The Astrophysical Journal Letters (Jan 2023)
PHANGS–JWST First Results: The Dust Filament Network of NGC 628 and Its Relation to Star Formation Activity
- David A. Thilker,
- Janice C. Lee,
- Sinan Deger,
- Ashley T. Barnes,
- Frank Bigiel,
- Médéric Boquien,
- Yixian Cao,
- Mélanie Chevance,
- Daniel A. Dale,
- Oleg V. Egorov,
- Simon C. O. Glover,
- Kathryn Grasha,
- Jonathan D. Henshaw,
- Ralf S. Klessen,
- Eric Koch,
- J. M. Diederik Kruijssen,
- Adam K. Leroy,
- Ryan A. Lessing,
- Sharon E. Meidt,
- Francesca Pinna,
- Miguel Querejeta,
- Erik Rosolowsky,
- Karin M. Sandstrom,
- Eva Schinnerer,
- Rowan J. Smith,
- Elizabeth J. Watkins,
- Thomas G. Williams,
- Gagandeep S. Anand,
- Francesco Belfiore,
- Guillermo A. Blanc,
- Rupali Chandar,
- Enrico Congiu,
- Eric Emsellem,
- Brent Groves,
- Kathryn Kreckel,
- Kirsten L. Larson,
- Daizhong Liu,
- Ismael Pessa,
- Bradley C. Whitmore
Affiliations
- David A. Thilker
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, The Johns Hopkins University , Baltimore, MD 21218, USA ; [email protected]
- Janice C. Lee
- ORCiD
- Gemini Observatory/NSF's NOIRLab , 950 N. Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ, 85719, USA
- Sinan Deger
- ORCiD
- California Institute of Technology , 1200 E. California Boulevard., MC 249-17, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA; The Oskar Klein Centre for Cosmoparticle Physics, Department of Physics, Stockholm University , AlbaNova, Stockholm, SE-106 91, Sweden
- Ashley T. Barnes
- ORCiD
- Argelander-Institut für Astronomie, Universität Bonn , Auf dem Hügel 71, D-53121 Bonn, Germany
- Frank Bigiel
- ORCiD
- Argelander-Institut für Astronomie, Universität Bonn , Auf dem Hügel 71, D-53121 Bonn, Germany
- Médéric Boquien
- ORCiD
- Centro de Astronomía (CITEVA), Universidad de Antofagasta , Avenida Angamos 601, Antofagasta, Chile
- Yixian Cao
- ORCiD
- Max-Planck-Institut für Extraterrestrische Physik (MPE) , Giessenbachstr. 1, D-85748 Garching, Germany
- Mélanie Chevance
- ORCiD
- Astronomisches Rechen-Institut , Zentrum für Astronomie der Universität Heidelberg, Mönchhofstraße 12-14, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany; Cosmic Origins of Life (COOL) Research DAO 35
- Daniel A. Dale
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Wyoming , Laramie, WY 82071, USA
- Oleg V. Egorov
- ORCiD
- Astronomisches Rechen-Institut , Zentrum für Astronomie der Universität Heidelberg, Mönchhofstraße 12-14, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany; Sternberg Astronomical Institute, Lomonosov Moscow State University , Universitetsky pr. 13, 119234 Moscow, Russia
- Simon C. O. Glover
- ORCiD
- Universität Heidelberg , Zentrum für Astronomie, Institut für Theoretische Astrophysik, Albert-Ueberle-Str 2, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Kathryn Grasha
- ORCiD
- Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Australian National University , Canberra, ACT 2611, Australia
- Jonathan D. Henshaw
- ORCiD
- Astrophysics Research Institute, Liverpool John Moores University , 146 Brownlow Hill, Liverpool L3 5RF, UK; Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie , Königstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg, Germany
- Ralf S. Klessen
- ORCiD
- Universität Heidelberg , Zentrum für Astronomie, Institut für Theoretische Astrophysik, Albert-Ueberle-Str 2, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany; Universität Heidelberg , Interdisziplinäres Zentrum für Wissenschaftliches Rechnen, Im Neuenheimer Feld 205, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Eric Koch
- ORCiD
- Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics , 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
- J. M. Diederik Kruijssen
- ORCiD
- Cosmic Origins of Life (COOL) Research DAO 35
- Adam K. Leroy
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The Ohio State University , 140 West 18th Avenue, Columbus, Ohio 43210, USA
- Ryan A. Lessing
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, The Johns Hopkins University , Baltimore, MD 21218, USA ; [email protected]
- Sharon E. Meidt
- ORCiD
- Sterrenkundig Observatorium, Universiteit Gent , Krijgslaan 281 S9, B-9000 Gent, Belgium
- Francesca Pinna
- ORCiD
- Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie , Königstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg, Germany
- Miguel Querejeta
- ORCiD
- Observatorio Astronómico Nacional (IGN) , C/Alfonso XII, 3, E-28014 Madrid, Spain
- Erik Rosolowsky
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, University of Alberta , Edmonton, AB T6G 2E1, Canada
- Karin M. Sandstrom
- ORCiD
- Center for Astrophysics and Space Sciences, Department of Physics, University of California , San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
- Eva Schinnerer
- ORCiD
- Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie , Königstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg, Germany
- Rowan J. Smith
- ORCiD
- Jodrell Bank Center for Astrophysics, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester , Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
- Elizabeth J. Watkins
- ORCiD
- Astronomisches Rechen-Institut , Zentrum für Astronomie der Universität Heidelberg, Mönchhofstraße 12-14, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Thomas G. Williams
- ORCiD
- Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie , Königstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg, Germany
- Gagandeep S. Anand
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Francesco Belfiore
- ORCiD
- INAF—Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri , Largo E. Fermi 5, I-50157, Firenze, Italy
- Guillermo A. Blanc
- ORCiD
- Observatories of the Carnegie Institution for Science , 813 Santa Barbara Street, Pasadena, CA 91101, USA; Departamento de Astronomía, Universidad de Chile , Camino del Observatorio 1515, Las Condes, Santiago, Chile
- Rupali Chandar
- ORCiD
- University of Toledo , 2801 W. Bancroft Street, Mail Stop 111, Toledo, OH, 43606, USA
- Enrico Congiu
- ORCiD
- Departamento de Astronomía, Universidad de Chile , Camino del Observatorio 1515, Las Condes, Santiago, Chile
- Eric Emsellem
- ORCiD
- European Southern Observatory , Karl-Schwarzschild Straße 2, D-85748 Garching bei München, Germany; Univ Lyon , Univ Lyon 1, ENS de Lyon, CNRS, Centre de Recherche Astrophysique de Lyon UMR5574, F-69230 Saint-Genis-Laval, France
- Brent Groves
- ORCiD
- Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Australian National University , Canberra, ACT 2611, Australia; International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research, University of Western Australia , 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia
- Kathryn Kreckel
- ORCiD
- Astronomisches Rechen-Institut , Zentrum für Astronomie der Universität Heidelberg, Mönchhofstraße 12-14, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Kirsten L. Larson
- ORCiD
- AURA for the European Space Agency (ESA), Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Daizhong Liu
- ORCiD
- Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik , Giessenbachstraße 1, D-85748 Garching, Germany
- Ismael Pessa
- ORCiD
- Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie , Königstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg, Germany; Leibniz-Institut für Astrophysik Potsdam (AIP) , An der Sternwarte 16, 14482 Potsdam, Germany
- Bradley C. Whitmore
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/acaeac
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 944,
no. 2
p. L13
Abstract
PHANGS–JWST mid-infrared (MIR) imaging of nearby spiral galaxies has revealed ubiquitous filaments of dust emission in intricate detail. We present a pilot study to systematically map the dust filament network (DFN) at multiple scales between 25 and 400 pc in NGC 628. MIRI images at 7.7, 10, 11.3, and 21 μ m of NGC 628 are used to generate maps of the filaments in emission, while PHANGS–HST B -band imaging yields maps of dust attenuation features. We quantify the correspondence between filaments traced by MIR thermal continuum/polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emission and filaments detected via extinction/scattering of visible light; the fraction of MIR flux contained in the DFN; and the fraction of H ii regions, young star clusters, and associations within the DFN. We examine the dependence of these quantities on the physical scale at which the DFN is extracted. With our highest-resolution DFN maps (25 pc filament width), we find that filaments in emission and attenuation are cospatial in 40% of sight lines, often exhibiting detailed morphological agreement; that ∼30% of the MIR flux is associated with the DFN; and that 75%–80% of the star formation in H ii regions and 60% of the mass in star clusters younger than 5 Myr are contained within the DFN. However, the DFN at this scale is anticorrelated with looser associations of stars younger than 5 Myr identified using PHANGS–HST near-UV imaging. We discuss the impact of these findings on studies of star formation and the interstellar medium, and the broad range of new investigations enabled by multiscale maps of the DFN.
Keywords
- Interstellar medium
- Interstellar filaments
- Interstellar dust
- Dust continuum emission
- Extinction
- Star formation
