Characterising superbubbles in nearby galaxies using ALMA and JWST observations

Elizabeth Watkins

Tuesday, Dec. 6th, 10:15CET

Bubbles allow us to chart the interaction between stellar feedback and the interstellar medium and the larger galactic flows needed to regulate star formation processes globally. The first JWST observations of nearby galaxies have unveiled a rich population of bubbles that trace the stellar feedback mechanisms responsible for their creation. In this talk, we present the first high resolution (12 pc) catalogue of bubbles in NGC628 visually identified using MIRI F770W PHANGS–JWST observations and use them to statistically evaluate bubble characteristics. We find 1694 bubbles in NGC628 using JWST with radii between 6–550 pc. Of these, 31% contain at least one smaller bubble at their edge, indicating that previous generations of star formation have a local impact on where new stars form. We also present a large catalogue 325 molecular superbubbles at lower resolution (100 pc) across 18 galaxies identified using PHANGS–ALMA 12CO (2–1). Using 88 of these, which have clear superbubble signatures (unbroken shells, central clusters etc), we use the additional kinematic information available to constrain the feedback processes (supernova and pre-supernova ) needed to drive them.