The Observatories of the Carnegie Institution for Science
Stellar streams are sensitive tracers of low-mass dark matter subhalos and provide a means to test the Cold Dark Matter (CDM) paradigm on small scales. In this work, we connect the intrinsic velocity dispersion of the GD-1 stream to the number density and internal structure of dark matter subhalos in the mass range 10510^5-109 M10^9\ M_\odot. We measure the radial velocity dispersion of GD-1 based on 160 identified member stars across four different spectroscopic catalogs. We use repeat observations of the same stars to constrain binarity. We find that the stream's intrinsic radial velocity dispersion ranges from approximately 2-5 km/s across its length. The region of GD-1 with the highest velocity dispersion represents a 4σ4\sigma deviation from unperturbed stream models formed in a smooth Milky Way potential, which are substantially colder. We use perturbation theory to model the stream's velocity dispersion as a function of dark matter subhalo population parameters, including the number of low-mass subhalos in the Milky Way, the dark matter half-mode mass, and the mass-concentration relation of subhalos. We find that the observed velocity dispersion can be explained by numerous impacts with low-mass dark matter subhalos, or by a single impact with a very compact subhalo with M108 MM \gtrsim 10^8\ M_\odot. Our constraint on the fraction of mass in subhalos is fsub=0.050.03+0.08f_{\mathrm{sub}} = 0.05^{+0.08}_{-0.03} (68\% confidence). In both scenarios, our model prefers subhalos that are more compact compared to CDM mass-size expectations. These results suggest a possible deviation from CDM at low subhalo masses, which may be accounted for by dark matter self-interactions that predict higher concentrations in lower-mass subhalos.
Ultra-short period (USP) exoplanets -- with Rp2 R_p \leq 2~R_{\oplus} and periods \leq1 day -- are expected to be stripped of volatile atmospheres by intense host star irradiation, which is corroborated by their nominal bulk densities and previous eclipse observations consistent with bare rock surfaces. However, a few USP planets appear anomalously under-dense relative to an Earth-like composition, suggesting an exotic interior structure (e.g., core-less) or a volatile-rich secondary atmosphere increasing their apparent radius. Here we present the first dayside emission spectrum of the low density (4.3±\pm0.4 g~cm3^{-3}) ultra-short period planet TOI-561 b, which orbits an iron-poor, alpha-rich, \sim10 Gyr old thick disk star. Our 3-5 μ\mum JWST/NIRSpec observations demonstrate the dayside of TOI-561 b is inconsistent with a bare-rock surface at high statistical significance, suggesting instead a thick volatile envelope that is cooling the dayside to well below the \sim3000 K expected in the bare rock or thin atmosphere case. These results reject the popular hypothesis of complete atmospheric desiccation for highly irradiated exoplanets and support predictions that planetary-scale magma oceans can retain substantial reservoirs of volatiles, opening the geophysical study of ultra-hot super-Earths through the lens of their atmospheres.
The positions and velocities of stellar streams have been used to constrain the mass and shape of the Milky Way's dark matter halo. Several extragalactic streams have already been detected, though it has remained unclear what can be inferred about the gravitational potential from only 2D photometric data of a stream. We present a fast method to infer halo shapes from the curvature of 2D projected stream tracks. We show that the stream curvature vector must point within 90 deg of the projected acceleration vector, in the absence of recent time-dependent perturbations. While insensitive to the total magnitude of the acceleration, and therefore the total mass, applying this constraint along a stream can determine halo shape parameters and place limits on disk-to-halo mass ratios. The most informative streams are those with sharp turns or flat segments, since these streams sample a wide range of curvature vectors over a small area (sharp turns) or have a vanishing projected acceleration component (flat segments). We apply our method to low surface brightness imaging of NGC 5907, and find that its dark matter halo is oblate. Our analytic approach is significantly faster than other stream modeling techniques, and indicates what parts of a stream contribute to constraints on the potential. The method enables a measurement of dark matter halo shapes for thousands of systems using stellar stream detections expected from upcoming facilities like Rubin and Roman.
Thin stellar streams originating from globular clusters are among the most sensitive tracers of low-mass dark-matter subhalos. Joint analysis of the entire population of stellar streams will place the most robust constraints on the dark-matter subhalo mass function, and therefore the nature of dark matter. Here we use a hierarchical model of globular cluster formation to forecast the total number, masses and radial distribution of dissolved globular cluster in Milky Way-like galaxies. Furthermore, we generate mock stellar streams from these progenitors' orbital histories taking into account the clusters' formation and accretion time, mass, and metallicity. Out of \sim10,000 clusters more massive than 10410^4 M_{\odot}, \sim9000 dissolved in the central bulge and are fully phase-mixed at the present, while the remaining \sim1000 survive as coherent stellar streams. This suggests that the current census of \sim80 globular cluster streams in the Milky Way is severely incomplete. Beyond 15 kpc from the Galactic center we are missing hundreds of streams, of which the vast majority are from accreted GCs. Deep Rubin photometry (g27.5)(g\lesssim27.5) would be able to detect these streams, even the most distant ones beyond >75> 75 kpc. We also find that M31 will have an abundance of streams at galactocentric radii of 30-100 kpc. We conclude that future surveys will find a multitude of stellar streams from globular clusters which can be used for dark matter subhalo searches.
Robertson and Benson developed an accelerated calibration framework for semi-analytic galaxy formation models like Galacticus, enabling efficient MCMC-based parameter inference by targeting the stellar-to-halo mass relation at a few specific halo masses. The approach reproduces the low-redshift stellar mass function but reveals tensions when extended to higher redshifts and stellar mass-size relations, indicating areas for model refinement.
The background light produced by emission from all sources over cosmic history is a powerful diagnostic of structure formation and evolution. At near-infrared wavelengths, this extragalactic background light (EBL) is comprised of emission from galaxies stretching all the way back to the first-light objects present during the Epoch of Reionization. The Cosmic Infrared Background Experiment 2 (CIBER-2) is a sounding-rocket experiment designed to measure both the absolute photometric brightness of the EBL over 0.5 - 2.0 microns and perform an intensity mapping measurement of EBL spatial fluctuations in six broad bands over the same wavelength range. CIBER-2 comprises a 28.5 cm, 80K telescope that images several square degrees to three separate cameras. Each camera is equipped with an HAWAII-2RG detector covered by an assembly that combines two broadband filters and a linear-variable filter, which perform the intensity mapping and absolute photometric measurements, respectively. CIBER-2 has flown three times: an engineering flight in 2021; a terminated launch in 2023; and a successful science flight in 2024. In this paper, we review the science case for the experiment; describe the factors motivating the instrument design; review the optical, mechanical, and electronic implementation of the instrument; present preflight laboratory characterization measurements; and finally assess the instrument's performance in flight.
The hierarchical model of galaxy formation predicts that the Milky Way halo is populated by tidal debris of dwarf galaxies and globular clusters. Due to long dynamical times, debris from the lowest mass objects remains coherent as thin and dynamically cold stellar streams for billions of years. The Gaia mission, providing astrometry and spectrophotometry for billions of stars, has brought three fundamental changes to our view of stellar streams in the Milky Way. First, more than a hundred stellar streams have been discovered and characterized using Gaia data. This is an order of magnitude increase in the number of known streams, thanks to Gaia's capacity for identifying comoving groups of stars among the field Milky Way population. Second, Gaia data have revealed that density variations both along and across stellar streams are common. Dark-matter subhalos, as well as baryonic structures were theoretically predicted to form such features, but observational evidence for density variations was uncertain before Gaia. Third, stream kinematics are now widely available and have constrained the streams' orbits and origins. Gaia has not only provided proper motions directly, but also enabled efficient spectroscopic follow-up of the proper-motion selected targets. These discoveries have established stellar streams as a dense web of sensitive gravitational tracers in the Milky Way halo. We expect the coming decade to bring a full mapping of the Galactic population of stellar streams, as well as develop numerical models that accurately capture their evolution within the Milky Way for a variety of cosmological models. Perhaps most excitingly, the comparison between the two will be able to reveal the presence of dark-matter subhalos below the threshold for galaxy formation (~10^6 Msun), and provide the most stringent test of the cold dark matter paradigm on small scales.
We present optical + near-infrared (NIR) + mid-infrared (MIR) observations of the normal Type Ia supernovae (SN Ia) 2022aaiq and 2024gy in the nebular phase, continuously spanning 0.35-28 microns. Medium-resolution JWST spectroscopy reveals novel narrow (v_{\mathrm{FWHM}}<1500 km s1^{-1}) [Ni II] 1.94 and 6.64 micron cores in both events. The MIR [Ni II] 6.64 micron line exhibits a distinct narrow core atop a broader base, indicating a central enhancement of stable Ni. This structure points to high central densities consistent with a near-Chandrasekhar-mass (MChM_{Ch}) progenitor or a high-metallicity sub-MChM_{Ch} progenitor. From detailed line-profile inversions of SN 2024gy, we derive emissivity profiles for stable iron-group elements (IGEs), radioactive material, and intermediate-mass elements (IMEs), revealing spatially distinct ejecta zones. The [Ni III] 7.35 micron line shows a shallow-to-steep slope transition -- a "broken-slope" morphology -- that matches predictions for delayed detonation explosions with separated deflagration and detonation ashes. We also reanalyze and compare to archival JWST spectra of SN 2021aefx and the subluminous SN 2022xkq. We estimate a stable 58^{58}Ni mass of 0.1\sim0.1 M_\odot for SN 2024gy, consistent with delayed detonation models, and 0.01\sim0.01 M_\odot for SN 2022xkq, favoring sub-MChM_{Ch} scenarios. These results demonstrate that resolved line profiles, now accessible with JWST, provide powerful diagnostics of explosion geometry, central density, and progenitor mass in SN Ia.
The role of interactions and mergers in the rapid quenching of massive galaxies in the early Universe remains uncertain, largely due to the difficulty of directly linking mergers to quenching. Collisional ring galaxies provide a unique opportunity, as their morphology allows precise dating of the interaction, which can then be compared to quenching timescales inferred from star formation histories. We study a gravitationally bound system at z=1.61z=1.61 in the UDS field, composed of a Host galaxy (M=1011.4MM_\star = 10^{11.4} M_\odot) with a collisional ring and an X-ray AGN, and the Bullet galaxy (M=1011.2MM_\star = 10^{11.2} M_\odot), located at a projected distance of 8\sim 8 kpc. Combining JWST and HST imaging with Keck/MOSFIRE spectroscopy, we find compelling evidence for an ongoing starburst in the Host concurrent with rapid quenching in the Bullet. The ring, 20\sim 20 kpc in diameter, is expanding at 12729+72127^{+72}_{-29} km s1^{-1}, implying the galaxies first collided 47--96 Myr ago. This timeline is consistent with the Host's current starburst and the Bullet's sudden quenching, strongly suggesting both phenomena were triggered by the interaction. Crucially, the Bullet shows no evidence of a preceding starburst, ruling out rapid gas consumption as the primary quenching channel. Instead, we suggest that merger-driven processes -- such as enhanced turbulence and disk instabilities -- may have suppressed star formation. An additional possibility, which we term the ``Dragon Effect,'' is that AGN-driven outflows from the Host disrupted the Bullet's low-density molecular gas, thereby preventing efficient star formation and accelerating quenching.
We present detections of auroral emission lines of [OIII], [OII], [SIII], and [SII] in deep JWST/NIRSpec spectroscopy for 41 star-forming galaxies at z=1.47.2z=1.4-7.2 from the AURORA survey. We combine these new observations with 98 star-forming galaxies at z=1.310.6z=1.3-10.6 with detected auroral lines drawn from the literature to form a sample of 139 high-redshift galaxies with robust electron temperature and direct-method oxygen abundance determinations. This sample notably covers a wider dynamic range in metallicity than previous work, spanning 0.020.90.02-0.9~Z_\odot. We calibrate empirical relations between 19 emission-line ratios and oxygen abundance, providing a robust tool set to infer accurate gas-phase metallicities of high-redshift galaxies when auroral lines are not detected. While calibrations based on lines of α\alpha elements (O, Ne, S, Ar) appear reliable, we find significant scatter in calibrations involving lines of N driven by a high dispersion in N/O at fixed O/H, suggesting that N-based line ratios are less reliable tracers of the oxygen abundance at high redshift. These new high-redshift calibrations are notably offset from those based on typical z0z\sim0 galaxy and HII region samples, and are better matched by samples of extreme local galaxies that are analogs of high-redshift sources. The new metallicity calibrations presented in this work pave the way for robust studies of galaxy chemical evolution in the early Universe, leading to a better understanding of baryon cycling and galaxy formation from Cosmic Noon through the Epoch of Reionization.
We present an overview of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES), an ambitious program of infrared imaging and spectroscopy in the GOODS-S and GOODS-N deep fields, designed to study galaxy evolution from high redshift to cosmic noon. JADES uses about 770 hours of Cycle 1 guaranteed time largely from the Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) and Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) instrument teams. In GOODS-S, in and around the Hubble Ultra Deep Field and Chandra Deep Field South, JADES produces a deep imaging region of ~45 arcmin2^2 with an average of 130 hrs of exposure time spread over 9 NIRCam filters. This is extended at medium depth in GOODS-S and GOODS-N with NIRCam imaging of ~175 arcmin2^2 with an average exposure time of 20 hrs spread over 8-10 filters. In both fields, we conduct extensive NIRSpec multi-object spectroscopy, including 2 deep pointings of 55 hrs exposure time, 14 medium pointings of ~12 hrs, and 15 shallower pointings of ~4 hrs, targeting over 5000 HST and JWST-detected faint sources with 5 low, medium, and high-resolution dispersers covering 0.6-5.3 microns. Finally, JADES extends redward via coordinated parallels with the JWST Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI), featuring ~9 arcmin2^2 with 43 hours of exposure at 7.7 microns and twice that area with 2-6.5 hours of exposure at 12.8 microns For nearly 30 years, the GOODS-S and GOODS-N fields have been developed as the premier deep fields on the sky; JADES is now providing a compelling start on the JWST legacy in these fields.
We investigate the environmental dependence of galaxy properties at z2.5z\sim2.5 using the Lyα\alpha Tomography IMACS Survey (LATIS), which provides high-resolution three-dimensional maps of intergalactic medium (IGM) overdensity via Lyα\alpha forest tomography. Our analysis focuses on a UV-selected spectroscopic sample of 2185 galaxies from LATIS and a complementary set of 1157 galaxies from heterogeneous spectroscopic surveys in the COSMOS field. We compare these datasets to forward-modeled mock catalogs constructed from the IllustrisTNG300-1 simulation, incorporating realistic selection functions to match both LATIS and the literature sample. While the mass-complete simulation predicts strong environmental trends--more massive and quiescent galaxies preferentially occupy overdense regions--we find that such trends are significantly weaker or absent in the observed samples. The LATIS galaxies show no measurable correlation between specific star formation rate (sSFR) and IGM overdensity, a result reproduced by LATIS-like mock catalogs, confirming that UV selection systematically excludes passive and dusty galaxies in dense environments. The literature compilation, despite improved high-mass coverage, remains incomplete and affected by similar biases. We also analyze a mass-complete photometric sample from the COSMOS-Web catalog at z2.5z\sim2.5 and find no detectable sSFR-environment relation, a null result that our simulations indicate can be explained by photometric redshift uncertainties. In particular, we find no evidence for a reversal of the sSFR-density relation at cosmic noon. These results demonstrate that observed correlations can be heavily shaped by selection effects, and caution against inferring physical trends from incomplete spectroscopic samples. Deeper, more representative spectroscopic surveys are needed to robustly characterize environmental effects at this epoch.
Recent observations of the stellar halo have uncovered the debris of an ancient merger, Gaia-Sausage-Enceladus, estimated to have occurred ~8 Gyr ago. Follow-up studies have associated GSE with a large-scale tilt in the stellar halo that links two well-known stellar over-densities in diagonally opposing octants of the Galaxy (the Hercules-Aquila Cloud and Virgo Overdensity; HAC and VOD). In this paper, we study the plausibility of such unmixed merger debris persisting over several Gyr in the Galactic halo. We employ the simulated stellar halo from Naidu et al. (2021), which reproduces several key properties of the merger remnant, including the large-scale tilt. By integrating the orbits of these simulated stellar halo particles, we show that adoption of a spherical halo potential results in rapid phase mixing of the asymmetry. However, adopting a tilted halo potential preserves the initial asymmetry in the stellar halo for many Gyr. The asymmetry is preserved even when a realistic growing disk is added to the potential. These results suggest that HAC and VOD are long-lived structures that are associated with GSE and that the dark matter halo of the Galaxy is tilted with respect to the disk and aligned in the direction of HAC-VOD. Such halo-disk misalignment is common in modern cosmological simulations. Lastly, we study the relationship between the local and global stellar halo in light of a tilted global halo comprised of highly radial orbits. We find that the local halo offers a dynamically biased view of the global halo due to its displacement from the Galactic Center.
In dwarf galaxy models, outflows expel metal-enriched interstellar medium (ISM) into the circumgalactic medium (CGM) to reproduce their observed low metallicities, but measurements of dwarf CGM properties are scarce. We present a study of the CGM of an isolated dwarf at z=0.5723z=0.5723 with a stellar mass of 5×107M\approx5\times10^7\rm\,M_{\odot} and star-formation rate (0.05Myr1\approx0.05\,\rm M_\odot\,yr^{-1}) and ISM metallicity ([O/H]0.9\rm [O/H]\approx-0.9) consistent with the star-forming main sequence and mass-metallicity relation. A background quasar sightline with archival UV spectra probes the dwarf's CGM at a projected distance of 28 kpc, corresponding to approximately half of the estimated virial radius. The dwarf's CGM is detected in H I, intermediate metal ions of C III, O III, and O IV, and kinematically broader, highly-ionized O VI, but is undetected in N IV and Ne VIII. Photoionization modeling of the intermediate ions indicates a modest volume-filling factor (6%\sim 6\% along the sightline or 2%\sim 2\% globally), and a mass of 2×108M\sim2\times10^8 {\rm\,M_\odot}, 4×\sim4\times higher than the dwarf's stellar mass, but 10×\sim10\times less than the highly ionized CGM. The O VI kinematics are comparable to the dwarf's estimated virial velocity, suggesting it is likely associated with cool, photoionized, and volume-filling CGM, with bulk motion or turbulence dominating over thermal pressure. The metallicity inferred for the intermediate ions is [O/H]=0.6\rm [O/H]=-0.6, but with low relative abundances of [C/O]=0.6\rm [C/O]=-0.6 and \rm [N/O]<-0.9. The [N/O] is below levels expected of the dwarf's ISM, but consistent with core-collapse supernova ejecta, suggesting that supernova-enriched gas escaped the dwarf without mixing significantly with ISM enriched in nitrogen from evolved, low-mass stars.
Time-variable propagation effects provide a window into the local plasma environments of repeating fast radio burst (FRB) sources. Here we report high-cadence observations of FRB 20240619D, as part of the HyperFlash and ÉCLAT programs. We observed for 500500h and detected 217217 bursts, including 1010 bursts with high fluence (>25>25 Jy ms) and implied energy. We track burst-to-burst variations in dispersion measure (DM) and rotation measure (RM), from which we constrain the parallel magnetic field strength in the source's local environment: 0.32±0.190.32\pm0.19 mG. Apparent DM variations between sub-bursts in a single bright event are interpreted as coming from plasma lensing or variable emission height. We also identify two distinct scintillation screens along the line of sight, one associated with the Milky Way and the other likely located in the FRB's host galaxy or local environment. Together, these (time-variable) propagation effects reveal that FRB 20240619D is embedded in a dense, turbulent and highly magnetised plasma. The source's environment is more dynamic than that measured for many other (repeating) FRB sources, but less extreme compared to several repeaters that are associated with a compact, persistent radio source. FRB 20240619D's cumulative burst fluence distribution shows a power-law break, with a flat tail at high energies. Along with previous studies, this emphasises a common feature in the burst energy distribution of hyperactive repeaters. Using the break in the burst fluence distribution, we estimate a source redshift of z=0.042z=0.042-0.2400.240. We discuss FRB 20240619D's nature in the context of similar studies of other repeating FRBs.
We report statistically significant detection of H I 21-cm emission from intermediate-redshift (z0.2z\approx0.2-0.6) galaxies. By leveraging multi-sightline galaxy survey data from the Cosmic Ultraviolet Baryon Survey (CUBS) and deep radio observations from the MeerKAT Absorption Line Survey (MALS), we have established a sample of 6000\approx6000 spectroscopically identified galaxies in 11 distinct fields to constrain the neutral gas content at intermediate redshifts. The galaxies sample a broad range in stellar mass -- 8\lesssim\log{M_\rm{star}/\rm{M}_\odot}\lesssim11 with a median of \langle\log{M_\rm{star}/\rm{M}_\odot}\rangle_\rm{med}\approx10 -- and a wide range in redshift -- 0.24z0.630.24\lesssim z\lesssim0.63 with a median of \langle z\rangle_\rm{med}=0.44. Our detected emission-line signal exceeds 4σ4\,\sigma significance in the stacked spectra of all subsamples, and the observed total H I 21-cm line flux translates to a H I mass M_\rm{H\;I}\approx10^{10}\rm{M}_\odot. We find a high H I-to-stellar mass ratio of M_\mathrm{H\;I}/M_\rm{star}\approx6 for low-mass galaxies with \langle\log{M_\rm{star}/\rm{M}_\odot}\rangle \approx9.3 (>3.7σ>3.7\,\sigma). For galaxies with \langle\log{M_\rm{star}/\rm{M}_\odot}\rangle\approx10.6, we find M_\mathrm{H\;I}/M_\rm{star}\approx0.3 (>4.7σ>4.7\,\sigma). Additionally, the redshift evolution of H I mass in both low- and high-mass field galaxies, inferred from the stacked emission-line signal, aligns well with the expectation from the cosmic star formation history. This suggests that the overall decline in the cosmic star formation activity across the general galaxy population may be connected to a decreasing supply of neutral hydrogen. Finally, our analysis has revealed significant 21-cm signals at distances greater than 75 kpc from these intermediate-redshift galaxies, indicating a substantial reservoir of H I gas in their extended surroundings.
We present brutus, an open source Python package for quickly deriving stellar properties, distances, and reddenings to stars based on grids of stellar models constrained by photometric and astrometric data. We outline the statistical framework for deriving these quantities, its implementation, and various Galactic priors over the 3-D distribution of stars, stellar properties, and dust extinction (including RVR_V variation). We establish a procedure to empirically calibrate MIST v1.2 isochrones by using open clusters to derive corrections to the effective temperatures and radii of the isochrones, which reduces systematic errors on the lower main sequence. We also describe and apply a method to estimate photometric offsets between stellar models and observed data using nearby, low-reddening field stars. We perform a series of tests on mock and real data to examine parameter recovery with MIST under different modeling assumptions, illustrating that brutus is able to recover distances and other stellar properties using optical to near-infrared photometry and astrometry. The code is publicly available at this https URL
The centers of massive elliptical galaxies exhibit a wide range in density profiles, from central cusps to resolved cores with order kiloparsec sizes. The cored ellipticals have been linked to the presence of supermassive black hole binaries that excavate their hosts' central stellar populations through three-body encounters. This connection between cores and black holes similarly operates in globular clusters, which also exhibit a bimodality in cored and core-collapsed architectures, respectively rich and depleted in stellar black holes. We report new estimates of the total black hole mass in 25 Galactic globular clusters based on a suite of roughly 150 Monte Carlo NN-body simulations that fit observed surface brightness and velocity dispersion profiles. We show that both globular clusters and massive elliptical galaxies individually exhibit strong correlations between total black hole mass (MM_\bullet) and core radius (rcr_c), and that these individual relations share a common power-law exponent to within 1σ1\sigma statistical precision: Mrc1.3M_\bullet \sim r_c^{1.3}. The individual relations appear to be offset, suggesting swarms of stellar black holes scour globular cluster cores more efficiently than lone supermassive black holes scour the cores of massive ellipticals. Yet the shared basis of core scouring via black hole binaries hints at a unified MrcM_{\bullet}-r_c connection across over 10 orders of magnitude in MM_\bullet. Our findings imply core radius measurements may offer a powerful observational constraint on black hole merger rates, from kilohertz sources detectable by LIGO/Virgo/KAGRA formed in globular clusters to millihertz and nanohertz sources formed in massive elliptical galaxies.
We estimate the star formation efficiency per gravitational free fall time, ϵff\epsilon_{\rm ff}, from observations of nearby galaxies with resolution matched to the typical size of a Giant Molecular Cloud. This quantity, ϵff\epsilon_{\rm ff}, is theoretically important but so far has only been measured for Milky Way clouds or inferred indirectly in a few other galaxies. Using new, high resolution CO imaging from the PHANGS-ALMA survey, we estimate the gravitational free-fall time at 60 to 120 pc resolution, and contrast this with the local molecular gas depletion time to estimate ϵff\epsilon_{\rm ff}. Assuming a constant thickness of the molecular gas layer (H=100H = 100 pc) across the whole sample, the median value of ϵff\epsilon_{\rm ff} in our sample is 0.7%0.7\%. We find a mild scale-dependence, with higher ϵff\epsilon_{\rm ff} measured at coarser resolution. Individual galaxies show different values of ϵff\epsilon_{\rm ff}, with the median ϵff\epsilon_{\rm ff} ranging from 0.3%0.3\% to 2.6%2.6\%. We find the highest ϵff\epsilon_{\rm ff} in our lowest mass targets, reflecting both long free-fall times and short depletion times, though we caution that both measurements are subject to biases in low mass galaxies. We estimate the key systematic uncertainties, and show the dominant uncertainty to be the estimated line-of-sight depth through the molecular gas layer and the choice of star formation tracers.
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