PHANGS-JWST First Results: Interstellar Medium Structure on the Turbulent Jeans Scale in Four Disk Galaxies Observed by JWST and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array

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dc.contributor.authorMeidt, Sharon E
dc.contributor.authorRosolowsky, Erik
dc.contributor.authorSun, Jiayi
dc.contributor.authorKoch, Eric W.
dc.contributor.authorKlessen, Ralf S.
dc.contributor.authorLeroy, Adam K
dc.contributor.authorSchinnerer, Eva
dc.contributor.authorBarnes, A. T.
dc.contributor.authorGlover, Simon C O
dc.contributor.authorLee, Janice
dc.contributor.authorGrasha, Kathryn
dc.date.accessioned2026-01-14T02:43:47Z
dc.date.available2026-01-14T02:43:47Z
dc.date.issued2023
dc.date.updated2023-10-22T07:16:57Z
dc.description.abstractJWST/Mid-Infrared Instrument imaging of the nearby galaxies IC 5332, NGC 628, NGC 1365, and NGC 7496 from PHANGS reveals a richness of gas structures that in each case form a quasi-regular network of interconnected filaments, shells, and voids. We examine whether this multiscale network of structure is consistent with the fragmentation of the gas disk through gravitational instability. We use FilFinder to detect the web of filamentary features in each galaxy and determine their characteristic radial and azimuthal spacings. These spacings are then compared to estimates of the most Toomre-unstable length (a few kiloparsecs), the turbulent Jeans length (a few hundred parsecs), and the disk scale height (tens of parsecs) reconstructed using PHANGS-Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array observations of the molecular gas as a dynamical tracer. Our analysis of the four galaxies targeted in this work indicates that Jeans-scale structure is pervasive. Future work will be essential for determining how the structure observed in gas disks impacts not only the rate and location of star formation but also how stellar feedback interacts positively or negatively with the surrounding multiphase gas reservoir.
dc.description.sponsorshipR.S.K., E.J.W., and S.C.O.G. acknowledge funding from the European Research Council via the ERC Synergy Grant “ECOGAL” (project ID 855130), from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) via the Collaborative Research Center “The Milky Way System” (SFB 881—funding ID 138713538—subprojects A1, B1, B2, B8 and P2) and from the Heidelberg Cluster of Excellence (EXC 2181-390900948) “STRUCTURES”, funded by the German Excellence Strategy. R.S.K. also thanks the German Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action for funding in the project “MAINN” (funding ID 50OO2206). G.A.B. acknowledges support from ANID Basal projects FB210003. M.C. gratefully acknowledges funding from the DFG through an Emmy Noether Research Group (grant No. CH2137/1-1). COOL Research DAO is a Decentralized Autonomous Organization supporting research in astrophysics aimed at uncovering our cosmic origins. J.M.D.K. gratefully acknowledges funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program via the ERC Starting Grant MUSTANG (grant agreement No. 714907). J.P.e. acknowledges support by the DAOISM grant No. ANR-21-CE31-0010 and by the Programme National “Physique et Chimie du Milieu Interstellaire” (PCMI) of CNRS/INSU with INC/INP, cofunded by CEA and CNES. M.B. acknowledges support from FONDECYT regular grant No. 1211000 and by the ANID BASAL project FB210003. F.B. would like to acknowledge funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant agreement No. 726384/Empire) E.R. acknowledges the support of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), funding reference No. RGPIN-2022-03499. J.S. acknowledges the support of NSERC through a Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics (CITA) National Fellowship. K.G. is supported by the Australian Research Council through the Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) Fellowship DE220100766 funded by the Australian Government. K.G. is supported by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3D (ASTRO 3D), through project No. CE170100013.
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen_AU
dc.identifier.issn2041-8205
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1885/733804228
dc.language.isoen_AUen_AU
dc.provenanceOriginal content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
dc.publisherInstitute of Physics Publishing Ltd.
dc.rights© 2023 The Author(s)
dc.rights.licenseCreative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.sourceAstrophysical Journal Letters
dc.titlePHANGS-JWST First Results: Interstellar Medium Structure on the Turbulent Jeans Scale in Four Disk Galaxies Observed by JWST and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array
dc.typeJournal article
dcterms.accessRightsOpen Access
local.bibliographicCitation.issue2
local.contributor.affiliationMeidt, Sharon E, Universiteit Gent
local.contributor.affiliationRosolowsky, Erik, University of Alberta
local.contributor.affiliationSun, Jiayi, University of Toronto
local.contributor.affiliationKoch, Eric W., Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian
local.contributor.affiliationKlessen, Ralf S., Heidelberg University
local.contributor.affiliationLeroy, Adam K., The Ohio State University
local.contributor.affiliationSchinnerer, Eva, Max Planck Institut fur Astronomie
local.contributor.affiliationBarnes, A. T., Universitaet Bonn
local.contributor.affiliationGlover, Simon C. O., Universitat Heidelberg
local.contributor.affiliationLee, Janice, University of Arizona
local.contributor.affiliationGrasha, Kathryn, College of Science, ANU
local.contributor.authoruidGrasha, Kathryn, u1050982
local.description.notesImported from ARIES
local.identifier.absfor510100 - Astronomical sciences
local.identifier.absseo280120 - Expanding knowledge in the physical sciences
local.identifier.ariespublicationa383154xPUB40349
local.identifier.citationvolume944
local.identifier.doi10.3847/2041-8213/acaaa8
local.identifier.scopusID2-s2.0-85148701790
local.type.statusPublished Version
publicationvolume.volumeNumber944

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