Impacts of bar-driven shear and shocks on star formation

TL;DR

This study investigates how bar-driven shocks and shear influence star formation in four barred galaxies by analyzing velocity gradients and ionization sources, revealing that strong shear inhibits star formation along the bars.

Contribution

The paper provides detailed observational evidence linking bar-driven shocks and shear to the suppression of star formation in barred galaxies, using high-resolution velocity gradient maps.

Findings

Velocity gradients are enhanced along bar dust lanes.

Star formation is inhibited in high velocity gradient regions.

Most inhibited regions are classified as LINER or composite.

Abstract

Bars drive gas inflow. As the gas flows inwards, shocks and shear occur along the bar dust lanes. Such shocks and shear can affect the star formation and change the gas properties. For four barred galaxies, we present H{\alpha} velocity gradient maps that highlight bar-driven shocks and shear using data from the PHANGS-MUSE and PHANGS-ALMA surveys which allow us to study bar kinematics in unprecedented detail. Velocity gradients are enhanced along the bar dust lanes, where shocks and shear are shown to occur in numerical simulations. Velocity gradient maps also efficiently pick up expanding shells around HII regions. We put pseudo slits on the regions where velocity gradients are enhanced and find that H{\alpha} and CO velocities jump up to ~170 km/s, even after removing the effects of circular motions due to the galaxy rotation. Enhanced velocity gradients either coincide with the peak of CO intensity along the bar dust lanes or are slightly offset from CO intensity peaks, depending on the objects. Using the BPT diagnostic, we identify the source of ionization on each spaxel and find that star formation is inhibited in the high velocity gradient regions of the bar, and the majority of those regions are classified as LINER or composite. This implies that star formation is inhibited where bar-driven shear and shocks are strong. Our results are consistent with the results from the numerical simulations that show star formation is inhibited in the bar where shear force is strong.