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VERSION:2.0
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
PRODID:UW-Madison-Physics-Events
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SEQUENCE:0
UID:UW-Physics-Event-1751
DTSTART:20100126T213000Z
DTEND:20100126T230000Z
DTSTAMP:20260422T181638Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20100120T141943Z
LOCATION:3425 Sterling Hall
SUMMARY:Star Formation and Gas in Nearby Galaxies\, Astronomy Colloqui
 um\, Adam Leroy\, NRAO
DESCRIPTION:I will discuss what recent multiwavelength surveys tell us
  about why stars form where they do in galaxies and what makes the ISM
  good at forming stars. The question is an open one\, with results in 
 the last few years variously identifying gravitational stability\, met
 allicity\, pressure\, opacity\, and collisions in the ISM as the regul
 ating quantity. From large programs with the IRAM 30m ("HERACLES") and
  the VLA ("THINGS") we know the distribution of atomic and molecular g
 as in several dozen galaxies that have also been observed by Spitzer a
 nd GALEX (and are now being mapped by Herschel). These data allow us t
 o estimate a range of physical conditions over kiloparsec-sized resolu
 tion elements across each galaxy (e.g.\, the star formation rate\, HI 
 mass\, H2 mass\, stellar mass\, kinematics\, dust-to-gas ratio). We ar
 e using these estimates to push beyond galaxy-averaged scaling relatio
 ns\, testing proposed local drivers for the formation of molecular clo
 uds and stars from diffuse neutral gas. I will summarize these tests a
 nd give our current best answers to the basic question: "where is the 
 interstellar medium good at forming stars?" 
URL:https://www.physics.wisc.edu/events/?id=1751
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