Two Orders of Magnitude Variation in the Star Formation Efficiency across the 
Premerger Galaxy NGC 2276

Tomičić, Neven; Hughes, Annie; Kreckel, Kathryn; Renaud, Florent; Pety, Jérôme; Schinnerer, Eva; Saito, Toshiki; Querejeta, Miguel; Faesi, Christopher M.; Garcia-Burillo, Santiago

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Two Orders of Magnitude Variation in the Star Formation Efficiency across the Premerger Galaxy NGC 2276

MPS-Authors

Tomičić, Neven
Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Max Planck Society and Cooperation Partners;

Hughes, Annie
Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Max Planck Society and Cooperation Partners;

Kreckel, Kathryn
Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Max Planck Society and Cooperation Partners;

Renaud, Florent
Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Max Planck Society and Cooperation Partners;

Pety, Jérôme
Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Max Planck Society and Cooperation Partners;

Schinnerer, Eva
Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Max Planck Society and Cooperation Partners;

Saito, Toshiki
Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Max Planck Society and Cooperation Partners;

Querejeta, Miguel
Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Max Planck Society and Cooperation Partners;

Faesi, Christopher M.
Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Max Planck Society and Cooperation Partners;

Garcia-Burillo, Santiago
Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Max Planck Society and Cooperation Partners;

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https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2018ApJ...869L..38T
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Citation

Tomičić, N., Hughes, A., Kreckel, K., Renaud, F., Pety, J., Schinnerer, E., et al. (2018). Two Orders of Magnitude Variation in the Star Formation Efficiency across the Premerger Galaxy NGC 2276. The Astrophysical Journal, 869.

Cite as: https://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0005-CAA8-A

Abstract

We present the first spatially resolved (̃0.5 kpc) measurements of the molecular gas depletion time τ _depl across the disk of the interacting spiral galaxy NGC 2276, a system with an asymmetric morphology in various star formation rate (SFR) tracers. To estimate τ _depl, we use new NOEMA observations of the ¹²CO(1-0) emission tracing the bulk molecular gas reservoir in NGC 2276, and extinction-corrected Hα measurements obtained with the PMAS/PPaK integral field unit for robust estimates of the SFR. We find a systematic decrease in τ _depl of 1-1.5 dex across the disk of NGC 2276, with a further, abrupt drop in τ _depl of ̃1 dex along the galaxy's western edge. The global τ _depl in NGC 2776 is {τ }_depl}=0.55 {Gyr}, consistent with literature measurements for the nearby galaxy population. Such a large range in τ _depl on subkiloparsec scales has never previously been observed within an individual isolated or premerger system. When using a metallicity-dependent molecular gas conversion factor {X}_CO} the variation decreases by 0.5 dex. We attribute the variation in τ _depl to the influence of galactic-scale tidal forces and ram pressure on NGC 2276's molecular interstellar medium. Our observations add to the growing body of numerical and observational evidence that galaxy-galaxy interactions significantly modify the molecular gas properties and star-forming activity within galactic disks throughout the interaction, and not just during the final merger phase.