@article{955a282398874b2aacba0a63f50b8b1c,
title = "PHANGS-JWST first results: ISM structure on the turbulent Jeans scale in four disk galaxies observed by JWST and ALMA",
abstract = "JWST/Mid-Infrared Instrument imaging of the nearby galaxies IC 5332, NGC 628, NGC 1365, and NGC 7496 from PHANGS reveals a richness of gas structures that in each case form a quasi-regular network of interconnected filaments, shells, and voids. We examine whether this multiscale network of structure is consistent with the fragmentation of the gas disk through gravitational instability. We use FilFinder to detect the web of filamentary features in each galaxy and determine their characteristic radial and azimuthal spacings. These spacings are then compared to estimates of the most Toomre-unstable length (a few kiloparsecs), the turbulent Jeans length (a few hundred parsecs), and the disk scale height (tens of parsecs) reconstructed using PHANGS–Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array observations of the molecular gas as a dynamical tracer. Our analysis of the four galaxies targeted in this work indicates that Jeans-scale structure is pervasive. Future work will be essential for determining how the structure observed in gas disks impacts not only the rate and location of star formation but also how stellar feedback interacts positively or negatively with the surrounding multiphase gas reservoir.",
keywords = "Interstellar medium, Spiral galaxies, Barred spiral galaxies, Gravitational instability, Star formation",
author = "Meidt, {Sharon E.} and Erik Rosolowsky and Jiayi Sun and Koch, {Eric W.} and Klessen, {Ralf S.} and Leroy, {Adam K.} and Eva Schinnerer and Barnes, {Ashley T.} and Glover, {Simon C. O.} and Lee, {Janice C.} and {van der Wel}, Arjen and Watkins, {Elizabeth J.} and Williams, {Thomas G.} and Frank Bigiel and M{\'e}d{\'e}ric Boquien and Blanc, {Guillermo A.} and Yixian Cao and M{\'e}lanie Chevance and Dale, {Daniel A.} and Egorov, {Oleg V.} and Eric Emsellem and Kathryn Grasha and Henshaw, {Jonathan D.} and Kruijssen, {J. M. Diederik} and Larson, {Kirsten L.} and Daizhong Liu and Murphy, {Eric J.} and J{\'e}r{\^o}me Pety and Miguel Querejeta and Toshiki Saito and Sandstrom, {Karin M.} and Smith, {Rowan J.} and Sormani, {Mattia C.} and Thilker, {David A.}",
note = "Funding: R.S.K., E.J.W., and S.C.O.G. acknowledge funding from the European Research Council via the ERC Synergy Grant “ECOGAL” (project ID 855130). J.M.D.K. gratefully acknowledges funding from the 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).",
year = "2023",
month = feb,
day = "20",
doi = "10.3847/2041-8213/acaaa8",
language = "English",
volume = "944",
journal = "Astrophysical Journal Letters",
issn = "2041-8205",
publisher = "American Astronomical Society",
number = "2",
}