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Abstract We present the largest catalog to date of star clusters and compact associations in nearby galaxies. We have performed aV-band-selected census of clusters across the 38 spiral galaxies of the PHANGS–Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Treasury Survey, and measured integrated, aperture-corrected near-ultraviolet-U-B-V-Iphotometry. This work has resulted in uniform catalogs that contain ∼20,000 clusters and compact associations, which have passed human inspection and morphological classification, and a larger sample of ∼100,000 classified by neural network models. Here, we report on the observed properties of these samples, and demonstrate that tremendous insight can be gained from just the observed properties of clusters, even in the absence of their transformation into physical quantities. In particular, we show the utility of the UBVI color–color diagram, and the three principal features revealed by the PHANGS-HST cluster sample: the young cluster locus, the middle-age plume, and the old globular cluster clump. We present an atlas of maps of the 2D spatial distribution of clusters and compact associations in the context of the molecular clouds from PHANGS–Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array. We explore new ways of understanding this large data set in a multiscale context by bringing together once-separate techniques for the characterization of clusters (color–color diagrams and spatial distributions) and their parent galaxies (galaxy morphology and location relative to the galaxy main sequence). A companion paper presents the physical properties: ages, masses, and dust reddenings derived using improved spectral energy distribution fitting techniques. 

Abstract Lyαline profiles are a powerful probe of interstellar medium (ISM) structure, outflow speed, and Lyman-continuum escape fraction. In this paper, we present the Lyαline profiles of the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) Legacy Archive Spectroscopic SurveY, a sample rich in spectroscopic analogs of reionization-era galaxies. A large fraction of the spectra show a complex profile, consisting of a double-peaked Lyαemission profile in the bottom of a damped, Lyαabsorption trough. Such profiles reveal an inhomogeneous ISM. We successfully fit the damped Lyαabsorption and the Lyαemission profiles separately, but with complementary covering factors, a surprising result because this approach requires no Lyαexchange between high-N_Hiand low-N_Hipaths. The combined distribution of column densities is qualitatively similar to the bimodal distributions observed in numerical simulations. We find an inverse relation between Lyαpeak separation and the [Oiii]/[Oii] flux ratio, confirming that the covering fraction of Lyman-continuum-thin sightlines increases as the Lyαpeak separation decreases. We combine measurements of Lyαpeak separation and Lyαred peak asymmetry in a diagnostic diagram, which identifies six Lyman-continuum leakers in the COS Legacy Archive Spectrocopy SurveY (CLASSY) sample. We find a strong correlation between the Lyαtrough velocity and the outflow velocity measured from interstellar absorption lines. We argue that greater vignetting of the blueshifted Lyαpeak, relative to the redshifted peak, is the source of the well-known discrepancy between shell-model parameters and directly measured outflow properties. The CLASSY sample illustrates how scattering of Lyαphotons outside the spectroscopic aperture reshapes Lyαprofiles because the distances to these compact starbursts span a large range. 

Modeling emission lines from the millimeter to the UV and producing synthetic spectra is crucial for a good understanding of observations, yet it is an art filled with hazards. This is the proceedings of “Walking the Line”, a 3-day conference held in 2018 that brought together scientists working on different aspects of emission line simulations, in order to share knowledge and discuss the methodology. Emission lines across the spectrum from the millimeter to the UV were discussed, with most of the focus on the interstellar medium, but also some topics on the circumgalactic medium. The most important quality of a useful model is a good synergy with observations and experiments. Challenges in simulating line emission are identified, some of which are already being worked upon, and others that must be addressed in the future for models to agree with observations. Recent advances in several areas aiming at achieving that synergy are summarized here, from micro-physical to galactic and circum-galactic scale.