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PHANGS aims to understand the interplay of the small-scale physics of gas and star formation with galactic structure and galaxy evolution. Using high spatial resolution observations we can investigate how physics at or near the cloud-scale are affected by galaxy-scale conditions, how they affect still smaller scale processes, and how these influence the evolution of whole galaxies. In this talk, I will present the early science results from the PHANGS-MUSE programme. By mosaicking across entire galaxies at high angular resolution (1"=50pc) we are able to resolve thousands of individual HII regions and measure properties such as flux, line ratios, and metallicity for each of them. This allows us to examine, in unprecedented detail, how stars are formed in different galaxy environments using a statistical sample. We then combine this MUSE data with ALMA data at a matched resolution, meaning we can trace the relative distribution and evolution of the gas properties of these galaxies in multiple phases. This gives us insight into how star formation fuelling is connected to specific galactic environments and how nuclear activity, even at low luminosity, can affect the ISM. |
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