The PHANGS-MUSE/HST-H

View at publisher
Authors: A. T. Barnes, R. Chandar, K. Kreckel, F. Belfiore, D. Pathak, D. Thilker, A. K. Leroy, B. Groves, S. C. O. Glover, R. McClain, A. Amiri, Z. Bazzi
+28 more M. Boquien, E. Congiu, D. A. Dale, O. V. Egorov, E. Emsellem, K. Grasha, J. Gonzalez Lobos, K. Henny, H. He, R. Indebetouw, J. C. Lee, J. Li, F.-H. Liang, K. Larson, D. Maschmann, S. E. Meidt, J. Eduardo Méndez-Delgado, J. Neumann, H.-A. Pan, M. Querejeta, E. Rosolowsky, S. K. Sarbadhicary, F. Scheuermann, L. Úbeda, T. G. Williams, T. D. Weinbeck, B. Whitmore, A. Wofford
Cited by: 0

Abstract

We present the PHANGS-MUSE/HST-Hα nebulae catalogue, comprising 5177 spatially resolved nebulae across 19 nearby star-forming galaxies (D < 20 Mpc), based on high-resolution Hα imaging from HST, homogenised to a fixed (10 pc) physical resolution and sensitivity. Combined with MUSE integral field spectroscopy, this enables robust classification of 4882 H II regions and the separation of planetary nebulae and supernova remnants. We derive electron densities for 2544 H II regions using [S II] diagnostics and adopt direct or representative electron temperatures for consistent physical characterisation. Nebular sizes are measured using circularised radii and intensity-weighted second moments, yielding a median radius of approximately 20 pc and extending down to (sub-)parsec (deconvolved) radii. A structural complexity score is introduced via hierarchical segmentation to trace substructure, highlighting that around a third of the regions are H II complexes containing several individual clusters and bubbles, with an increased fraction of these regions in galactic centres. A luminosity–size relation, calibrated using the resolved HST sample, is applied to 30 790 MUSE nebulae, allowing the recovery of nebular sizes down to ~1 pc and providing statistical completeness beyond the HST detection limit. Comparisons with classical Strömgren radii indicate that observed sizes are systematically larger, corresponding to typical volume filling factors with a median of ϵ ~ 0.22 (10th–90th percentile 0.06–0.78), with larger regions exhibiting progressively lower values. We associate 3349 H II regions with stellar populations from the PHANGS-HST association catalogue, finding median ages of ~3 Myr and typical stellar masses of around 104–105 M⊙, supporting the link between ionised nebular and young stellar populations. We also assess the impact of diffuse ionised gas on emission-line diagnostics and after removing confirmed supernova remnants, find no strong variation in line ratios with nebular resolution, indicating minimal systematic bias in the MUSE catalogue. This dataset establishes a detailed, spatially resolved connection between nebular structure and ionising sources, and provides a benchmark for future studies of feedback, DIG contributions, and star formation regulation in the ISM, especially in combination with matched high-resolution observations. The full catalogue is made publicly available in machine-readable format.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Galaxies: Formation Evolution Phenomena Astronomy and Astrophysical Research Stellar planetary and galactic studies

Publication details

Journal / source
Springer Link (Chiba Institute of Technology)
Publication date
3 February 2026
Language
EN