Max Planck Institute for Astronomy - Annual Report 2005
Max Planck Institute for Astronomy - Annual Report 2005
Max Planck Institute for Astronomy - Annual Report 2005
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Fig. III.4.6: Three-color composite of the nearby spiral galaxy<br />
M 101. The distribution of atomic hydrogen from Things is<br />
shown in green. Blue indicates emission seen by galex, a UV<br />
satellite, which traces current and recent star <strong>for</strong>mation. Red<br />
integrated HI map which reveals the presence of many<br />
holes and shells in the ISM. The middle panel shows the<br />
velocity field: red colors indicate emission receding from<br />
Earth, blue colors indicate approaching gas (the global<br />
rotation of this galaxy is evident from this plot). The velocity<br />
dispersion (right panel) seems to be higher in the<br />
regions where spiral arms and star <strong>for</strong>mation are present,<br />
which may be explained by the mechanical feedback of<br />
the stars in the spiral arms. Typical resolutions <strong>for</strong> Things<br />
observations are a spatial resolution of 7� and a velocity<br />
resolution of 2.5 – 5 km/s.<br />
Scientific Rationale of Things<br />
Interplay between the ISM and Star Formation.<br />
Things allows astronomers to study the interplay<br />
between star <strong>for</strong>mation (as traced by Hα, Far UV,<br />
IR, and X-ray emission) and the ambient ISM at<br />
100 – 300 pc resolution over a range of different<br />
hubble types. The location and energy input of regions<br />
of recent star <strong>for</strong>mation and the impact they have<br />
on the structure and dynamics of the HI can be investigated<br />
on these small scales. With Things, a census<br />
of supergiant shells as a function of hubble type will<br />
be possible (see Fig. III.4.2). Things data products<br />
permit studies of how these structures <strong>for</strong>m and how<br />
III.4 The Interstellar Medium in Nearby Galaxies 85<br />
indicates emission seen at 24 microns with the spiTzer space<br />
telescope, which is dominated by warm dust emission powered<br />
by young star<strong>for</strong>ming regions (image credits: Karl Gordon,<br />
Steward Observatory.<br />
they, in turn, might trigger secondary star <strong>for</strong>mation.<br />
In combination with the multi-wavelength data from<br />
sings, a complete energy budget of the ISM can be<br />
derived. As an example, we show a multi-wavelength<br />
comparison of the spiral galaxy M 81 in Fig. III.4.5.<br />
In this figure, the distribution of atomic hydrogen<br />
is shown in blue in all panels. The other wavebands<br />
have been observed with spiTzer and the colors are<br />
explained in each panel. The 3.6 micron emission is<br />
dominated by the contribution of old stars in the bulge;<br />
the 8 micron map contains emission from stars,<br />
hot dust and so-called PAH emission features. Such<br />
comparisons provide important clues about the processes<br />
leading to star <strong>for</strong>mation <strong>for</strong> the Things /sings<br />
galaxies. Another example is shown in Fig. III.4.6,<br />
where we show a three-color composite of the nearby<br />
spiral galaxy M 101. The distribution of atomic hydrogen<br />
from Things is shown in green. Blue indicates<br />
emission seen by galex, a UV satellite, which traces<br />
current and recent star <strong>for</strong>mation. Red indicates emission<br />
seen at 24 microns observed with the spiTzer<br />
space telescope, which is dominated by warm dust<br />
emission powered by young star-<strong>for</strong>ming regions.<br />
Global Mass Distribution. Another topical subject<br />
that can be addressed by Things is the apparent failure<br />
of cold dark matter (CDM) models to explain the dis-