_version_ 1866908562057330688
author Pathak, Debosmita
Leroy, Adam K.
Barnes, Ashley. T.
Thompson, Todd A.
Lopez, Laura A.
Sandstrom, Karin M.
Sun, Jiayi
Glover, Simon C. O.
Klessen, Ralf S.
Koch, Eric W.
Larson, Kirsten L.
Lee, Janice
Meidt, Sharon
Sanchez-Blazquez, Patricia
Schinnerer, Eva
Bazzi, Zein
Belfiore, Francesco
Boquien, Médéric
Chown, Ryan
Colombo, Dario
Congiu, Enrico
Egorov, Oleg V.
Eibensteiner, Cosima
Kurapati, Sushma
Querejeta, Miguel
Dale, Daniel A.
Kravtsov, Timo
Padave, Mansi
Pisano, D. J.
Rosolowsky, Erik
Sarbadhicary, Sumit K.
Williams, Thomas G.
Indebetouw, Remy
Pan, Hsi-An
Úbeda, Leonardo
Amiri, Amirnezam
Bigiel, Frank
Blanc, Guillermo A.
Grasha, Kathryn
author_facet Pathak, Debosmita
Leroy, Adam K.
Barnes, Ashley. T.
Thompson, Todd A.
Lopez, Laura A.
Sandstrom, Karin M.
Sun, Jiayi
Glover, Simon C. O.
Klessen, Ralf S.
Koch, Eric W.
Larson, Kirsten L.
Lee, Janice
Meidt, Sharon
Sanchez-Blazquez, Patricia
Schinnerer, Eva
Bazzi, Zein
Belfiore, Francesco
Boquien, Médéric
Chown, Ryan
Colombo, Dario
Congiu, Enrico
Egorov, Oleg V.
Eibensteiner, Cosima
Kurapati, Sushma
Querejeta, Miguel
Dale, Daniel A.
Kravtsov, Timo
Padave, Mansi
Pisano, D. J.
Rosolowsky, Erik
Sarbadhicary, Sumit K.
Williams, Thomas G.
Indebetouw, Remy
Pan, Hsi-An
Úbeda, Leonardo
Amiri, Amirnezam
Bigiel, Frank
Blanc, Guillermo A.
Grasha, Kathryn
contents We present measurements of the masses associated with $\sim18,000$ HII regions across 19 nearby star-forming galaxies by combining data from JWST, HST, MUSE, ALMA, VLA, and MeerKAT from the multi-wavelength PHANGS survey. We report 10 pc-scale measurements of the mass of young stars, ionized gas, and older disk stars coincident with each HII region, as well as the initial and current mass of molecular gas, atomic gas, and swept-up shell material, estimated from lower resolution data. We find that the mass of older stars dominates over young stars at $\gtrsim10\rm\,pc$ scales, and ionized gas exceeds the stellar mass in most optically bright HII regions. Combining our mass measurements for a statistically large sample of HII regions, we derive 10 pc scale star-formation efficiencies $\approx6{-}17\%$ for individual HII regions. Comparing each region's self-gravity with the ambient ISM pressure and total pressure from pre-supernova stellar feedback, we show that most optically bright HII regions are over-pressured relative to their own self-gravity and the ambient ISM pressure, and that they are hence likely expanding into their surroundings. Larger HII regions in galaxy centers approach dynamical equilibrium. The self-gravity of regions is expected to dominate over pre-supernova stellar feedback pressure at $\gtrsim130\rm\,pc$ and $60\rm\,pc$ scales in galaxy disks and centers, respectively, but is always sub-dominant to the ambient ISM pressure on HII region scales. Our measurements have direct implications for the dynamical evolution of star-forming regions and the efficiency of stellar feedback in ionizing and clearing cold gas.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2509_22789
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Masses, Star-Formation Efficiencies, and Dynamical Evolution of 18,000 HII Regions
Pathak, Debosmita
Leroy, Adam K.
Barnes, Ashley. T.
Thompson, Todd A.
Lopez, Laura A.
Sandstrom, Karin M.
Sun, Jiayi
Glover, Simon C. O.
Klessen, Ralf S.
Koch, Eric W.
Larson, Kirsten L.
Lee, Janice
Meidt, Sharon
Sanchez-Blazquez, Patricia
Schinnerer, Eva
Bazzi, Zein
Belfiore, Francesco
Boquien, Médéric
Chown, Ryan
Colombo, Dario
Congiu, Enrico
Egorov, Oleg V.
Eibensteiner, Cosima
Kurapati, Sushma
Querejeta, Miguel
Dale, Daniel A.
Kravtsov, Timo
Padave, Mansi
Pisano, D. J.
Rosolowsky, Erik
Sarbadhicary, Sumit K.
Williams, Thomas G.
Indebetouw, Remy
Pan, Hsi-An
Úbeda, Leonardo
Amiri, Amirnezam
Bigiel, Frank
Blanc, Guillermo A.
Grasha, Kathryn
Astrophysics of Galaxies
We present measurements of the masses associated with $\sim18,000$ HII regions across 19 nearby star-forming galaxies by combining data from JWST, HST, MUSE, ALMA, VLA, and MeerKAT from the multi-wavelength PHANGS survey. We report 10 pc-scale measurements of the mass of young stars, ionized gas, and older disk stars coincident with each HII region, as well as the initial and current mass of molecular gas, atomic gas, and swept-up shell material, estimated from lower resolution data. We find that the mass of older stars dominates over young stars at $\gtrsim10\rm\,pc$ scales, and ionized gas exceeds the stellar mass in most optically bright HII regions. Combining our mass measurements for a statistically large sample of HII regions, we derive 10 pc scale star-formation efficiencies $\approx6{-}17\%$ for individual HII regions. Comparing each region's self-gravity with the ambient ISM pressure and total pressure from pre-supernova stellar feedback, we show that most optically bright HII regions are over-pressured relative to their own self-gravity and the ambient ISM pressure, and that they are hence likely expanding into their surroundings. Larger HII regions in galaxy centers approach dynamical equilibrium. The self-gravity of regions is expected to dominate over pre-supernova stellar feedback pressure at $\gtrsim130\rm\,pc$ and $60\rm\,pc$ scales in galaxy disks and centers, respectively, but is always sub-dominant to the ambient ISM pressure on HII region scales. Our measurements have direct implications for the dynamical evolution of star-forming regions and the efficiency of stellar feedback in ionizing and clearing cold gas.
title Masses, Star-Formation Efficiencies, and Dynamical Evolution of 18,000 HII Regions
topic Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.22789