WISDOM Project - X. The morphology of the molecular ISM in galaxy centres and its dependence on galaxy structure

We use high-resolution maps of the molecular interstellar medium (ISM) in the centres of 86 nearby galaxies from the millimetre-Wave Interferometric Survey of Dark Object Masses (WISDOM) and Physics at High Angular Resolution in Nearby GalaxieS (PHANGS) surveys to investigate the physical mechanisms...

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Main Authors: Bureau, M. (Author), Cappellari, M. (Author), Choi, W. (Author), Davis, T.A (Author), Elford, J.S (Author), Gensior, J. (Author), Kruijssen, J.M.D (Author), Lelli, F. (Author), Liang, F.-H (Author), Liu, L. (Author), Ruffa, I. (Author), Saito, T. (Author), Sarzi, M. (Author), Schruba, A. (Author), Williams, T.G (Author)
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Oxford University Press 2022
Subjects:
Online Access:View Fulltext in Publisher
LEADER 03661nam a2200601Ia 4500
001 10.1093-mnras-stac600
008 220425s2022 CNT 000 0 und d
020 |a 00358711 (ISSN) 
245 1 0 |a WISDOM Project - X. The morphology of the molecular ISM in galaxy centres and its dependence on galaxy structure 
260 0 |b Oxford University Press  |c 2022 
300 |a 19 
856 |z View Fulltext in Publisher  |u https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stac600 
520 3 |a We use high-resolution maps of the molecular interstellar medium (ISM) in the centres of 86 nearby galaxies from the millimetre-Wave Interferometric Survey of Dark Object Masses (WISDOM) and Physics at High Angular Resolution in Nearby GalaxieS (PHANGS) surveys to investigate the physical mechanisms setting the morphology of the ISM at molecular cloud scales. We show that early-type galaxies tend to have smooth, regular molecular gas morphologies, while the ISM in spiral galaxy bulges is much more asymmetric and clumpy when observed at the same spatial scales. We quantify these differences using non-parametric morphology measures (Asymmetry, Smoothness, and Gini), and compare these measurements with those extracted from idealized galaxy simulations. We show that the morphology of the molecular ISM changes systematically as a function of various large-scale galaxy parameters, including galaxy morphological type, stellar mass, stellar velocity dispersion, effective stellar mass surface density, molecular gas surface density, star formation efficiency, and the presence of a bar. We perform a statistical analysis to determine which of these correlated parameters best predicts the morphology of the ISM. We find the effective stellar mass surface (or volume) density to be the strongest predictor of the morphology of the molecular gas, while star formation and bars maybe be important secondary drivers. We find that gas self-gravity is not the dominant process shaping the morphology of the molecular gas in galaxy centres. Instead effects caused by the depth of the potential well, such as shear, suppression of stellar spiral density waves, and/or inflow, affect the ability of the gas to fragment. © 2022 The Author(s) Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal Astronomical Society. 
650 0 4 |a Density of gases 
650 0 4 |a Galaxies 
650 0 4 |a Galaxies: elliptical and lenticular cD 
650 0 4 |a galaxies: elliptical and lenticular, cD 
650 0 4 |a galaxies: ISM 
650 0 4 |a galaxies: nuclei 
650 0 4 |a galaxies: spiral 
650 0 4 |a Galaxies: spirals 
650 0 4 |a galaxies: structure 
650 0 4 |a Galaxies:Nuclei 
650 0 4 |a Galaxies:structure 
650 0 4 |a Galaxy: interstellar medium 
650 0 4 |a Gases 
650 0 4 |a Interstellar medias 
650 0 4 |a Interstellar medium: structure 
650 0 4 |a ISM: structure 
650 0 4 |a Media structure 
650 0 4 |a Millimeter waves 
650 0 4 |a Molecular gas 
650 0 4 |a Molecules 
650 0 4 |a Morphology 
650 0 4 |a Shear flow 
650 0 4 |a Stars 
650 0 4 |a Surveys 
700 1 |a Bureau, M.  |e author 
700 1 |a Cappellari, M.  |e author 
700 1 |a Choi, W.  |e author 
700 1 |a Davis, T.A.  |e author 
700 1 |a Elford, J.S.  |e author 
700 1 |a Gensior, J.  |e author 
700 1 |a Kruijssen, J.M.D.  |e author 
700 1 |a Lelli, F.  |e author 
700 1 |a Liang, F.-H.  |e author 
700 1 |a Liu, L.  |e author 
700 1 |a Ruffa, I.  |e author 
700 1 |a Saito, T.  |e author 
700 1 |a Sarzi, M.  |e author 
700 1 |a Schruba, A.  |e author 
700 1 |a Williams, T.G.  |e author 
773 |t Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society