36 research outputs found
The Role of Tidal Interactions and Mergers on the Evolution of Intermediate Redshift Galaxies
In this work, we present our analysis attempting to constrain the prevalence of tidal interaction and merger (TIM) events on the evolution of intermediate redshift galaxies. The main focus of this work is the effect of such events on the star formation properties of galaxies. Such an undertaking requires the precise selection of tidal interactions and mergers (TIMs), in a wide range of environments to account for environmental effects. As such, in the first part of this work we study the fraction of tidal interactions and mergers with well identified observability timescales () in group, cluster, and accompanying field galaxies and its dependence on redshift (), cluster velocity dispersion (), and environment. We analyze images from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), and catalogs from the ESO Distant Cluster Survey (EDisCS) for our work. Our data sample consists of 11 clusters, 7 groups, and accompanying field galaxies at . We select our TIM sample using both a visual classification of galaxy morphologies and an automated method, the method. We calibrate this method using the visual classifications that were performed on a subset of our sample. After this calibration, we label visual TIMs also picked by our selection criterion as \textquotedblleft TIM \textquotedblright, and gather our visually undisturbed galaxies plus the visual TIMs that are not selected under the \textquotedblleft undisturbed \textquotedblright label. Our tests indicate that these subpopulations are well-seperated in the space, and that our results are robust against different TIM selection criteria. Next, we investigate whether the fraction of TIMs, or , shows any strong trends with redshift (), cluster velocity dispersion (), and the global environment the in which our galaxies reside. We find marginal evidence for a trend between and , in that higher values correspond to higher . However, we also cannot rule out the null hypothesis of no correlation at higher than 68\% confidence. No trend is present between and . We find that shows suggestive peaks in groups, and tentatively in clusters at , implying that gets boosted in these intermediate density environments. However, our analysis of the local densities of our cluster sample does not reveal a trend between and density, except for a potential enhancement at the very highest densities. We also perform an analysis of projected radius-velocity phase space for our cluster members. Our results reveal that tidal interactions and mergers (TIM), and undisturbed galaxies only have a 6\% probability of having been drawn from the same parent population in their velocity distribution and 37\% in radii, in agreement with the modest differences obtained in at the clusters. After classifying our sample into TIMs and undisturbed galaxies, we investigate the stellar populations of our sample. To this purpose, we perform a full spectral fitting on the deep EDisCS spectroscopy data. We use the publicly available pPXF code for the spectral fitting, obtaining the details of the stellar populations, and the gas present in our sample, as results of our spectral fitting. We extract the fraction of the total stellar mass contained in stellar populations of different ages in our sample from this information. We also derive age-sensitive spectral indices, the strength of the narrow 4000\mbox{\AA} break strength, , and the Balmer H absorption line index using the results of the spectral fitting. The final part of our analysis attempts to combine our morphological analysis, and our stellar population analysis. We search for trends in our TIMs and undisturbed galaxies with respect to the ages of their stellar populations. We find that our TIM galaxies are predominantly star-forming, as derived from multi-band photometric data. A larger fraction of the TIM galaxies also have features in their galaxy spectra indicating that their light is dominated by young stars. We then analyze the mass-weighted age fractions in the last 0.5 Gyr (f_{Age 0.5\times R_{200}, implying that gets boosted in these intermediate density environments. However, our analysis of the local densities of our cluster sample does not reveal a trend between and density, except for a potential enhancement at the very highest densities. We also perform an analysis of projected radius-velocity phase space for our cluster members. Our results reveal that tidal interactions and mergers (TIM), and undisturbed galaxies only have a 6\% probability of having been drawn from the same parent population in their velocity distribution and 37\% in radii, in agreement with the modest differences obtained in at the clusters. After classifying our sample into TIMs and undisturbed galaxies, we investigate the stellar populations of our sample. To this purpose, we perform a full spectral fitting on the deep EDisCS spectroscopy data. We use the publicly available pPXF code for the spectral fitting, obtaining the details of the stellar populations, and the gas present in our sample, as results of our spectral fitting. We extract the fraction of the total stellar mass contained in stellar populations of different ages in our sample from this information. We also derive age-sensitive spectral indices, the strength of the narrow 4000\mbox{\AA} break strength, , and the Balmer H absorption line index using the results of the spectral fitting. The final part of our analysis attempts to combine our morphological analysis, and our stellar population analysis. We search for trends in our TIMs and undisturbed galaxies with respect to the ages of their stellar populations. We find that our TIM galaxies are predominantly star-forming, as derived from multi-band photometric data. A larger fraction of the TIM galaxies also have features in their galaxy spectra indicating that their light is dominated by young stars. We then analyze the mass-weighted age fractions in the last 0.5 Gyr (), and between 0.5 Gyr and 1 Gyr (). Our results imply an enhanced value for the TIMs. This time interval is comparable in length to merger timescales reported by many studies, thereby this result is indicative of the TIM event boosting the star formation of these galaxies
Random Forests Applied to High-precision Photometry Analysis with Spitzer IRAC
We present a new method employing machine-learning techniques for measuring astrophysical features by correcting systematics in IRAC high-precision photometry using random forests. The main systematic in IRAC light-curve data is position changes due to unavoidable telescope motions coupled with an intrapixel response function. We aim to use the large amount of publicly available calibration data for the single pixel used for this type of work (the sweet-spot pixel) to make a fast, easy-to-use, accurate correction to science data. This correction on calibration data has the advantage of using an independent data set instead of the science data themselves, which has the disadvantage of including astrophysical variations. After focusing on feature engineering and hyperparameter optimization, we show that a boosted random forest model can reduce the data such that we measure the median of 10 archival eclipse observations of XO-3b to be 1459 ± 200 ppm. This is a comparable depth to the average of those in the literature done by seven different methods; however, the spread in measurements is 30%–100% larger than those literature values, depending on the reduction method. We also caution others attempting similar methods to check their results with the fiducial data set of XO-3b, as we were also able to find models providing initially great scores on their internal test data sets but whose results significantly underestimated the eclipse depth of that planet
Random Forests Applied to High-precision Photometry Analysis with Spitzer IRAC
We present a new method employing machine-learning techniques for measuring astrophysical features by correcting systematics in IRAC high-precision photometry using random forests. The main systematic in IRAC light-curve data is position changes due to unavoidable telescope motions coupled with an intrapixel response function. We aim to use the large amount of publicly available calibration data for the single pixel used for this type of work (the sweet-spot pixel) to make a fast, easy-to-use, accurate correction to science data. This correction on calibration data has the advantage of using an independent data set instead of the science data themselves, which has the disadvantage of including astrophysical variations. After focusing on feature engineering and hyperparameter optimization, we show that a boosted random forest model can reduce the data such that we measure the median of 10 archival eclipse observations of XO-3b to be 1459 ± 200 ppm. This is a comparable depth to the average of those in the literature done by seven different methods; however, the spread in measurements is 30%–100% larger than those literature values, depending on the reduction method. We also caution others attempting similar methods to check their results with the fiducial data set of XO-3b, as we were also able to find models providing initially great scores on their internal test data sets but whose results significantly underestimated the eclipse depth of that planet
Star Cluster Classification using Deep Transfer Learning with PHANGS-HST
Currently available star cluster catalogues from HST imaging of nearby
galaxies heavily rely on visual inspection and classification of candidate
clusters. The time-consuming nature of this process has limited the production
of reliable catalogues and thus also post-observation analysis. To address this
problem, deep transfer learning has recently been used to create neural network
models which accurately classify star cluster morphologies at production scale
for nearby spiral galaxies (D < 20 Mpc). Here, we use HST UV-optical imaging of
over 20,000 sources in 23 galaxies from the Physics at High Angular Resolution
in Nearby GalaxieS (PHANGS) survey to train and evaluate two new sets of
models: i) distance-dependent models, based on cluster candidates binned by
galaxy distance (9-12 Mpc, 14-18 Mpc, 18-24 Mpc), and ii) distance-independent
models, based on the combined sample of candidates from all galaxies. We find
that the overall accuracy of both sets of models is comparable to previous
automated star cluster classification studies (~60-80 per cent) and show
improvement by a factor of two in classifying asymmetric and multi-peaked
clusters from PHANGS-HST. Somewhat surprisingly, while we observe a weak
negative correlation between model accuracy and galactic distance, we find that
training separate models for the three distance bins does not significantly
improve classification accuracy. We also evaluate model accuracy as a function
of cluster properties such as brightness, colour, and SED-fit age. Based on the
success of these experiments, our models will provide classifications for the
full set of PHANGS-HST candidate clusters (N ~ 200,000) for public release.Comment: 16 pages, 10 figure
Multi-Scale Stellar Associations across the Star Formation Hierarchy in PHANGS-HST Nearby Galaxies: Methodology and Properties
We develop a method to identify and determine the physical properties of
stellar associations using Hubble Space Telescope (HST) NUV-U-B-V-I imaging of
nearby galaxies from the PHANGS-HST survey. We apply a watershed algorithm to
density maps constructed from point source catalogues Gaussian smoothed to
multiple physical scales from 8 to 64 pc. We develop our method on two galaxies
that span the distance range in the PHANGS-HST sample: NGC 3351 (10 Mpc), NGC
1566 (18 Mpc). We test our algorithm with different parameters such as the
choice of detection band for the point source catalogue (NUV or V), source
density image filtering methods, and absolute magnitude limits. We characterise
the properties of the resulting multi-scale associations, including sizes,
number of tracer stars, number of associations, photometry, as well as ages,
masses, and reddening from Spectral Energy Distribution fitting. Our method
successfully identifies structures that occupy loci in the UBVI colour-colour
diagram consistent with previously published catalogues of clusters and
associations. The median ages of the associations increases from log(age/yr) =
6.6 to log(age/yr) = 6.9 as the spatial scale increases from 8 pc to 64 pc for
both galaxies. We find that the youngest stellar associations, with ages < 3
Myr, indeed closely trace H ii regions in H imaging, and that older
associations are increasingly anti-correlated with the H emission.
Owing to our new method, the PHANGS-HST multi-scale associations provide a far
more complete census of recent star formation activity than found with previous
cluster and compact association catalogues. The method presented here will be
applied to the full sample of 38 PHANGS-HST galaxies.Comment: Submitted to MNRAS. Referee report received with minor comments, and
"request to clarify if the smaller associations are always included in the
larger ones and how this may affect the photometric fitting of the larger
association if the groups have different ages." Revision in progres
PHANGS-HST Catalogs for ∼100,000 Star Clusters and Compact Associations in 38 Galaxies. I. Observed Properties
We present the largest catalog to date of star clusters and compact associations in nearby galaxies. We have performed a V-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-I photometry. 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
PHANGS: Constraining Star Formation Timescales Using the Spatial Correlations of Star Clusters and Giant Molecular Clouds
In the hierarchical view of star formation, giant molecular gas clouds (GMCs)
undergo fragmentation to form small-scale structures made up of stars and star
clusters. Here we study the connection between young star clusters and cold gas
across a range of extragalactic environments by combining the high resolution
(1") PHANGS-ALMA catalogue of GMCs with the star cluster catalogues from
PHANGS-HST. The star clusters are spatially matched with the GMCs across a
sample of 11 nearby star-forming galaxies with a range of galactic environments
(centres, bars, spiral arms, etc.). We find that after 4-6 Myr the star
clusters are no longer associated with any gas clouds. Additionally, we measure
the autocorrelation of the star clusters and GMCs as well as their
cross-correlation to quantify the fractal nature of hierarchical star
formation. Young ( 10 Myr) star clusters are more strongly autocorrelated
on kpc and smaller spatial scales than the >10 Myr stellar populations,
indicating that the hierarchical structure dissolves over time.Comment: 15 pages, 11 figures, 4 tables. Accepted to MNRAS Sept 6 202
Measuring the mixing scale of the ISM within nearby spiral galaxies
The spatial distribution of metals reflects, and can be used to constrain,
the processes of chemical enrichment and mixing. Using PHANGS-MUSE optical
integral field spectroscopy, we measure the gas phase oxygen abundances
(metallicities) across 7,138 HII regions in a sample of eight nearby disc
galaxies. In Paper I (Kreckel et al. 2019) we measure and report linear radial
gradients in the metallicities of each galaxy, and qualitatively searched for
azimuthal abundance variations. Here, we examine the two-dimensional variation
in abundances once the radial gradient is subtracted, Delta(O/H), in order to
quantify the homogeneity of the metal distribution and to measure the mixing
scale over which HII region metallicities are correlated. We observe low
(0.03--0.05 dex) scatter in Delta(O/H) globally in all galaxies, with
significantly lower (0.02--0.03 dex) scatter on small (<600 pc) spatial scales.
This is consistent with the measurement uncertainties, and implies the
two-dimensional metallicity distribution is highly correlated on scales of <600
pc. We compute the two point correlation function for metals in the disc in
order to quantify the scale lengths associated with the observed homogeneity.
This mixing scale is observed to correlate better with the local gas velocity
dispersion (of both cold and ionized gas) than with the star formation rate.
Selecting only HII regions with enhanced abundances relative to a linear radial
gradient, we do not observe increased homogeneity on small scales. This
suggests that the observed homogeneity is driven by the mixing introducing
material from large scales rather than by pollution from recent and on-going
star formation.Comment: 17 pages, 14 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRA
PHANGS-JWST First Results: Dust embedded star clusters in NGC 7496 selected via 3.3 m PAH emission
The earliest stages of star formation occur enshrouded in dust and are not
observable in the optical. Here we leverage the extraordinary new
high-resolution infrared imaging from JWST to begin the study of dust-embedded
star clusters in nearby galaxies throughout the local volume. We present a
technique for identifying dust-embedded clusters in NGC 7496 (18.7 Mpc), the
first galaxy to be observed by the PHANGS-JWST Cycle 1 Treasury Survey. We
select sources that have strong 3.3m PAH emission based on a color excess, and identify 67 candidate embedded clusters. Only
eight of these are found in the PHANGS-HST optically-selected cluster catalog
and all are young (six have SED-fit ages of Myr). We find that this
sample of embedded cluster candidates may significantly increase the census of
young clusters in NGC 7496 from the PHANGS-HST catalog -- the number of
clusters younger than 2 Myr could be increased by a factor of two.
Candidates are preferentially located in dust lanes, and are coincident with
peaks in PHANGS-ALMA CO (2-1) maps. We take a first look at concentration
indices, luminosity functions, SEDs spanning from 2700A to 21m, and
stellar masses (estimated to be between ). The methods
tested here provide a basis for future work to derive accurate constraints on
the physical properties of embedded clusters, characterize the completeness of
cluster samples, and expand analysis to all 19 galaxies in the PHANGS-JWST
sample, which will enable basic unsolved problems in star formation and cluster
evolution to be addressed.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures; accepted for publication in ApJL as part of
PHANGS-JWST First Results Special Issu