Collaborative Research: The Magellanic Clouds as a Laboratory for Star Formation at Low Metallicity

合作研究：麦哲伦星云作为低金属丰度恒星形成的实验室

• 批准号: 2009624
• 负责人: Remy Indebetouw
• 金额: $ 27.84万
• 依托单位: University of Virginia Main Campus
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-08-15 至 2024-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2009624&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Magellanic; Clouds; Laboratory

These astronomers seek to understand what causes clouds of gas in space to collapse to form stars. The immediate cause is the force of gravity, but why gravity acts quickly on some clouds and slowly in others remains a puzzle. The investigators have a plan to solve this puzzle by using detailed observations of gas clouds located in two nearby satellite galaxies, the Magellanic Clouds. The observations, taken with NSF’s Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array’s (ALMA) observatory, will have the quality and detail needed to measure the properties of the gas. The investigators will compare measurements of the stellar environment with the locations and ages of young stars. The investigators are from three different universities, and each will contribute to training of next generation scientists. The students will get hands-on experience in the techniques of scientific data analysis and instrumentation. The team will develop of new virtual reality tools for improving the public understanding of science.With the ALMA’s unprecedented sensitivity and access to the southern sky, astronomers are beginning to resolve the clumpy, filamentary structure of molecular clouds in the Magellanic Clouds. Analysis has shown that the velocity dispersion of the molecular gas at a given scale increases with the overall star formation activity of the cloud, suggesting that energetic feedback from young stars plays a significant role in maintaining turbulent motions within the cloud. However, other lines of evidence, including our finding that clumps and filaments are typically marginally unstable to collapse, support the view that increased velocity dispersion and star formation can both be driven by gravitational instability. The investigators plan observations to reveal the conditions for star formation. They will use a broad, survey-based, approach which can identify regions deficient in one of the key ingredients (e.g., young stars or dense gas) and thus more accurately distinguish cause and effect. Combining ALMA imaging of the molecular gas on sub-parsec scales with infrared surveys of the young stellar populations in these galaxies will provide new insights into the roles of triggering, feedback, and cloud conditions in the star formation process.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

这些天文学家试图了解是什么原因导致太空中的气体云坍缩形成恒星。直接原因是重力，但为什么重力对一些云作用快而对另一些云作用慢仍然是个谜。研究人员计划通过对附近两个卫星星系麦哲伦星云的气体云进行详细观察来解决这个难题。这些观测是由美国国家科学基金会的阿塔卡马大型毫米/亚毫米阵列（ALMA）天文台进行的，将具有测量气体特性所需的质量和细节。研究人员将对恒星环境的测量结果与年轻恒星的位置和年龄进行比较。这些研究人员来自三所不同的大学，每一所大学都将为培养下一代科学家做出贡献。学生将获得科学数据分析和仪器技术的实践经验。该团队将开发新的虚拟现实工具，以提高公众对科学的理解。凭借ALMA前所未有的灵敏度和对南部天空的访问，天文学家开始解析麦哲伦星云中分子云的块状、丝状结构。分析表明，在给定的尺度上，分子气体的速度色散随着云的整体恒星形成活动而增加，这表明来自年轻恒星的能量反馈在维持云内的湍流运动中起着重要作用。然而，其他的证据，包括我们的发现，团块和细丝通常是不稳定的，以至于无法坍缩，支持了这样的观点，即加速的速度色散和恒星形成都是由引力不稳定驱动的。研究人员计划通过观测来揭示恒星形成的条件。他们将使用一种广泛的、基于调查的方法，这种方法可以识别出缺乏一种关键成分（例如，年轻的恒星或致密的气体）的区域，从而更准确地区分因果关系。结合ALMA在亚秒差距尺度上对分子气体的成像和对这些星系中年轻恒星群的红外调查，将为恒星形成过程中触发、反馈和云条件的作用提供新的见解。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

项目成果

The 30 Doradus Molecular Cloud at 0.4 pc Resolution with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array: Physical Properties and the Boundedness of CO-emitting Structures

阿塔卡马大型毫米/亚毫米阵列的 0.4 pc 分辨率的 30 Doradus 分子云：物理性质和共发射结构的有界性

• DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/ac723a
• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: The Astrophysical Journal
• 作者: Wong, Tony;Oudshoorn, Luuk;Sofovich, Eliyahu;Green, Alex;Shah, Charmi;Indebetouw, Rémy;Meixner, Margaret;Hacar, Alvaro;Nayak, Omnarayani;Tokuda, Kazuki
• 通讯作者: Tokuda, Kazuki

Sequential Star Formation in the Young SMC Region NGC 602: Insights from ALMA

• DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/ac8d93
• 发表时间: 2022-08
• 期刊: The Astrophysical Journal
• 作者: T. O’Neill;R. Indebetouw;K. Sandstrom;A. Bolatto;K. Jameson;L. Carlson;Molly K. Finn;M. Meixner;E. Sabbi;M. Sewiło

Structural and Dynamical Analysis of the Quiescent Molecular Ridge in the Large Magellanic Cloud

大麦哲伦云中静止分子脊的结构和动力学分析

• DOI: 10.3847/1538-3881/ac7aa1
• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: The Astronomical Journal
• 作者: Finn, Molly K.;Indebetouw, Remy;Johnson, Kelsey E.;Costa, Allison H.;Chen, C. -H. Rosie;Kawamura, Akiko;Onishi, Toshikazu;Ott, Jürgen;Sewiło, Marta;Tokuda, Kazuki
• 通讯作者: Tokuda, Kazuki

Physical Conditions in the LMC’s Quiescent Molecular Ridge: Fitting Non-LTE Models to CO Emission

LMC 静态分子脊的物理条件：将非 LTE 模型拟合到 CO 排放

• DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/ac090c
• 发表时间: 2021
• 期刊: The Astrophysical Journal
• 作者: Finn, Molly K.;Indebetouw, Remy;Johnson, Kelsey E.;Costa, Allison H.;Chen, C.-H. Rosie;Kawamura, Akiko;Onishi, Toshikazu;Ott, Jürgen;Tokuda, Kazuki;Wong, Tony
• 通讯作者: Wong, Tony

Effects of CO-dark Gas on Measurements of Molecular Cloud Stability and the Size–Linewidth Relationship

• DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/ac745f
• 发表时间: 2022-05
• 期刊: The Astrophysical Journal
• 作者: T. O’Neill;R. Indebetouw;A. Bolatto;S. Madden;T. Wong