Star Formation Efficiency per Free-fall Time in nearby Galaxies

• Published in: Astrophysical journal. Letters Vol. 861; no. 2; p. L18
• Main Authors: Utomo, Dyas, Sun, Jiayi, Leroy, Adam K., Kruijssen, J. M. Diederik, Schinnerer, Eva, Schruba, Andreas, Bigiel, Frank, Blanc, Guillermo A., Chevance, Mélanie, Emsellem, Eric, Herrera, Cinthya, Hygate, Alexander P. S., Kreckel, Kathryn, Ostriker, Eve C., Pety, Jerome, Querejeta, Miguel, Rosolowsky, Erik, Sandstrom, Karin M., Usero, Antonio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Austin The American Astronomical Society 10.07.2018; IOP Publishing; Bristol : IOP Publishing
• Subjects: Angular resolution; Astrophysics; Depletion; Galaxies; galaxies: ISM; galaxies: spiral; galaxies: star formation; Gravitation; Image resolution; ISM: molecules; Line of sight; Milky Way; Molecular clouds; Molecular gases; Physics; Radio telescopes; Star & galaxy formation; Star formation; Stars; Tracers; Uncertainty

We estimate the star formation efficiency per gravitational free-fall time, , from observations of nearby galaxies with resolution matched to the typical size of a giant molecular cloud. This quantity, , is theoretically important but so far has only been measured for Milky Way clouds or inferred in...