articleThe Astronomical JournalJun 17, 2013BRONZE OA

MOLECULAR GAS AND STAR FORMATION IN NEARBY DISK GALAXIES

AKAdam K. LeroyFWFabian WalterKSKarin SandstromASAndreas SchrubaJMJuan-Carlos Munoz-Mateos
Indexed inarxivcrossrefdoaj

Abstract

We compare molecular gas traced by ^(12)CO (2-1) maps from the HERACLES survey, with tracers of the recent star formation rate (SFR) across 30 nearby disk galaxies. We demonstrate a first-order linear correspondence between Σ_(mol) and Σ_(SFR) but also find important second-order systematic variations in the apparent molecular gas depletion time, τ_(dep)^(mol) = ∑_(mol)/∑_(SFR). At the 1 kpc common resolution of HERACLES, CO emission correlates closely with many tracers of the recent SFR. Weighting each line of sight equally, using a fixed α_(CO) equivalent to the Milky Way value, our data yield a molecular gas depletion time, τ_(dep)^(mol)= ∑_(mol)∑_(SFR) ≈ 2.2 Gyr with 0.3 dex 1σ scatter, in very good…

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Authors

15
  • AK
    Adam K. LeroyCorresponding
  • FW
    Fabian Walter
  • KS
    Karin Sandstrom
  • AS
    Andreas Schruba
  • JM
    Juan-Carlos Munoz-Mateos

Topics & keywords

Topics
Keywords
  • Star formation
  • Galaxy
  • Milky Way
  • Line-of-sight
  • Galaxy formation and evolution
  • Weighting
  • Power law
  • Hubble sequence
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