Cloud-scale Molecular Gas Properties in 15 Nearby Galaxies

Sun, Jiayi; Leroy, Adam K.; Schruba, Andreas; Rosolowsky, Erik; Hughes, Annie; Kruijssen, J. M. Diederik; Meidt, Sharon; Schinnerer, Eva; Blanc, Guillermo A.; Bigiel, Frank; Bolatto, Alberto D.; Chevance, Mélanie; Groves, Brent; Herrera, Cinthya N.; Hygate, Alexander P. S.; Pety, Jérôme; Querejeta, Miguel; Usero, Antonio; Utomo, Dyas

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Cloud-scale Molecular Gas Properties in 15 Nearby Galaxies

MPS-Authors

Sun, Jiayi
Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Max Planck Society and Cooperation Partners;

Leroy, Adam K.
Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Max Planck Society and Cooperation Partners;

Schruba, Andreas
Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Max Planck Society and Cooperation Partners;

Rosolowsky, Erik
Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Max Planck Society and Cooperation Partners;

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

Kruijssen, J. M. Diederik
Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Max Planck Society and Cooperation Partners;

Meidt, Sharon
Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Max Planck Society and Cooperation Partners;

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

Blanc, Guillermo A.
Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Max Planck Society and Cooperation Partners;

Bigiel, Frank
Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Max Planck Society and Cooperation Partners;

Bolatto, Alberto D.
Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Max Planck Society and Cooperation Partners;

Chevance, Mélanie
Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Max Planck Society and Cooperation Partners;

Groves, Brent
Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Max Planck Society and Cooperation Partners;

Herrera, Cinthya N.
Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Max Planck Society and Cooperation Partners;

Hygate, Alexander P. S.
Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Max Planck Society and Cooperation Partners;

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

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

Usero, Antonio
Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Max Planck Society and Cooperation Partners;

Utomo, Dyas
Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Max Planck Society and Cooperation Partners;

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https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2018ApJ...860..172S
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Citation

Sun, J., Leroy, A. K., Schruba, A., Rosolowsky, E., Hughes, A., Kruijssen, J. M. D., et al. (2018). Cloud-scale Molecular Gas Properties in 15 Nearby Galaxies. The Astrophysical Journal, 860.

Cite as: https://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0005-CADA-2

Abstract

We measure the velocity dispersion, σ, and surface density, Σ, of the molecular gas in nearby galaxies from CO spectral line cubes with spatial resolution 45-120 pc, matched to the size of individual giant molecular clouds. Combining 11 galaxies from the PHANGS-ALMA survey with four targets from the literature, we characterize ̃30,000 independent sightlines where CO is detected at good significance. Σ and σ show a strong positive correlation, with the best-fit power-law slope close to the expected value for resolved, self-gravitating clouds. This indicates only a weak variation in the virial parameter α _vir ∝ σ ²/Σ, which is ̃1.5-3.0 for most galaxies. We do, however, observe enormous variation in the internal turbulent pressure P _turb ∝ Σσ ², which spans ̃5 dex across our sample. We find Σ, σ, and P _turb to be systematically larger in more massive galaxies. The same quantities appear enhanced in the central kiloparsec of strongly barred galaxies relative to their disks. Based on sensitive maps of M31 and M33, the slope of the σ-Σ relation flattens at Σ ≲ 10 M _☉ pc^-2, leading to high σ for a given Σ and high apparent α _vir. This echoes results found in the Milky Way and likely originates from a combination of lower beam-filling factors and a stronger influence of local environment on the dynamical state of molecular gas in the low-density regime.