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Star formation in normal galaxies

  • Infrared Galaxies
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Comets to Cosmology

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Physics ((LNP,volume 297))

Abstract

The formation of giant cloud complexes in galaxies is discussed. Spiral galaxies without density waves have approximately the same star formation rates and CO abundances as the average for galaxies with waves. This implies that the primary effect of the wave is to organize the existing molecular clouds into a global spiral pattern. A secondary effect of the wave is to trigger the formation of more molecular clouds and stars, but this triggering may be limited to only the strongest waves, as in M51. Strong waves apparently trigger more cloud formation than weak waves because the gas in a strong wave has time to dissipate and collapse gravitationally before it leaves the spiral arms. Strong waves should also have molecular shock fronts (dust lanes), unlike weak waves.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center, P.O. Box 218, 10598, Yorktown Heights, N.Y., USA

    Bruce G. Elmegreen

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  1. Bruce G. Elmegreen
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Andrew Lawrence

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© 1988 Springer-Verlag

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Elmegreen, B.G. (1988). Star formation in normal galaxies. In: Lawrence, A. (eds) Comets to Cosmology. Lecture Notes in Physics, vol 297. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/BFb0118807

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BFb0118807

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-19052-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-39067-1

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