A test of arm-induced star formation in spiral galaxies from near-IR and H$\alpha$ imaging

Abstract

We have imaged a sample of 20 spiral galaxies in H$\alpha$ and in the near-infrared K band (2.2 um), in order to determine the location and strength of star formation in these objects with respect to perturbations in the old stellar population. We have found that star formation rates are significantly enhanced in the vicinity of K band arms. We have also found that this enhancement in star formation rate in arm regions correlates well with a quantity that measures the relative strengths of shocks in arms. Assuming that the K band light is dominated by emission from the old stellar population, this shows that density waves trigger star formation in the vicinity of spiral arms.

6 pages, 1 figure, accpeted for publication in MNRAS

References in corpus (2)

• A Comparison of UIT Far-Ultraviolet and H alpha Star Formation Rates
• Statistical properties of circumnuclear HII regions in nearby galaxies

Cited by in corpus (45)

• Physical properties and environments of nearby galaxies
• Dawes Review 4: Spiral Structures in Disc Galaxies
• The properties of the ISM in disc galaxies with stellar feedback
• Galaxy Zoo: comparing the demographics of spiral arm number and a new method for correcting redshift bias
• The optimally-sampled galaxy-wide stellar initial mass function - Observational tests and the publicly available GalIMF code
• Arm & Interarm Star Formation in Spiral Galaxies
• Spiral shocks, triggering of star formation and the velocity dispersion in Giant Molecular Clouds
• Star formation in Galactic spiral arms and the inter-arm regions
• Ionisation-induced star formation II: External irradiation of a turbulent molecular cloud
• A High-Resolution View of Fast Radio Burst Host Environments
• The Transition from Atomic to Molecular Hydrogen in Interstellar Clouds: 21cm Signature of the Evolution of Cold Atomic Hydrogen in Dense Clouds
• Spiral density wave triggering of star formation in SA and SAB galaxies
• The H alpha Galaxy Survey VII. The spatial distribution of star formation within disks and bulges
• Star-forming content of the giant molecular filaments in the Milky Way
• Galactic Bulges from HST NICMOS Observations: Global Scaling Relations
• Local Simulations of Spiral Galaxies with the TIGRESS Framework: I. Star Formation and Arm Spurs/Feathers
• Galactic Spiral Shocks with Thermal Instability
• Spiral structure in nearby galaxies II. comparative analysis and conclusions
• H-alpha kinematics of S4G spiral galaxies-II. Data description and non-circular motions
• The EDGE-CALIFA survey: The role of spiral arms and bars in driving central molecular gas concentrations
• A Simple Model for the Relationship Between Star Formation and Surface Density
• Tracing spiral density waves in M81
• Spiral Structure Boosts Star Formation in Disk Galaxies
• A New Formula Describing the Scaffold Structure of Spiral Galaxies
• Gas velocity patterns in simulated galaxies: Observational diagnostics of spiral structure theories
• Star formation in grand-design, spiral galaxies. Young, massive clusters in the near-infrared
• Supernovae and their host galaxies - IV. The distribution of supernovae relative to spiral arms
• Galaxy Zoo: star-formation versus spiral arm number
• Density waves and star formation in grand design spirals
• Strong spiral arms drive secular growth of pseudo bulges in disk galaxies
• Star Formation Histories of the LEGUS Spiral Galaxies. I. The flocculent spiral NGC 7793
• Instabilities in disc galaxies: from noise to grooves to spirals
• The behavior of the pitch angle of spiral arms depending on optical wavelength
• Tracing young star-forming clumps in the nearby flocculent spiral galaxy NGC 7793 with UVIT imaging
• Determination of resonance locations in barred spiral galaxies using multiband photometry
• Multiwavelength Bulge-Disk Decomposition for the Galaxy M81 (NGC 3031). I. Morphology
• Warm ionized gas in the blue compact galaxy Haro 14 viewed by MUSE. The diverse ionization mechanisms acting in low-mass starbursts
• The impact of spiral density waves on the distribution of Supernovae
• Radial Distribution of Near-UV Flux in Disc Galaxies in the range 0<z<1
• Bar-spiral interaction produces radial migration and star formation bursts
• Understanding star formation and feedback in small galaxies. The case of the blue compact dwarf Mrk 900
• The recent star formation history of NGC 628 on resolved scales
• Molecular clouds in M51 from high-resolution extinction mapping
• High spin temperatures at large impact parameters: Ionisation in the outskirts of galaxies
• Star formation in galaxies: the role of spiral arms