FEAST: Probing Hierarchical Star Formation with the Spatial Distributions of Young Star Clusters

Fuente: arXiv

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors:	Lapeer, Drew, Calzetti, Daniela, Grasha, Kathryn, Adamo, Angela, Elmegreen, Bruce G., Bik, Arjan, Bortolini, Giacomo, Buckner, Anne, Cignoni, Michele, Correntim, Matteo, Elmegreen, Debra Meloy, Vieira, H. Faustino, Hamilton, Max, Johnson, Kelsey, Lai, Thomas S. -Y, Linden, Sean T., Maji, Subhransu, Messa, Matteo, Östlin, Göran, Pedrini, Alex, Sabbi, E., Smith, Linda J.
Format:	Preprint
Published:	2026
Subjects:	Astrophysics of Galaxies
Online Access:	Acceder al recurso
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_version_	1866912829183885312
author	Lapeer, Drew Calzetti, Daniela Grasha, Kathryn Adamo, Angela Elmegreen, Bruce G. Bik, Arjan Bortolini, Giacomo Buckner, Anne Cignoni, Michele Correntim, Matteo Elmegreen, Debra Meloy Vieira, H. Faustino Hamilton, Max Johnson, Kelsey Lai, Thomas S. -Y Linden, Sean T. Maji, Subhransu Messa, Matteo Östlin, Göran Pedrini, Alex Sabbi, E. Smith, Linda J.
author_facet	Lapeer, Drew Calzetti, Daniela Grasha, Kathryn Adamo, Angela Elmegreen, Bruce G. Bik, Arjan Bortolini, Giacomo Buckner, Anne Cignoni, Michele Correntim, Matteo Elmegreen, Debra Meloy Vieira, H. Faustino Hamilton, Max Johnson, Kelsey Lai, Thomas S. -Y Linden, Sean T. Maji, Subhransu Messa, Matteo Östlin, Göran Pedrini, Alex Sabbi, E. Smith, Linda J.
contents	We apply the angular two-point correlation function (TPCF) to the spatial distribution of young star clusters (YSCs) in four nearby star forming galaxies (NGC 628, NGC 4449, M51, and M83) in order to investigate their underlying hierarchical structuring. Using newly constructed catalogs of YSCs in the emerging phase (eYSCs), identified in the infrared with JWST, and optical YSCs detected in archival HST data, we compute TPCFs for various cluster samples and age bins across the four galaxies as part of the FEAST (Feedback in Emerging extrAgalactic Star ClusTers) program. We find clear evidence of hierarchical structuring, especially in eYSCs and YSCs with ages < 10 Myr (referred to as oYSCs), which show similar TPCFs within each galaxy. NGC 628 exhibits a clear distinction between the TPCFs of eYSCs and oYSCs, implying a shorter randomization timescale. In contrast, clusters aged 10 to 300 Myr exhibit progressively more random spatial distributions, becoming effectively random after $\sim$ 100 Myr, consistent with earlier studies. The two-dimensional fractal index $D_2$ of the YSCs underlying distribution is calculated from model fits to TPCFs. Our values of $D_2$ derived from the youngest YSC populations align better with the expected value of $D_2 \sim $1.3 for a universal star formation process compared to previous findings.
format	Preprint
id	arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2601_11434
institution	arXiv
publishDate	2026
record_format	arxiv
spellingShingle	FEAST: Probing Hierarchical Star Formation with the Spatial Distributions of Young Star Clusters Lapeer, Drew Calzetti, Daniela Grasha, Kathryn Adamo, Angela Elmegreen, Bruce G. Bik, Arjan Bortolini, Giacomo Buckner, Anne Cignoni, Michele Correntim, Matteo Elmegreen, Debra Meloy Vieira, H. Faustino Hamilton, Max Johnson, Kelsey Lai, Thomas S. -Y Linden, Sean T. Maji, Subhransu Messa, Matteo Östlin, Göran Pedrini, Alex Sabbi, E. Smith, Linda J. Astrophysics of Galaxies We apply the angular two-point correlation function (TPCF) to the spatial distribution of young star clusters (YSCs) in four nearby star forming galaxies (NGC 628, NGC 4449, M51, and M83) in order to investigate their underlying hierarchical structuring. Using newly constructed catalogs of YSCs in the emerging phase (eYSCs), identified in the infrared with JWST, and optical YSCs detected in archival HST data, we compute TPCFs for various cluster samples and age bins across the four galaxies as part of the FEAST (Feedback in Emerging extrAgalactic Star ClusTers) program. We find clear evidence of hierarchical structuring, especially in eYSCs and YSCs with ages < 10 Myr (referred to as oYSCs), which show similar TPCFs within each galaxy. NGC 628 exhibits a clear distinction between the TPCFs of eYSCs and oYSCs, implying a shorter randomization timescale. In contrast, clusters aged 10 to 300 Myr exhibit progressively more random spatial distributions, becoming effectively random after $\sim$ 100 Myr, consistent with earlier studies. The two-dimensional fractal index $D_2$ of the YSCs underlying distribution is calculated from model fits to TPCFs. Our values of $D_2$ derived from the youngest YSC populations align better with the expected value of $D_2 \sim $1.3 for a universal star formation process compared to previous findings.
title	FEAST: Probing Hierarchical Star Formation with the Spatial Distributions of Young Star Clusters
topic	Astrophysics of Galaxies
url	https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.11434