VERTICO. IV. Environmental Effects on the Gas Distribution and Star Formation Efficiency of Virgo Cluster Spirals
Abstract

We measure the molecular-to-atomic gas ratio,Rmol, and the star formation rate (SFR) per unit molecular gas mass, SFEmol, in 38 nearby galaxies selected from the Virgo Environment Traced in CO (VERTICO) survey. We stack ALMA12CO (J= 2−1) spectra coherently using Hivelocities from the VIVA survey to detect faint CO emission out to galactocentric radiirgal∼ 1.2r25. We determine the scale lengths for the molecular and stellar components, finding a ∼3:5 relation compared to ∼1:1 in field galaxies, indicating that the CO emission is more centrally concentrated than the stars. We computeRmolas a function of different physical quantities. While the spatially resolvedRmolon average decreases with increasing radius, we find that the mean molecular-to-atomic gas ratio within the stellar effective radiusRe,Rmol(r<Re), shows a systematic increase with the level of Hi, truncation and/or asymmetry (HIperturbation). Analysis of the molecular- and the atomic-to-stellar mass ratios withinRe,$R⋆mol(rand$R⋆atom(r, shows that VERTICO galaxies have increasingly lower$R⋆atom(rfor larger levels of HIperturbation (compared to field galaxies matched in stellar mass), but no significant change in$R⋆mol(r. We also measure a clear systematic decrease of the SFEmolwithinRe, SFEmol(r<Re), more »

Authors:
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; more »
Publication Date:
NSF-PAR ID:
10383694
Journal Name:
The Astrophysical Journal
Volume:
940
Issue:
2
Page Range or eLocation-ID:
Article No. 176
ISSN:
0004-637X
Publisher:
DOI PREFIX: 10.3847
National Science Foundation
##### More Like this
1. A theoretical analysis on crack formation and propagation was performed based on the coupling between the electrochemical process, classical elasticity, and fracture mechanics. The chemical potential of oxygen, thus oxygen partial pressure, at the oxygen electrode-electrolyte interface ($μO2OE∣El$) was investigated as a function of transport properties, electrolyte thickness and operating conditions (e.g., steam concentration, constant current, and constant voltage). Our analysis shows that: a lower ionic area specific resistance (ASR),$riOE,$and a higher electronic ASR ($reOE$) of the oxygen electrode/electrolyte interface are in favor of suppressing crack formation. The$μO2OE∣El,$thus local pO2, are sensitive towards the operating parameters under galvanostatic or potentiostatic electrolysis. Constant current density electrolysis provides better robustness, especially at a high current density with a high steam content. While constant voltage electrolysis leads to greater variations of$μO2OE∣El.$Constant current electrolysis, however, is not suitable for an unstable oxygen electrode because$μO2OE∣El$can reach a very high value with a gradually increased$riOE.$A crack may only occur under certain conditions when$pO2TPB>pcr.$

2. Abstract

We present a multiwavelength analysis of the galaxy cluster SPT-CL J0607-4448 (SPT0607), which is one of the most distant clusters discovered by the South Pole Telescope atz= 1.4010 ± 0.0028. The high-redshift cluster shows clear signs of being relaxed with well-regulated feedback from the active galactic nucleus (AGN) in the brightest cluster galaxy (BCG). Using Chandra X-ray data, we construct thermodynamic profiles and determine the properties of the intracluster medium. The cool-core nature of the cluster is supported by a centrally peaked density profile and low central entropy ($K0=18−9+11$keV cm2), which we estimate assuming an isothermal temperature profile due to the limited spectral information given the distance to the cluster. Using the density profile and gas cooling time inferred from the X-ray data, we find a mass-cooling rate$Ṁcool=100−60+90M⊙$yr−1. From optical spectroscopy and photometry around the [Oii] emission line, we estimate that the BCG star formation rate is$SFR[OII]=1.7−0.6+1.0M⊙$yr−1, roughly two orders of magnitude lower than the predicted mass-cooling rate. In addition, using ATCA radio data at 2.1 GHz, we measure a radio jet power$Pcav=3.2−1.3+2.1×1044$erg s−1, which is consistent withmore »

3. Abstract

We present a chemodynamical study of the Grus I ultra-faint dwarf galaxy (UFD) from medium-resolution (R∼ 11,000) Magellan/IMACS spectra of its individual member stars. We identify eight confirmed members of Grus I, based on their low metallicities and coherent radial velocities, and four candidate members for which only velocities are derived. In contrast to previous work, we find that Grus I has a very low mean metallicity of 〈[Fe/H]〉 = −2.62 ± 0.11 dex, making it one of the most metal-poor UFDs. Grus I has a systemic radial velocity of −143.5 ± 1.2 km s−1and a velocity dispersion of$σrv=2.5−0.8+1.3$km s−1, which results in a dynamical mass of$M1/2(rh)=8−4+12×105$Mand a mass-to-light ratio ofM/LV=$440−250+650$M/L. Under the assumption of dynamical equilibrium, our analysis confirms that Grus I is a dark-matter-dominated UFD (M/L> 80M/L). However, we do not resolve a metallicity dispersion (σ[Fe/H]< 0.44 dex). Our results indicate that Grus I is a fairly typical UFD with parameters that agree with mass–metallicity and metallicity-luminosity trends for faint galaxies. This agreement suggests that Grus I has not lost an especially significant amount of mass from tidal encounters with the Milky Way, in linemore »

4. Abstract

Recently, the Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array (HERA) has produced the experiment’s first upper limits on the power spectrum of 21 cm fluctuations atz∼ 8 and 10. Here, we use several independent theoretical models to infer constraints on the intergalactic medium (IGM) and galaxies during the epoch of reionization from these limits. We find that the IGM must have been heated above the adiabatic-cooling threshold byz∼ 8, independent of uncertainties about IGM ionization and the radio background. Combining HERA limits with complementary observations constrains the spin temperature of thez∼ 8 neutral IGM to 27 K$〈T¯S〉$630 K (2.3 K$〈T¯S〉$640 K) at 68% (95%) confidence. They therefore also place a lower bound on X-ray heating, a previously unconstrained aspects of early galaxies. For example, if the cosmic microwave background dominates thez∼ 8 radio background, the new HERA limits imply that the first galaxies produced X-rays more efficiently than local ones. Thez∼ 10 limits require even earlier heating if dark-matter interactions cool the hydrogen gas. If an extra radio background is produced by galaxies, we rule out (at 95% confidence) the combination of high radio and low X-raymore »

5. Abstract

We present a measurement of the intrinsic space density of intermediate-redshift (z∼ 0.5), massive (M*∼ 1011M), compact (Re∼ 100 pc) starburst (ΣSFR∼ 1000Myr−1kpc−1) galaxies with tidal features indicative of them having undergone recent major mergers. A subset of them host kiloparsec-scale, > 1000 km s−1outflows and have little indication of AGN activity, suggesting that extreme star formation can be a primary driver of large-scale feedback. The aim for this paper is to calculate their space density so we can place them in a better cosmological context. We do this by empirically modeling the stellar populations of massive, compact starburst galaxies. We determine the average timescale on which galaxies that have recently undergone an extreme nuclear starburst would be targeted and included in our spectroscopically selected sample. We find that massive, compact starburst galaxies targeted by our criteria would be selectable for$∼148−24+27$Myr and have an intrinsic space density$nCS∼(1.1−0.3+0.5)×10−6Mpc−3$. This space density is broadly consistent with ourz∼ 0.5 compact starbursts being the most extremely compact and star-forming low-redshift analogs of the compact star-forming galaxies in the early universe, as well as them being the progenitors to a fraction of intermediate-redshift, post-starburst, andmore »