Seminaire LAM sur HWO: Janice Lee

Decoding Galaxies & Star Formation Feedback with 100,000 Star Clusters: PHANGS-HST & JWST today, the future with HWO

The PHANGS-HST and JWST Treasury Programs have produced the most extensive inventories to date of optically visible and dust-obscured star clusters across nearby galaxies.  A coherent picture is emerging of the earliest phases of star formation, built from complementary studies that consistently point to short dust-clearing timescales (~3 Myr). Together, these results underscore the central role of early, pre-supernova feedback in regulating the star formation cycle.  Drawing on the statistical power of tens of thousands of clusters spanning dozens of galaxies, I will synthesize what PHANGS and related programs have revealed about cluster evolution and feedback, and discuss the use of clusters as “clocks” for timing key phases of star formation and ISM evolution. I will also present preliminary results from forward modeling of cluster populations to constrain their formation and evolution, and introduce the concept of an “Age Ladder” to calibrate and test star cluster ages derived from unresolved photometry.

Looking ahead, I will highlight development activities for NASA’s Habitable Worlds Observatory, which will operate as a true “Super-Hubble,” with UV–optical capabilities to transform our understanding of star formation and fields across astrophysics.