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1. Timescale of Stellar Feedback-driven Turbulence in the ISM: A Deep Dive into UGC 4305

   https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/aced8e  

   Hunter, Laura Congreve; van Zee, Liese; McQuinn, Kristen B.; Cohen, Roger E.; Markham, Madison; Dolphin, Andrew E. (September 2023, The Astronomical Journal)

   Abstract Understanding the interplay of stellar feedback and turbulence in the interstellar medium (ISM) is essential to modeling the evolution of galaxies. To determine the timescales over which stellar feedback drives turbulence in the ISM, we performed a spatially resolved, multiwavelength study of the nearby star-forming dwarf galaxy UGC 4305. As indicators of turbulence on local scales (400 pc), we utilized ionized gas velocity dispersion derived from IFU H α observations and atomic gas velocity dispersion and energy surface densities derived from H i synthesis observations with the Very Large Array. These indicators of turbulence were tested against star formation histories over the past 560 Myr derived from color–magnitude diagrams using Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient. The strongest correlation identified at the 400 pc scale is between measures of H i turbulence and star formation 70–140 Myr ago. We repeated our analysis of UGC 4305's current turbulence and past star formation activity on multiple physical scales (∼560 and 800 pc) to determine whether there are indications of changes in the correlation timescale with changes to the physical scale. No notable correlations were found at larger physical scales, emphasizing the importance of analyzing star formation-driven turbulence as a local phenomenon. 

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2. Now You See It, Now You Don’t: Star Formation Truncation Precedes the Loss of Molecular Gas by ∼100 Myr in Massive Poststarburst Galaxies at z ∼ 0.6

   https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ac3dfa  

   Bezanson, Rachel; Spilker, Justin S.; Suess, Katherine A.; Setton, David J.; Feldmann, Robert; Greene, Jenny E.; Kriek, Mariska; Narayanan, Desika; Verrico, Margaret (February 2022, The Astrophysical Journal)

   Abstract We use ALMA observations of CO(2–1) in 13 massive ( M * ≳ 10 11 M ⊙ ) poststarburst galaxies at z ∼ 0.6 to constrain the molecular gas content in galaxies shortly after they quench their major star-forming episode. The poststarburst galaxies in this study are selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey spectroscopic samples (Data Release 14) based on their spectral shapes, as part of the Studying QUenching at Intermediate-z Galaxies: Gas, angu L → ar momentum, and Evolution ( SQuIGG L ⃗ E ) program. Early results showed that two poststarburst galaxies host large H 2 reservoirs despite their low inferred star formation rates (SFRs). Here we expand this analysis to a larger statistical sample of 13 galaxies. Six of the primary targets (45%) are detected, with M H 2 ≳ 10 9 M ⊙ . Given their high stellar masses, this mass limit corresponds to an average gas fraction of 〈 f H 2 ≡ M H 2 / M * 〉 ∼ 7 % or ∼14% using lower stellar masses estimates derived from analytic, exponentially declining star formation histories. The gas fraction correlates with the D n 4000 spectral index, suggesting that the cold gas reservoirs decrease with time since burst, as found in local K+A galaxies. Star formation histories derived from flexible stellar population synthesis modeling support this empirical finding: galaxies that quenched ≲150 Myr prior to observation host detectable CO(2–1) emission, while older poststarburst galaxies are undetected. The large H 2 reservoirs and low SFRs in the sample imply that the quenching of star formation precedes the disappearance of the cold gas reservoirs. However, within the following 100–200 Myr, the SQuIGG L ⃗ E galaxies require the additional and efficient heating or removal of cold gas to bring their low SFRs in line with standard H 2 scaling relations. 

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3. The dual role of outflows in quenching satellites of low-mass hosts: NGC 3109

   https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stae014  

   Garling, Christopher T; Peter, Annika H; Spekkens, Kristine; Sand, David J; Hargis, Jonathan; Crnojević, Denija; Carlin, Jeffrey L (January 2024, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society)

   Abstract While dwarf galaxies observed in the field are overwhelmingly star-forming, dwarf galaxies in environments as dense or denser than the Milky Way are overwhelmingly quenched. In this paper, we explore quenching in the lower density environment of the Small-Magellanic-Cloud-mass galaxy NGC 3109 (M* ∼ 108 M⊙), which hosts two known dwarf satellite galaxies (Antlia and Antlia B), both of which are $${\rm H}\, \small {\rm I}$$ deficient compared to similar galaxies in the field and have recently stopped forming stars. Using a new semi-analytic model in concert with the measured star formation histories and gas masses of the two dwarf satellite galaxies, we show that they could not have been quenched solely by direct ram pressure stripping of their interstellar media, as is common in denser environments. Instead, we find that separation of the satellites from pristine gas inflows, coupled with stellar-feedback-driven outflows from the satellites (jointly referred to as the starvation quenching model), can quench the satellites on timescales consistent with their likely infall times into NGC 3109’s halo. It is currently believed that starvation is caused by ‘weak’ ram pressure that prevents low-density, weakly-bound gas from being accreted onto the dwarf satellite, but cannot directly remove the denser interstellar medium. This suggests that star-formation-driven outflows serve two purposes in quenching satellites in low-mass environments: outflows from the host form a low-density circumgalactic medium that cannot directly strip the interstellar media from its satellites, but is sufficient to remove loosely-bound gaseous outflows from the dwarf satellites driven by their own star formation. 

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4. Sequential Star Formation in the Young SMC Region NGC 602: Insights from ALMA

   https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ac8d93  

   O’Neill, Theo J.; Indebetouw, Rémy; Sandstrom, Karin; Bolatto, Alberto D.; Jameson, Katherine E.; Carlson, Lynn R.; Finn, Molly K.; Meixner, Margaret; Sabbi, Elena; Sewiło, Marta (October 2022, The Astrophysical Journal)

   Abstract NGC 602 is a young, low-metallicity star cluster in the “Wing” of the Small Magellanic Cloud. We reveal the recent evolutionary past of the cluster through analysis of high-resolution (∼0.4 pc) Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array observations of molecular gas in the associated H ii region N90. We identify 110 molecular clumps ( R < 0.8 pc) traced by CO emission, and study the relationship between the clumps and associated young stellar objects (YSOs) and pre-main-sequence (PMS) stars. The clumps have high virial parameters (typical α vir = 4–11) and may retain signatures of a collision in the last ≲8 Myr between H i components of the adjacent supergiant shell SMC-SGS 1. We obtain a CO-bright-to-H 2 gas conversion factor of X CO, B = (3.4 ± 0.2) × 10 20 cm −2 (K km s −1 ) −1 , and correct observed clump properties for CO-dark H 2 gas to derive a total molecular gas mass in N90 of 16,600 ± 2400 M ⊙ . We derive a recent (≲1 Myr) star formation rate of 130 ± 30 M ⊙ Myr −1 with an efficiency of 8% ± 3% assessed through comparing total YSO mass to total molecular gas mass. Very few significant radial trends exist between clump properties or PMS star ages and distance from NGC 602. We do not find evidence for a triggered star formation scenario among the youngest (≲2 Myr) stellar generations, and instead conclude that a sequential star formation process in which NGC 602 did not directly cause recent star formation in the region is likely. 

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5. Ultra-diffuse Galaxies as Extreme Star-forming Environments. I. Mapping Star Formation in H i-rich UDGs

   https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ac9964  

   Kado-Fong, Erin; Greene, Jenny E.; Huang, Song; Goulding, Andy (December 2022, The Astrophysical Journal)

   Abstract Ultra-diffuse galaxies (UDGs) are both extreme products of galaxy evolution and extreme environments in which to test our understanding of star formation. In this work, we contrast the spatially resolved star formation activity of a sample of 22 H i -selected UDGs and 35 low-mass galaxies from the NASA Sloan Atlas (NSA) catalog within 120 Mpc. We employ a new joint spectral energy distribution fitting method to compute star formation rate and stellar mass surface density maps that leverage the high spatial resolution optical imaging data of the Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program and the UV coverage of the Galaxy Evolution Explorer, along with H i radial profiles estimated from a subset of galaxies that have spatially resolved H i maps. We find that UDGs have low star formation efficiencies as a function of their atomic gas down to scales of 500 pc. We additionally find that the stellar mass-weighted sizes of our UDG sample are unremarkable when considered as a function of their H i mass—their stellar sizes are comparable to NSA dwarfs at fixed H i mass. This is a natural result in the picture where UDGs are forming stars normally, but at low efficiencies. We compare our results to predictions from contemporary models of galaxy formation, and find in particular that our observations are difficult to reproduce in models where UDGs undergo stellar expansion due to vigorous star formation feedback should bursty star formation be required down to z = 0. 

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