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Context. The fundamental process of star formation in galaxies involves the intricate interplay between the fueling of star formation via molecular gas and the feedback from recently formed massive stars that can, in turn, hinder the conversion of gas into stars. This process, by which galaxies evolve, is also closely connected to the intrinsic properties of the interstellar medium (ISM), such as structure, density, pressure, and metallicity. Aims. To study the role that different molecular and atomic phases of the ISM play in star formation, and to characterize their physical conditions, we zoom into our nearest neighboring galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC; 50 kpc), the most convenient laboratory in which to study the effects of the lower metal abundance on the properties of the ISM. The LMC offers a view of the ISM and star formation conditions in a low-metallicity (Z~ 0.5 Z_⊙) environment similar, in that regard, to the epoch of the peak of star formation in the earlier Universe (z~ 1.5). Following up on studies carried out at galactic scales in low-Z galaxies, we present an unprecedentedly detailed analysis of well-known star-forming regions (SFRs) at a spatial resolution of a few parsecs. Methods. We mapped a 610pc× 260pc region in the LMC molecular ridge in [C II]λ158 µm and the [O III]λ88 µm using the FIFI-LS instrument on the SOFIA telescope. We compared the data with the distribution of the CO(2−1) emission from ALMA, the modeled total infrared luminosity, and the Spitzer/MIPS 24 µm continuum and Hα. Results. We present new large maps of [CII] and [OIII] and perform a first comparison with CO(2−1) line and LTIR emission. We also provide a detailed description of the observing strategy with SOFIA/FIFI-LS and the data reduction process. Conclusions. We find that [CII] and [OIII] emission is associated with the SFRs in the molecular ridge, but also extends throughout the mapped region, and is not obviously associated with ongoing star formation. The CO emission is clumpier than the [C II] emission and we find plentiful [C II] present where there is little CO emission, possibly holding important implications for “CO-dark” gas. We find a clear trend of the L_[C II]/L_TIRratio decreasing with increasing L_TIRin the full range. This suggests a strong link between the “[C II]-deficit” and the local physical conditions instead of global properties. 

ABSTRACT Spatially resolved images of debris discs are necessary to determine disc morphological properties and the scattering phase function (SPF) thatantifies the brightness of scattered light as a function of phase angle. Current high-contrast imaging instruments have successfully resolved several dozens of debris discs around other stars, but few studies have investigated trends in the scattered-light, resolved population of debris discs in a uniform and consistent manner. We have combined Karhunen-Loeve Image Projection (KLIP) with radiative-transfer disc forward modelling in order to obtain the highest-quality image reductions and constrain disc morphological properties of eight debris discs imaged by the Gemini Planet Imager at H-band with a consistent and uniformly applied approach. In describing the scattering properties of our models, we assume a common SPF informed from solar system dust scattering measurements and apply it to all systems. We identify a diverse range of dust density properties among the sample, including critical radius, radial width, and vertical width. We also identify radially narrow and vertically extended discs that may have resulted from substellar companion perturbations, along with a tentative positive trend in disc eccentricity with relative disc width. We also find that using a common SPF can achieve reasonable model fits for discs that are axisymmetric and asymmetric when fitting models to each side of the disc independently, suggesting that scattering behaviour from debris discs may be similar to Solar system dust. 

Recent theoretical and computational progress has led to unprecedented understanding of symmetry-breaking instabilities in 2D dynamic fracture. At the heart of this progress resides the identification of two intrinsic, near crack tip length scales — a nonlinear elastic length scale ℓ and a dissipation length scale ξ — that do not exist in Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanics (LEFM), the classical theory of cracks. In particular, it has been shown that at a propagation velocity v of about 90% of the shear wave-speed, cracks in 2D brittle materials undergo an oscillatory instability whose wavelength varies linearly with ℓ, and at larger loading levels (corresponding to yet higher propagation velocities), a tip-splitting instability emerges, both in agreements with experiments. In this paper, using phase-field models of brittle fracture, we demonstrate the following properties of the oscillatory instability: (i) It exists also in the absence of near-tip elastic nonlinearity, i.e. in the limit ℓ→0, with a wavelength determined by the dissipation length scale ξ. This result shows that the instability crucially depends on the existence of an intrinsic length scale associated with the breakdown of linear elasticity near crack tips, independently of whether the latter is related to nonlinear elasticity or to dissipation. (ii) It is a supercritical Hopf bifurcation, featuring a vanishing oscillations amplitude at onset. (iii) It is largely independent of the phenomenological forms of the degradation functions assumed in the phase-field framework to describe the cohesive zone, and of the velocity-dependence of the fracture energy Γ(v) that is controlled by the dissipation time scale in the Ginzburg-Landau-type evolution equation for the phase-field. These results substantiate the universal nature of the oscillatory instability in 2D. In addition, we provide evidence indicating that the tip-splitting instability is controlled by the limiting rate of elastic energy transport inside the crack tip region. The latter is sensitive to the wave-speed inside the dissipation zone, which can be systematically varied within the phase-field approach. Finally, we describe in detail the numerical implementation scheme of the employed phase-field fracture approach, allowing its application in a broad range of materials failure problems. 

Abstract We present a comparison of low-J¹³CO and CS observations of four different regions in the LMC—the quiescent Molecular Ridge, 30 Doradus, N159, and N113, all at a resolution of ∼3 pc. The regions 30 Dor, N159, and N113 are actively forming massive stars, while the Molecular Ridge is forming almost no massive stars, despite its large reservoir of molecular gas and proximity to N159 and 30 Dor. We segment the emission from each region into hierarchical structures using dendrograms and analyze the sizes, masses, and line widths of these structures. We find that the Ridge has significantly lower kinetic energy at a given size scale and also lower surface densities than the other regions, resulting in higher virial parameters. This suggests that the Ridge is not forming massive stars as actively as the other regions because it has less dense gas and not because collapse is suppressed by excess kinetic energy. We also find that these physical conditions and energy balance vary significantly within the Ridge and that this variation appears only weakly correlated with distance from sites of massive-star formation such as R136 in 30 Dor, which is ∼1 kpc away. These variations also show only a weak correlation with local star formation activity within the clouds. 

The fourth orbit of Parker Solar Probe (PSP) reached heliocentric distances down to 27.9 R ⊙ , allowing solar wind turbulence and acceleration mechanisms to be studied in situ closer to the Sun than previously possible. The turbulence properties were found to be significantly different in the inbound and outbound portions of PSP’s fourth solar encounter, which was likely due to the proximity to the heliospheric current sheet (HCS) in the outbound period. Near the HCS, in the streamer belt wind, the turbulence was found to have lower amplitudes, higher magnetic compressibility, a steeper magnetic field spectrum (with a spectral index close to –5/3 rather than –3/2), a lower Alfvénicity, and a ‘1∕ f ’ break at much lower frequencies. These are also features of slow wind at 1 au, suggesting the near-Sun streamer belt wind to be the prototypical slow solar wind. The transition in properties occurs at a predicted angular distance of ≈4° from the HCS, suggesting ≈8° as the full-width of the streamer belt wind at these distances. While the majority of the Alfvénic turbulence energy fluxes measured by PSP are consistent with those required for reflection-driven turbulence models of solar wind acceleration, the fluxes in the streamer belt are significantly lower than the model predictions, suggesting that additional mechanisms are necessary to explain the acceleration of the streamer belt solar wind.