K. Grasha
The Hierarchical Distribution of the Young Stellar Clusters in Six Local Star-forming Galaxies
Grasha, K.; Calzetti, D.; Adamo, A.; Kim, H.; Elmegreen, B.G.; Gouliermis, D.A.; Dale, D.A.; Fumagalli, M.; Grebel, E.K.; Johnson, K.E.; Kahre, L.; Kennicutt, R.C.; Messa, M.; Pellerin, A.; Ryon, J.E.; Smith, L.J.; Shabani, F.; Thilker, D.; Ubeda, L.
Authors
D. Calzetti
A. Adamo
H. Kim
B.G. Elmegreen
D.A. Gouliermis
D.A. Dale
Professor Michele Fumagalli michele.fumagalli@durham.ac.uk
Academic Visitor
E.K. Grebel
K.E. Johnson
L. Kahre
R.C. Kennicutt
M. Messa
A. Pellerin
J.E. Ryon
L.J. Smith
F. Shabani
D. Thilker
L. Ubeda
Abstract
We present a study of the hierarchical clustering of the young stellar clusters in six local (3–15 Mpc) star-forming galaxies using Hubble Space Telescope broadband WFC3/UVIS UV and optical images from the Treasury Program LEGUS (Legacy ExtraGalactic UV Survey). We identified 3685 likely clusters and associations, each visually classified by their morphology, and we use the angular two-point correlation function to study the clustering of these stellar systems. We find that the spatial distribution of the young clusters and associations are clustered with respect to each other, forming large, unbound hierarchical star-forming complexes that are in general very young. The strength of the clustering decreases with increasing age of the star clusters and stellar associations, becoming more homogeneously distributed after ~40–60 Myr and on scales larger than a few hundred parsecs. In all galaxies, the associations exhibit a global behavior that is distinct and more strongly correlated from compact clusters. Thus, populations of clusters are more evolved than associations in terms of their spatial distribution, traveling significantly from their birth site within a few tens of Myr, whereas associations show evidence of disruption occurring very quickly after their formation. The clustering of the stellar systems resembles that of a turbulent interstellar medium that drives the star formation process, correlating the components in unbound star-forming complexes in a hierarchical manner, dispersing shortly after formation, suggestive of a single, continuous mode of star formation across all galaxies.
Citation
Grasha, K., Calzetti, D., Adamo, A., Kim, H., Elmegreen, B., Gouliermis, D., …Ubeda, L. (2017). The Hierarchical Distribution of the Young Stellar Clusters in Six Local Star-forming Galaxies. Astrophysical Journal, 840(2), Article 113. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/aa6f15
Journal Article Type | Article |
---|---|
Acceptance Date | Apr 20, 2017 |
Online Publication Date | May 15, 2017 |
Publication Date | May 15, 2017 |
Deposit Date | May 26, 2017 |
Publicly Available Date | May 26, 2017 |
Journal | Astrophysical Journal |
Print ISSN | 0004-637X |
Publisher | American Astronomical Society |
Peer Reviewed | Peer Reviewed |
Volume | 840 |
Issue | 2 |
Article Number | 113 |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/aa6f15 |
Files
Published Journal Article
(6.2 Mb)
PDF
Copyright Statement
© 2017. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.
You might also like
The relationship between gas and galaxies at z < 1 using the Q0107 quasar triplet
(2021)
Journal Article
Discovery of a Damped Lyα Galaxy at z ∼ 3 toward the Quasar SDSS J011852+040644
(2021)
Journal Article
Sub-damped Lyman α systems in the XQ-100 survey – II. Chemical evolution at 2.4 ≤ z ≤ 4.3
(2021)
Journal Article
Downloadable Citations
About Durham Research Online (DRO)
Administrator e-mail: dro.admin@durham.ac.uk
This application uses the following open-source libraries:
SheetJS Community Edition
Apache License Version 2.0 (http://www.apache.org/licenses/)
PDF.js
Apache License Version 2.0 (http://www.apache.org/licenses/)
Font Awesome
SIL OFL 1.1 (http://scripts.sil.org/OFL)
MIT License (http://opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.html)
CC BY 3.0 ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/)
Powered by Worktribe © 2024
Advanced Search