We present the results of a study of simulated Giant Molecular Clouds (GMCs)
formed in a Milky Way-type galactic disk with a flat rotation curve. This
simulation, which does not include star formation or feedback, produces clouds
with masses ranging between 10^4 Msun and 10^7 Msun. We compare our simulated
cloud population to two observational surveys; The Boston University- Five
College Radio Astronomy Observatory Galactic Ring Survey and the BIMA All-Disk
Survey of M33. An analysis of the global cloud properties as well as a
comparison of Larson's scaling relations is carried out. We find that simulated
cloud properties agree well with the observed cloud properties, with the
closest agreement occurring between the clouds at comparable resolution in M33.
Our clouds are highly filamentary - a property that derives both from their
formation due to gravitational instability in the sheared galactic environment,
as well as to cloud- cloud gravitational encounters. We also find that the rate
at which potentially star forming gas accumulates within dense regions -
wherein n_thresh > 10^4 cm^-3 - is 3% per 10 Myr, in clouds of roughly 10^6
Msun. This suggests that star formation rates in observed clouds are related to
the rates at which gas can be accumulated into dense subregions within GMCs via
filamentary flows. The most internally well-resolved clouds are chosen for
listing in a catalogue of simulated GMCs; the first of its kind. The catalogued
clouds are available as an extracted data set from the global simulation.
Description
[1308.0339] Giant Molecular Cloud Formation in Disk Galaxies: Characterizing Simulated versus Observed Cloud Catalogues
%0 Generic
%1 benincasa2013giant
%A Benincasa, Samantha M.
%A Tasker, Elizabeth J.
%A Pudritz, Ralph E.
%A Wadsley, James
%D 2013
%K cloud formation molecular
%T Giant Molecular Cloud Formation in Disk Galaxies: Characterizing
Simulated versus Observed Cloud Catalogues
%U http://arxiv.org/abs/1308.0339
%X We present the results of a study of simulated Giant Molecular Clouds (GMCs)
formed in a Milky Way-type galactic disk with a flat rotation curve. This
simulation, which does not include star formation or feedback, produces clouds
with masses ranging between 10^4 Msun and 10^7 Msun. We compare our simulated
cloud population to two observational surveys; The Boston University- Five
College Radio Astronomy Observatory Galactic Ring Survey and the BIMA All-Disk
Survey of M33. An analysis of the global cloud properties as well as a
comparison of Larson's scaling relations is carried out. We find that simulated
cloud properties agree well with the observed cloud properties, with the
closest agreement occurring between the clouds at comparable resolution in M33.
Our clouds are highly filamentary - a property that derives both from their
formation due to gravitational instability in the sheared galactic environment,
as well as to cloud- cloud gravitational encounters. We also find that the rate
at which potentially star forming gas accumulates within dense regions -
wherein n_thresh > 10^4 cm^-3 - is 3% per 10 Myr, in clouds of roughly 10^6
Msun. This suggests that star formation rates in observed clouds are related to
the rates at which gas can be accumulated into dense subregions within GMCs via
filamentary flows. The most internally well-resolved clouds are chosen for
listing in a catalogue of simulated GMCs; the first of its kind. The catalogued
clouds are available as an extracted data set from the global simulation.
@misc{benincasa2013giant,
abstract = {We present the results of a study of simulated Giant Molecular Clouds (GMCs)
formed in a Milky Way-type galactic disk with a flat rotation curve. This
simulation, which does not include star formation or feedback, produces clouds
with masses ranging between 10^4 Msun and 10^7 Msun. We compare our simulated
cloud population to two observational surveys; The Boston University- Five
College Radio Astronomy Observatory Galactic Ring Survey and the BIMA All-Disk
Survey of M33. An analysis of the global cloud properties as well as a
comparison of Larson's scaling relations is carried out. We find that simulated
cloud properties agree well with the observed cloud properties, with the
closest agreement occurring between the clouds at comparable resolution in M33.
Our clouds are highly filamentary - a property that derives both from their
formation due to gravitational instability in the sheared galactic environment,
as well as to cloud- cloud gravitational encounters. We also find that the rate
at which potentially star forming gas accumulates within dense regions -
wherein n_{thresh} > 10^4 cm^{-3} - is 3% per 10 Myr, in clouds of roughly 10^6
Msun. This suggests that star formation rates in observed clouds are related to
the rates at which gas can be accumulated into dense subregions within GMCs via
filamentary flows. The most internally well-resolved clouds are chosen for
listing in a catalogue of simulated GMCs; the first of its kind. The catalogued
clouds are available as an extracted data set from the global simulation.},
added-at = {2013-08-05T19:25:53.000+0200},
author = {Benincasa, Samantha M. and Tasker, Elizabeth J. and Pudritz, Ralph E. and Wadsley, James},
biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/296d3c837246d79db217b2de2e39d1bb1/miki},
description = {[1308.0339] Giant Molecular Cloud Formation in Disk Galaxies: Characterizing Simulated versus Observed Cloud Catalogues},
interhash = {e22d3979684da3ccb5a16c6c2d891a31},
intrahash = {96d3c837246d79db217b2de2e39d1bb1},
keywords = {cloud formation molecular},
note = {cite arxiv:1308.0339Comment: 13 pages, 11 figures, 1 table; Accepted for publication in ApJ},
timestamp = {2013-08-05T19:25:53.000+0200},
title = {Giant Molecular Cloud Formation in Disk Galaxies: Characterizing
Simulated versus Observed Cloud Catalogues},
url = {http://arxiv.org/abs/1308.0339},
year = 2013
}