We positionally match a sample of infrared-selected young stellar objects (YSOs), identified by combining the Spitzer GLIMPSE, WISE and Herschel Space Observatory Hi-GAL surveys, to the dense clumps identified in the millimetre continuum by the Bolocam Galactic Plane Survey in two Galactic lines of sight centred towards l = 30deg and l = 40deg. We calculate the ratio of infrared luminosity, L_IR, to the mass of the clump, M_clump, in a variety of Galactic environments and find it to be somewhat enhanced in spiral arms compared to the interarm regions when averaged over kiloparsec scales. We find no compelling evidence that these changes are due to the mechanical influence of the spiral arm on the star-formation efficiency rather than, e.g., different gradients in the star-formation rate due to patchy or intermittent star formation, or local variations that are not averaged out due to small source samples. The largest variation in L_IR/M_clump is found in individual clump values, which follow a log-normal distribution and have a range of over three orders of magnitude. This spread is intrinsic as no dependence of L_IR/M_clump with M_clump was found. No difference was found in the luminosity distribution of sources in the arm and interarm samples and a strong linear correlation was found between L_IR and M_clump.
The origin of galactic spiral arms is one of fundamental problems in astrophysics. Based on the local analysis Toomre (1981) proposed the swing amplification mechanism in which the self-gravity forms spiral arms as leading waves of stars rotate to trailing ones due to galactic shear. The structure of spiral arms is characterized by their number and pitch angle. We perform global $N$-body simulations of spiral galaxies to investigate the dependence of the spiral structure on disk parameters and compare the simulation results with the swing amplification model. We find that the spiral structure …
We perform local $N$-body simulations of disk galaxies and investigate the evolution of spiral arms. We calculate the time autocorrelation of the surface density of spiral arms and find that the typical evolution timescale is described by the epicycle period. We investigate the distribution of the orbital elements of stars and find that in spiral arms the epicycle motions of stars are in phase while the spatial distribution of the guiding center is nearly uniform. These facts clearly show that the phase synchronization of the epicycle motion takes place, which is theoretically predicted by the…
Star formation in galaxies: the role of spiral arms
研究旋臂中的恒星形成不仅可以告诉我们恒星形成的演化和分子云，还可以告诉我们星系中螺旋结构的本质。我将使用最近的模拟和观察结果来解决这两个问题。银河系尺度的模拟开始详细研究GMC的演变，因为它们形成螺旋臂，然后通过恒星反馈或剪切分散。这一过程的总时间尺度似乎与GMC的穿越时间相当，$10^5$ M $_{\odot}$云的穿越时间为几百万年，更大质量的GMC的穿越时间为2000万年左右。模拟和观测都表明，在螺旋臂中发现了大量的云，可能是云与云碰撞的结果。包括恒星在内的模拟也应该告诉我们GMC中的恒星年龄分布，以及螺旋臂上的恒星年龄分布。更普遍的是，最近对螺旋星系的研究表明，螺旋臂中气体流动的动力学在长寿命和短暂的螺旋臂中是不同的，导致恒星的年龄模式不同。这样的结果可以用来帮助建立银河系螺旋结构的主要驱动力（图姆雷不稳定性，酒吧，或附近的同伴星系）与未来的调查。
Context. The physical processes driving the formation of Galactic spiral arms are still under debate. Studies using open clusters favour the description of the Milky Way spiral arms as long-lived structures following the classical density wave theory. Current studies comparing the Gaia DR2 field stars kinematic information of the Solar neighbourhood to simulations, find a better agreement with short-lived arms with a transient behaviour. Aims. Our aim is to provide an observational, data-driven view of the Milky Way spiral structure and its dynamics using open clusters as the main tracers, and…
One of the main theories for explaining the formation of spiral arms in galaxies is the stationary density wave theory. This theory predicts the existence of an age gradient across the arms. We use the stellar cluster catalogues of the galaxies NGC 1566, M51a, and NGC 628 from the Legacy Extragalactic UV Survey (LEGUS) program. In order to test for the possible existence of an age sequence across the spiral arms, we quantified the azimuthal offset between star clusters of different ages in our target galaxies. We found that NGC 1566, a grand-design spiral galaxy with bisymmetric arms and a str…
Understanding the effect spiral structure has on star formation properties of galaxies is important to completing our picture of spiral structure evolution. Previous studies have investigated connections between spiral arm properties with star formation, but the effect that the number of spiral arms has on this process is unclear. Here we use the Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey paired with the citizen science visual classifications from the Galaxy Zoo project to explore galaxies' spiral arm number and how it connects to the star formation process. We use the votes from the GAMA-KiDS Gal…
Large-scale galactic shocks, predicted by density wave theory, trigger star formation (SF-arms) downstream from the potential of the oldest stars (P-arms), resulting in a color jump from red to blue across spiral arms in the direction of rotation, while aging of these newly formed young stars induces the opposite but coexisting classic age gradient further downstream from the SF-arms. As the techniques for measuring pitch angle are intensity-weighted, they trace both the SF-arms and P-arms and are not sensitive to the classic age gradient. Consequently, the measured pitch angle of spiral arms …
We present an analysis of the distribution of 77 supernovae (SNe) Ia relative to spiral arms of their Sab-Scd host galaxies, using our original measurements of the SN distances from the nearby arms, and study their light curve decline rates ($Δm_{15}$). For the galaxies with prominent spiral arms, we show that the $Δm_{15}$ values of SNe Ia, which are located on the arms, are typically smaller (slower declining) than those of interarm SNe Ia (faster declining). We demonstrate that the SN Ia distances from the spiral arms and their galactocentric radii are correlated: before and after the avera…
Spiral-driven instabilities may drive gas inflow to enhance central star formation in disk galaxies. We investigate this hypothesis using the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) in a sample of 2779 nearby unbarred star-forming main-sequence spiral galaxies. The strength of spiral arms is quantified by their average Fourier amplitude relative to the axisymmetric disk. The star formation properties in the central 1--3\,kpc region were derived from the SDSS spectra. We show that galaxies with stronger spiral arms not only tend to have more intense central specific star formation rate (sSFR), larger B…
Generally, identifying the spiral arms of a spiral galaxy is not a hard task. However, defining the main characteristics, width and length of those structure is not a common task. Previous studies have used different tracers: Star clusters, Massers, H$α$. It was until recently that individual stars were used as tracers of spiral structures. The basic method of measuring the width of spiral arms assumes a Gaussian distribution around the mean concentration, either of gas or other tracer. In this work we use NGC 5236's stars as tracers. We estimated the surface stellar density of arms and inter-…
The most important theory of the spiral arms of galaxies is the density wave theory based on the Lin-Shu dispersion relation. However, the density waves move with the group velocity towards the inner Lindblad resonance and tend to disappear. Various mechanisms to replenish the spiral waves have been proposed. Nonlinear effects play an important role near the inner and outer Lindblad resonances and corotation. The orbits supporting the spiral arms are precessing ellipses in normal galaxies that extend up to the 4/1 resonance. On the other hand, in barred galaxies the spiral arms extend along th…
Observations and simulations of barred spiral galaxies have shown that, in general, the spiral arms rotate at a different pattern speed to that of the bar. The main conclusion from the bibliography is that the bar rotates faster than the spiral arms with a double or even a triple value of angular velocity. The theory that prevails in explaining the formation of the spiral arms in the case of a barred spiral galaxy with two pattern speeds is the manifold theory, where the orbits that support the spiral density wave are chaotic, and are related to the manifolds emanating from the Lagrangian poin…
In spiral galaxies, the pitch angle, $α$, of the spiral arms is often proposed as a discriminator between theories for the formation of the spiral structure. In Lin-Shu density wave theory, $α$ stays constant in time, being simply a property of the underlying galaxy. In other theories (e.g tidal interaction, self-gravity) it is expected that the arms wind up in time, so that to a first approximation $\cot α\propto t$. For these theories, it would be expected that a sample of galaxies observed at random times should show a uniform distribution of $\cot α$. We show that a recent set of measureme…
We investigate dynamical states of grand-design spiral arms in three local galaxies: M51, NGC3627 and NGC628. Based on linear perturbation analysis considering multiple components in the galaxies, we compute instability parameters of the spiral arms using their observational data and argue whether the arms will fragment by their self-gravity. Our analysis utilises observations of carbon monoxide (CO), 21-centimetre line emission and multi-band photometric images for molecular gas, atomic gas and stellar components in the arms, respectively. We find that the grand-design arms of these galaxies …
A number of giant cometary HII regions (GCH) sheathed inside molecular bow shocks (MBS) are found along spiral arms of the barred galaxy M83. The open cone structure is explained by a model of expanded HII front in a gaseous arm with steep density gradient, and the bow shock is shown to be formed by encounter of an HII region with the supersonic gas flow across the arm. It is suggested that dual-side compression of molecular gas at the bow head between the MBS and GCH enhances star formation along the spiral arms.
Model of Outgrowths in the Spiral Galaxies NGC 4921 and NGC 7049 and the Origin of Spiral Arms
NGC 4921和7049是两个螺旋星系，呈现出狭窄而独特的尘埃特征。利用哈勃空间望远镜档案图像对这些特征的形态进行了详细研究。NGC 4921在其中心的中途显示了一些但定义明确的尘埃臂，而NGC 7049则显示了更多的尘埃特征，主要集中在环形结构中。在这两个星系的尘埃臂中，都发现了许多黑暗和不透明的结构，称为副产物。在星系中，生长物既指向外部又指向内部。大多数被发现是V形或Y形的分支连接到暗臂丝。通常Y的茎看起来是由相互缠绕的细丝组成的。值得注意的是，生长物与H II区的象鼻有相当大的相似性。提出了一种基于磁化细丝的副产物模型。该模型提供了两个副产物的形状和方向的解释。最重要的是，它还可以解释它们相互交织的结构。人们发现，最长的生长物与尘埃旋臂相似得令人困惑。这表明，一些副产物可以发展成这样的武器。发展的时间尺度估计为旋臂旋转周期的量级或更短。类似的过程也可能发生在其他螺旋星系中。如果是这样的话，副产物的模型可以提供一个新的方法来解决旧的螺旋臂缠绕问题。
To pinpoint the peak location of the synchrotron total intensity emission in a spiral arm, we use a map of the spiralarm locations (from the observed arm tangent). Thus In a typical spiral arm in Galactic Quadrant I, we find the peak of the synchrotron radiation to be located about 220 +/-40 pc away from the inner arm edge (hot dust lane) inside the spiral arm. While most of the galactic disk has a clockwise largescale magnetic field, we make a statistical analysis to delimitate more precisely the smaller reverse annulus wiith a counterclockwise galactic magnetic field. We find an annulus widt…
Spiral arms across stellar populations in simulations via the local dimension method
Institut de Ciències del Cosmos (ICCUB), Universitat de Barcelona（宇宙科学研究所，巴塞罗那大学）；Institut d’Estudis Espacials de Catalunya（加泰罗尼亚空间研究研究所）；Jeremiah Horrocks Institute, University of Central Lancashire（杰里米·霍罗克斯研究所，中央兰开夏大学）
We investigate the spatial regularity in the distribution of the young stellar population along spiral arms of three late type spiral galaxies: NGC 895, NGC 5474, and NGC 6946. This study is based on an analysis of photometric properties of spiral arms using {\it GALEX} ultraviolet, optical UBVRI, Halpha, and 8mum {IRAC} infrared surface photometry data. Using the Fourier analysis approach, we found features of spatial regularity or quasi-regularity in the distribution of the young stellar population or (and) regular chains of star formation regions in all arms of NGC 895, NGC 5474, and NGC 69…
Context. The Sérsic profile is a widely-used model to describe the surface brightness distribution of galaxies. Spiral galaxies, however, are qualitatively different from a Sérsic model. Aims. The goal of this study is to assess how accurately the total flux and half-light radius of a galaxy with spiral arms can be recovered when fitted with a Sérsic profile. Methods. I selected a sample of bulge-dominated galaxies with spiral arms. Using photometric data from the Hyper Suprime-Cam survey, I estimated the contribution of the spiral arms to their total flux. Then I generated simulated images of…
The Milky Way spiral arms are well established from star counts as well as from the locus of molecular clouds and other young objects, however, they have only recently started to be observed from a kinematics point of view. Using the kinematics of thin disc stars in Gaia EDR3 around the extended solar neighbourhood, we create x-y projections coloured by the radial, residual rotational, and vertical Galactocentric velocities ($U,ΔV,W$). The maps are rich in substructures and reveal the perturbed state of the Galactic disc. We find that local differences between rotational velocity and the azimu…
We present the first complete, velocity-resolved [CII] 158um image of the M51 grand-design spiral galaxy, observed with the upGREAT instrument on SOFIA. [CII] is an important tracer of various phases of the interstellar medium (ISM), including ionized gas, neutral atomic, and diffuse molecular regions. We combine the [CII] data with HI, CO, 24um dust continuum, FUV, and near-infrared K-band observations to study the evolution of the ISM across M51's spiral arms in both position-position, and position-velocity space. Our data show strong velocity gradients in HI, 12CO, and [CII] at the location…
As a major feature in spectra of active galactic nuclei, broad emission lines deliver information of kinematics and spatial distributions of ionized gas surrounding the central supermassive black holes (SMBHs), that is the so-called broad-line regions (BLRs). There is growing evidence for appearance of spiral arms in the BLRs. It has been shown by reverberation mapping (RM) campaigns that the characterized radius of BLRs overlaps with that of self-gravitating regions of accretion disks. In the framework of the WKB approximation, we show robust properties of observational features of the spiral…
Chemical abundance variations in the ISM provide important information about the galactic evolution, star-formation and enrichment histories. Recent observations of disk galaxies suggest that if large-scale azimuthal metallicity variations appear in the ISM, they are linked to the spiral arms. In this work, using a set of chemodynamical simulations of the Milky Way-like spiral galaxies, we quantify the impact of gas radial motions~(migration) in the presence of a pre-existing radial metallicity gradient and the local ISM enrichment on both global and local variations of the mean ISM metallicit…
Revealing the spiral arms through radial migration and the shape of the Metallicity Distribution Function
最近的观测显示，银河系的金属丰度分布函数（metallicity distribution function，简写为ψ）会随着半径的变化而改变其形状。这一星盘内径向迁移的新证据对银河系模型提出了额外的限制。通过在一个非常详细的，观测动机的银河系模型中进行受控的测试粒子模拟，我们证明，在盘的内部区域中，由酒吧和螺旋臂的共同作用，而在外半径，主要是由螺旋臂的形状，形成的？我们表明，旋臂能够印上他们的签名在径向迁移，塑造在银河系盘的外围的酒吧的最小参与。相反，这项工作有可能根据径向迁移和螺旋形状来确定螺旋臂的一些结构和动力学参数。最后，用这种近似方法得到的与APOGEE观测到的银河系曲率曲线的相似性表明，影响它们形状的一个基本因素是银河系势。
There has recently been growing evidence that broad-line regions (BLRs) in active galactic nuclei have regular substructures, such as spiral arms, which are supported by the fact that the radii of BLRs measured by RM observations are generally consistent with the self-gravitating regions of accretion disks. We have shown in Paper I that the spiral arms excited by the gravitational instabilities in these regions may exist in some disk-like BLRs. As the second paper of the series, we investigate the loosely wound spiral arms excited by gravitational instabilities in disk-like BLRs and present th…
We use classifications provided by citizen scientists though Galaxy Zoo to investigate the correlation between bulge size and arm winding in spiral galaxies. Whilst the traditional spiral sequence is based on a combination of both measures, and is supposed to favour arm winding where disagreement exists, we demonstrate that, in modern usage, the spiral classifications Sa-Sd are predominantly based on bulge size, with no reference to spiral arms. Furthermore, in a volume limited sample of galaxies with both automated and visual measures of bulge prominence and spiral arm tightness, there is at …
