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arXiv 2007.01877astro-ph.GA
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分子星际介质中普遍存在的速度涨落

Ubiquitous velocity fluctuations throughout the molecular interstellar medium

J. D. Henshaw, J. M. D. Kruijssen, S. N. Longmore, M. Riener, A. K. Leroy, E. Rosolowsky, A. Ginsburg, C. Battersby, M. Chevance, S. E. Meidt, S. C. O. Glover, … 展开作者

J. D. Henshaw, J. M. D. Kruijssen, S. N. Longmore, M. Riener, A. K. Leroy, E. Rosolowsky, A. Ginsburg, C. Battersby, M. Chevance, S. E. Meidt, S. C. O. Glover, A. Hughes, J. Kainulainen, R. S. Klessen, E. Schinnerer, A. Schruba, H. Beuther, F. Bigiel, G. A. Blanc, E. Emsellem, T. Henning, C. N. Herrera, E. W. Koch, J. Pety, S. E. Ragan, J. Sun

摘要:

星际介质(ISM)的密度结构决定了恒星形成和释放能量、动量和重元素的位置,从而驱动星系的演化。密度的变化是由气体运动引起和放大的,但这种运动的确切性质在空间尺度和银河系环境中是未知的。虽然致密的恒星形成气体可能来自不稳定性,收敛流和湍流的组合,但建立精确的起源是具有挑战性的,因为它需要量化空间尺度上许多数量级的气体运动。在这里,我们测量银河系和附近星系NGC 4321中分子气体的运动,收集了前所未有的空间动态范围($10^{-1}{-}10^3$ pc)的观测结果。我们探测到所有空间尺度和银河系环境中无处不在的速度波动。对这些波动的统计分析表明了恒星形成气体是如何聚集的。我们发现振荡气流的波长范围从$0.3{-}400$ pc。这些流动与可能通过重力不稳定性形成的规则间隔的密度增强相耦合。我们还确定了随机和无标度的速度和密度波动,一致的结构产生的湍流。我们的研究结果表明,ISM结构不能孤立地考虑。相反,它的形成和演变是由嵌套的,相互依赖的物质流控制的,这些物质流在空间尺度上覆盖了许多数量级。

英文摘要:

The density structure of the interstellar medium (ISM) determines where stars form and release energy, momentum, and heavy elements, driving galaxy evolution. Density variations are seeded and amplified by gas motion, but the exact nature of this motion is unknown across spatial scale and galactic environment. Although dense star-forming gas likely emerges from a combination of instabilities, convergent flows, and turbulence, establishing the precise origin is challenging because it requires quantifying gas motion over many orders of magnitude in spatial scale. Here we measure the motion of molecular gas in the Milky Way and in nearby galaxy NGC 4321, assembling observations that span an unprecedented spatial dynamic range ($10^{-1}{-}10^3$ pc). We detect ubiquitous velocity fluctuations across all spatial scales and galactic environments. Statistical analysis of these fluctuations indicates how star-forming gas is assembled. We discover oscillatory gas flows with wavelengths ranging from $0.3{-}400$ pc. These flows are coupled to regularly-spaced density enhancements that likely form via gravitational instabilities. We also identify stochastic and scale-free velocity and density fluctuations, consistent with the structure generated in turbulent flows. Our results demonstrate that ISM structure cannot be considered in isolation. Instead, its formation and evolution is controlled by nested, interdependent flows of matter covering many orders of magnitude in spatial scale.

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