Seminar: Resolving the extragalactic ISM with HST extinction: impact of environment

To understand whether star formation is solely dependent on the local conditions of the interstellar medium (ISM), or if it is also affected by the large-scale galactic dynamics, we must probe the small physical scales of star-forming clouds as well as the wider galactic context.

I present my work on studying the resolved properties of the ISM by exploiting the high-resolution data from HST in nearby spiral galaxies to its full potential. I will showcase how, with a novel technique to derive dust extinction using optical HST data, we can retrieve maps of the dust (and gas) content across entire galaxies at unprecedented resolution. For our sample of nearby galaxies, we achieve cloud-scale resolution (<10 pc) over several kiloparsecs, which allows us to study the extragalactic ISM with a level of detail typically only achieved with Galactic studies. We find changes in ISM properties depending on galactic environments and dynamics, with galactic centers showing higher surface densities than the discs whereas arm/inter-arm differences are more subtle. I will also discuss my ongoing work at Stockholm University into understanding the role of early stellar feedback in this star formation cycle.

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We shall leave for lunch at around 12:15. There will be fika after the seminar.