The PdBI Arcsecond Whirlpool Survey (PAWS) : the role of spiral arms in cloud and star formation
- Schinnerer, Eva
- van der Wel, Sharon Meidt
- Colombo, Dario
- Chandar, Rupali
- Dobbs, Clare L
- Garca-Burillo, Santiago
- Hughes, Annie
- Leroy, Adam K
- Pety, Jerome
- Querejeta, Miguel
- Kramer, Carsten
- Schuster, Karl F
DOIAbstract
The process that leads to the formation of the bright star-forming sites observed along prominent spiral arms remains elusive. We present results of a multi-wavelength study of a spiral arm segment in the nearby grand-design spiral galaxy M51 that belongs to a spiral density wave and exhibits nine gas spurs. The combined observations of the (ionized, atomic, molecular, dusty) interstellar medium with star formation tracers (H II regions, young <10 Myr stellar clusters) suggest (1) no variation in giant molecular cloud (GMC) properties between arm and gas spurs, (2) gas spurs and extinction feathers arising from the same structure with a close spatial relation between gas spurs and ongoing/recent star formation (despite higher gas surface de...
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