PHANGS-JWST first results: duration of the early phase of massive star formation in NGC628

Jaeyeon Kim; Mélanie Chevance; J. M. Diederik Kruijssen; Ashley T. Barnes; Frank Bigiel; Guillermo A. Blanc; Médéric Boquien; Yixian Cao; Enrico Congiu; Daniel A. Dale; Oleg V. Egorov; Christopher M. Faesi; Simon C. O. Glover; Kathryn Grasha; Brent Groves; Hamid Hassani; Annie Hughes; Ralf S. Klessen; Kathryn Kreckel; Kirsten L. Larson; Janice C. Lee; Adam K. Leroy; Daizhong Liu; Steven N. Longmore; Sharon E. Meidt; Hsi-An Pan; Jérôme Pety; Miguel Querejeta; Erik Rosolowsky; Toshiki Saito; Karin Sandstrom; Eva Schinnerer; Rowan J. Smith; Antonio Usero; Elizabeth J. Watkins; Thomas G. Williams

doi:10.3847/2041-8213/aca90a

PHANGS-JWST first results: duration of the early phase of massive star formation in NGC628

Jaeyeon Kim^*, Mélanie Chevance, J. M. Diederik Kruijssen, Ashley T. Barnes, Frank Bigiel, Guillermo A. Blanc, Médéric Boquien, Yixian Cao, Enrico Congiu, Daniel A. Dale, Oleg V. Egorov, Christopher M. Faesi, Simon C. O. Glover, Kathryn Grasha, Brent Groves, Hamid Hassani, Annie Hughes, Ralf S. Klessen, Kathryn Kreckel, Kirsten L. LarsonJanice C. Lee, Adam K. Leroy, Daizhong Liu, Steven N. Longmore, Sharon E. Meidt, Hsi-An Pan, Jérôme Pety, Miguel Querejeta, Erik Rosolowsky, Toshiki Saito, Karin Sandstrom, Eva Schinnerer, Rowan J. Smith, Antonio Usero, Elizabeth J. Watkins, Thomas G. Williams

^*Corresponding author for this work

School of Physics and Astronomy

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Abstract

The earliest stages of star formation, when young stars are still deeply embedded in their natal clouds, represent a critical phase in the matter cycle between gas clouds and young stellar regions. Until now, the high-resolution infrared observations required for characterizing this heavily obscured phase (during which massive stars have formed, but optical emission is not detected) could only be obtained for a handful of the most nearby galaxies. One of the main hurdles has been the limited angular resolution of the Spitzer Space Telescope. With the revolutionary capabilities of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), it is now possible to investigate the matter cycle during the earliest phases of star formation as a function of the galactic environment. In this Letter, we demonstrate this by measuring the duration of the embedded phase of star formation and the implied time over which molecular clouds remain inert in the galaxy NGC 628 at a distance of 9.8 Mpc, demonstrating that the cosmic volume where this measurement can be made has increased by a factor of >100 compared to Spitzer. We show that young massive stars remain embedded for
5.1 ^+2.7 _-1.4Myr (2.3 ^+2.7 _-1.4Myr of which being heavily obscured), representing ∼20% of the total cloud lifetime. These values are in broad agreement with previous measurements in five nearby (D < 3.5 Mpc) galaxies and constitute a proof of concept for the systematic characterization of the early phase of star formation across the nearby galaxy population with the PHANGS–JWST survey.

Original language	English
Article number	L20
Number of pages	11
Journal	Astrophysical Journal Letters
Volume	944
Issue number	2
Early online date	16 Feb 2023
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/aca90a
Publication status	Published - 20 Feb 2023

Keywords

Star formation
Galaxies
Giant molecular clouds
Interstellar medium

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Kim_2023_ApJL_944_L20_CCBY
Copyright © 2023. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society. Original content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
Final published version, 1.09 MBLicence: CC BY

https://arxiv.org/abs/2211.15698

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Kim, J., Chevance, M., Kruijssen, J. M. D., Barnes, A. T., Bigiel, F., Blanc, G. A., Boquien, M., Cao, Y., Congiu, E., Dale, D. A., Egorov, O. V., Faesi, C. M., Glover, S. C. O., Grasha, K., Groves, B., Hassani, H., Hughes, A., Klessen, R. S., Kreckel, K., ... Williams, T. G. (2023). PHANGS-JWST first results: duration of the early phase of massive star formation in NGC628. Astrophysical Journal Letters, 944(2), Article L20. https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/aca90a

@article{23bca506499e4a0fb22d5c4f7f65a3a4,

title = "PHANGS-JWST first results: duration of the early phase of massive star formation in NGC628",

abstract = "The earliest stages of star formation, when young stars are still deeply embedded in their natal clouds, represent a critical phase in the matter cycle between gas clouds and young stellar regions. Until now, the high-resolution infrared observations required for characterizing this heavily obscured phase (during which massive stars have formed, but optical emission is not detected) could only be obtained for a handful of the most nearby galaxies. One of the main hurdles has been the limited angular resolution of the Spitzer Space Telescope. With the revolutionary capabilities of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), it is now possible to investigate the matter cycle during the earliest phases of star formation as a function of the galactic environment. In this Letter, we demonstrate this by measuring the duration of the embedded phase of star formation and the implied time over which molecular clouds remain inert in the galaxy NGC 628 at a distance of 9.8 Mpc, demonstrating that the cosmic volume where this measurement can be made has increased by a factor of >100 compared to Spitzer. We show that young massive stars remain embedded for 5.1 +2.7 -1.4 Myr (2.3 +2.7 -1.4 Myr of which being heavily obscured), representing ∼20% of the total cloud lifetime. These values are in broad agreement with previous measurements in five nearby (D < 3.5 Mpc) galaxies and constitute a proof of concept for the systematic characterization of the early phase of star formation across the nearby galaxy population with the PHANGS–JWST survey.",

keywords = "Star formation, Galaxies, Giant molecular clouds, Interstellar medium",

author = "Jaeyeon Kim and M{\'e}lanie Chevance and Kruijssen, {J. M. Diederik} and Barnes, {Ashley T.} and Frank Bigiel and Blanc, {Guillermo A.} and M{\'e}d{\'e}ric Boquien and Yixian Cao and Enrico Congiu and Dale, {Daniel A.} and Egorov, {Oleg V.} and Faesi, {Christopher M.} and Glover, {Simon C. O.} and Kathryn Grasha and Brent Groves and Hamid Hassani and Annie Hughes and Klessen, {Ralf S.} and Kathryn Kreckel and Larson, {Kirsten L.} and Lee, {Janice C.} and Leroy, {Adam K.} and Daizhong Liu and Longmore, {Steven N.} and Meidt, {Sharon E.} and Hsi-An Pan and J{\'e}r{\^o}me Pety and Miguel Querejeta and Erik Rosolowsky and Toshiki Saito and Karin Sandstrom and Eva Schinnerer and Smith, {Rowan J.} and Antonio Usero and Watkins, {Elizabeth J.} and Williams, {Thomas G.}",

note = "Funding: European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union{\textquoteright}s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program via the ERC Starting Grant MUSTANG (grant agreement No. 714907). F.B. would like to acknowledge funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Unionʼs Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant agreement No. 726384/Empire). E.S. and T.G.W. acknowledge funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Unionʼs Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant agreement No. 694343). R.J.S. acknowledges funding from an STFC ERF (grant ST/N00485X/1).",

year = "2023",

month = feb,

day = "20",

doi = "10.3847/2041-8213/aca90a",

language = "English",

volume = "944",

journal = "Astrophysical Journal Letters",

issn = "2041-8205",

publisher = "American Astronomical Society",

number = "2",

}

Kim, J, Chevance, M, Kruijssen, JMD, Barnes, AT, Bigiel, F, Blanc, GA, Boquien, M, Cao, Y, Congiu, E, Dale, DA, Egorov, OV, Faesi, CM, Glover, SCO, Grasha, K, Groves, B, Hassani, H, Hughes, A, Klessen, RS, Kreckel, K, Larson, KL, Lee, JC, Leroy, AK, Liu, D, Longmore, SN, Meidt, SE, Pan, H-A, Pety, J, Querejeta, M, Rosolowsky, E, Saito, T, Sandstrom, K, Schinnerer, E, Smith, RJ, Usero, A, Watkins, EJ & Williams, TG 2023, 'PHANGS-JWST first results: duration of the early phase of massive star formation in NGC628', Astrophysical Journal Letters, vol. 944, no. 2, L20. https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/aca90a

TY - JOUR

T1 - PHANGS-JWST first results

T2 - duration of the early phase of massive star formation in NGC628

AU - Kim, Jaeyeon

AU - Chevance, Mélanie

AU - Kruijssen, J. M. Diederik

AU - Barnes, Ashley T.

AU - Bigiel, Frank

AU - Blanc, Guillermo A.

AU - Boquien, Médéric

AU - Cao, Yixian

AU - Congiu, Enrico

AU - Dale, Daniel A.

AU - Egorov, Oleg V.

AU - Faesi, Christopher M.

AU - Glover, Simon C. O.

AU - Grasha, Kathryn

AU - Groves, Brent

AU - Hassani, Hamid

AU - Hughes, Annie

AU - Klessen, Ralf S.

AU - Kreckel, Kathryn

AU - Larson, Kirsten L.

AU - Lee, Janice C.

AU - Leroy, Adam K.

AU - Liu, Daizhong

AU - Longmore, Steven N.

AU - Meidt, Sharon E.

AU - Pan, Hsi-An

AU - Pety, Jérôme

AU - Querejeta, Miguel

AU - Rosolowsky, Erik

AU - Saito, Toshiki

AU - Sandstrom, Karin

AU - Schinnerer, Eva

AU - Smith, Rowan J.

AU - Usero, Antonio

AU - Watkins, Elizabeth J.

AU - Williams, Thomas G.

N1 - Funding: European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program via the ERC Starting Grant MUSTANG (grant agreement No. 714907). F.B. would like to acknowledge funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Unionʼs Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant agreement No. 726384/Empire). E.S. and T.G.W. acknowledge funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Unionʼs Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant agreement No. 694343). R.J.S. acknowledges funding from an STFC ERF (grant ST/N00485X/1).

PY - 2023/2/20

Y1 - 2023/2/20

N2 - The earliest stages of star formation, when young stars are still deeply embedded in their natal clouds, represent a critical phase in the matter cycle between gas clouds and young stellar regions. Until now, the high-resolution infrared observations required for characterizing this heavily obscured phase (during which massive stars have formed, but optical emission is not detected) could only be obtained for a handful of the most nearby galaxies. One of the main hurdles has been the limited angular resolution of the Spitzer Space Telescope. With the revolutionary capabilities of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), it is now possible to investigate the matter cycle during the earliest phases of star formation as a function of the galactic environment. In this Letter, we demonstrate this by measuring the duration of the embedded phase of star formation and the implied time over which molecular clouds remain inert in the galaxy NGC 628 at a distance of 9.8 Mpc, demonstrating that the cosmic volume where this measurement can be made has increased by a factor of >100 compared to Spitzer. We show that young massive stars remain embedded for 5.1 +2.7 -1.4 Myr (2.3 +2.7 -1.4 Myr of which being heavily obscured), representing ∼20% of the total cloud lifetime. These values are in broad agreement with previous measurements in five nearby (D < 3.5 Mpc) galaxies and constitute a proof of concept for the systematic characterization of the early phase of star formation across the nearby galaxy population with the PHANGS–JWST survey.

AB - The earliest stages of star formation, when young stars are still deeply embedded in their natal clouds, represent a critical phase in the matter cycle between gas clouds and young stellar regions. Until now, the high-resolution infrared observations required for characterizing this heavily obscured phase (during which massive stars have formed, but optical emission is not detected) could only be obtained for a handful of the most nearby galaxies. One of the main hurdles has been the limited angular resolution of the Spitzer Space Telescope. With the revolutionary capabilities of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), it is now possible to investigate the matter cycle during the earliest phases of star formation as a function of the galactic environment. In this Letter, we demonstrate this by measuring the duration of the embedded phase of star formation and the implied time over which molecular clouds remain inert in the galaxy NGC 628 at a distance of 9.8 Mpc, demonstrating that the cosmic volume where this measurement can be made has increased by a factor of >100 compared to Spitzer. We show that young massive stars remain embedded for 5.1 +2.7 -1.4 Myr (2.3 +2.7 -1.4 Myr of which being heavily obscured), representing ∼20% of the total cloud lifetime. These values are in broad agreement with previous measurements in five nearby (D < 3.5 Mpc) galaxies and constitute a proof of concept for the systematic characterization of the early phase of star formation across the nearby galaxy population with the PHANGS–JWST survey.

KW - Star formation

KW - Galaxies

KW - Giant molecular clouds

KW - Interstellar medium

U2 - 10.3847/2041-8213/aca90a

DO - 10.3847/2041-8213/aca90a

M3 - Article

SN - 2041-8205

VL - 944

JO - Astrophysical Journal Letters

JF - Astrophysical Journal Letters

IS - 2

M1 - L20

ER -

PHANGS-JWST first results: duration of the early phase of massive star formation in NGC628

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