EPoS Contribution
EPoS Contribution
Large-scale mapping of Star Formation Rate and Efficiency in the Milky Way

Sergio Molinari
INAF-IAPS, Rome, IT
We present the first results for the global mapping of the Star Formation Rate in the Milky Way from the Herschel Hi-GAL survey. Using a first sample of more than 60,000 compact clumps detected in Hi-GAL and for which a distance could be estimated, we derive the first Milky Way face-on map of the SFR; the figure shows the snapshot for the inner Galaxy, while the complete picture including the 2nd and 3rd quadrants is being derived. Herschel-based SFR density estimates are compared to similar but complementary derivations obtained in most recent years by Spitzer and other surveys. We compare the Galactic spatial density of clumps in different evolutionary stages to infer indications regarding the role of the spiral arms in assembling dense and star-forming ISM structures and/or causing higher rates of star formation compared to inter-arm regions.
Caption: Preliminary Milky Way map of the Star Formation Rate obtained from Hi-GAL. Intensity corresponds to log(SFR) ranging from 3x10-5 (the faint blue) to 0.04 Msun/yr/kpc-2 (yellow). The map averages data into 200-pc boxes, with SFR estimated using the prescription from Veneziani et al. (2014, A&A subm). Green lines show proposed locations of major spiral arms according to Drimmel & Spergel (2001). The (0,0) position corresponds to the Galactic center.
Collaborators:
D. Elia, INAF-IAPS, Italy
A. Noriega-Crespo, STSci, USA
L. Testi, ESO, Germany
R. Plume, U Calgary, Canada
T. Moore, John Moores U, UK
J. Bally, U Colorado, USA
Suggested Session: Molecular Clouds