Bibcode
Zaragoza-Cardiel, J.; Font, J.; Beckman, J. E.; García-Lorenzo, B.; Erroz-Ferrer, S.; Gutiérrez, L.
Bibliographical reference
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 445, Issue 2, p.1412-1423
Advertised on:
12
2014
Citations
20
Refereed citations
16
Description
We have combined observations of the Antennae galaxies from the radio
interferometer ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array) and
from the optical interferometer GHαFaS (Galaxy Hα
Fabry-Perot System). The two sets of observations have comparable
angular and spectral resolutions, enabling us to identify 142 giant
molecular clouds (GMCs) and 303 H II regions. We have measured, and
compared, their basic physical properties (radius, velocity dispersion,
luminosity). For the H II regions, we find two physical regimes, one for
masses >105.4 M⊙ of ionized gas, where the
gas density increases with gas mass, the other for masses
<105.4 M⊙ of ionized gas, where the gas
density decreases with gas mass. For the GMCs, we find, in contrast to
previous studies in other galaxies over a generally lower mass range of
clouds, that the gas density increases with the total gas mass, hinting
at two regimes for these clouds if we consider both sources of data. We
also find that the GMC mass function has a break at 106.7
M⊙. Using the velocity dispersion measurements, we claim
that the difference between the regimes is the nature of the dominant
binding force. For the regions in the lower mass range, the dominant
force is the external pressure, while in the higher mass range it is the
internal gravity of the clouds. In the regime where gravity is dominant,
the star formation rate, derived from the dust-corrected Hα
luminosity, increases super-linearly with the velocity dispersion, and
the gas density increases with the gas mass.
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