR/Mclump is found in individual clump values, which follow a lognormal distribution and have a range of over three orders of magnitude. This spread is intrinsic as no dependence of LIR/Mclump with Mclump was found. No difference was found in the luminosity distribution of sources in the arm and interarm samples and a strong linear correlation was found between LIR and Mclump.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	289-300
Number of pages	12
Journal	Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS)
Volume	452
Issue number	1
Early online date	3 Jul 2015
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stv1323
Publication status	Published - 1 Sept 2015

Keywords

stars
formation
Galaxy
structure
infrared
ISM
radio continuum

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10.1093/mnras/stv1323

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title = "Star formation scales and efficiency in Galactic spiral arms",

abstract = "We positionally match a sample of infrared-selected young stellar objects, identified by combining the Spitzer Galactic Legacy Infrared Mid-Plane Survey Extraordinaire, Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer and Herschel Space Observatory Herschel infrared Galactic Plane Survey, to the dense clumps identified in the millimetre continuum by the Bolocam Galactic Plane Survey in two Galactic lines of sight centred towards l = 30° and 40°. We calculate the ratio of infrared luminosity, LIR, to the mass of the clump, Mclump, in a variety of Galactic environments and find it to be somewhat enhanced in spiral arms compared to the interarm regions when averaged over kiloparsec scales. We find no compelling evidence that these changes are due to the mechanical influence of the spiral arm on the star formation efficiency rather than, e.g. different gradients in the star formation rate due to patchy or intermittent star formation, or local variations that are not averaged out due to small source samples. The largest variation in LIR/Mclump is found in individual clump values, which follow a lognormal distribution and have a range of over three orders of magnitude. This spread is intrinsic as no dependence of LIR/Mclump with Mclump was found. No difference was found in the luminosity distribution of sources in the arm and interarm samples and a strong linear correlation was found between LIR and Mclump.",

keywords = "stars, formation, Galaxy, structure, infrared, ISM, radio continuum",

author = "D.~J. Eden and T.~J.~T. Moore and J.~S. Urquhart and D. Elia and R. Plume and A.~J. Rigby and M.~A. Thompson",

note = "This article has been accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. {\textcopyright} 2015 The Authors. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. Available online at: https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/mnras/stv1323",

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AU - Eden, D.~J.

AU - Moore, T.~J.~T.

AU - Urquhart, J.~S.

AU - Elia, D.

AU - Plume, R.

AU - Rigby, A.~J.

AU - Thompson, M.~A.

N1 - This article has been accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. © 2015 The Authors. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. Available online at: https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/mnras/stv1323

PY - 2015/9/1

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N2 - We positionally match a sample of infrared-selected young stellar objects, identified by combining the Spitzer Galactic Legacy Infrared Mid-Plane Survey Extraordinaire, Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer and Herschel Space Observatory Herschel infrared Galactic Plane Survey, to the dense clumps identified in the millimetre continuum by the Bolocam Galactic Plane Survey in two Galactic lines of sight centred towards l = 30° and 40°. We calculate the ratio of infrared luminosity, LIR, to the mass of the clump, Mclump, in a variety of Galactic environments and find it to be somewhat enhanced in spiral arms compared to the interarm regions when averaged over kiloparsec scales. We find no compelling evidence that these changes are due to the mechanical influence of the spiral arm on the star formation efficiency rather than, e.g. different gradients in the star formation rate due to patchy or intermittent star formation, or local variations that are not averaged out due to small source samples. The largest variation in LIR/Mclump is found in individual clump values, which follow a lognormal distribution and have a range of over three orders of magnitude. This spread is intrinsic as no dependence of LIR/Mclump with Mclump was found. No difference was found in the luminosity distribution of sources in the arm and interarm samples and a strong linear correlation was found between LIR and Mclump.

AB - We positionally match a sample of infrared-selected young stellar objects, identified by combining the Spitzer Galactic Legacy Infrared Mid-Plane Survey Extraordinaire, Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer and Herschel Space Observatory Herschel infrared Galactic Plane Survey, to the dense clumps identified in the millimetre continuum by the Bolocam Galactic Plane Survey in two Galactic lines of sight centred towards l = 30° and 40°. We calculate the ratio of infrared luminosity, LIR, to the mass of the clump, Mclump, in a variety of Galactic environments and find it to be somewhat enhanced in spiral arms compared to the interarm regions when averaged over kiloparsec scales. We find no compelling evidence that these changes are due to the mechanical influence of the spiral arm on the star formation efficiency rather than, e.g. different gradients in the star formation rate due to patchy or intermittent star formation, or local variations that are not averaged out due to small source samples. The largest variation in LIR/Mclump is found in individual clump values, which follow a lognormal distribution and have a range of over three orders of magnitude. This spread is intrinsic as no dependence of LIR/Mclump with Mclump was found. No difference was found in the luminosity distribution of sources in the arm and interarm samples and a strong linear correlation was found between LIR and Mclump.

KW - stars

KW - formation

KW - Galaxy

KW - structure

KW - infrared

KW - ISM

KW - radio continuum

U2 - 10.1093/mnras/stv1323

DO - 10.1093/mnras/stv1323

M3 - Article

SN - 0035-8711

VL - 452

SP - 289

EP - 300

JO - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS)

JF - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS)

IS - 1

ER -

Star formation scales and efficiency in Galactic spiral arms

Abstract

Keywords

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