The PHANGS-MUSE survey

Probing the chemo-dynamical evolution of disc galaxies

¹ European Southern Observatory, Karl-Schwarzschild-Straße 2, 85748 Garching, Germany
² Univ Lyon, Univ Lyon1, ENS de Lyon, CNRS, Centre de Recherche Astrophysique de Lyon UMR5574, 69230 Saint-Genis-Laval, France
e-mail: eric.emsellem@eso.org
³ Max-Planck-Institute for Astronomy, Königstuhl 17, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany
⁴ INAF – Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri, Largo E. Fermi 5, 50125 Florence, Italy
⁵ Sydney Institute for Astronomy, School of Physics, Physics Road, The University of Sydney, Darlington, 2006 NSW, Australia
⁶ Departamento de Astronomía, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
⁷ Observatories of the Carnegie Institution for Science, Pasadena, CA, USA
⁸ International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research University of Western Australia, 7 Fairway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia
⁹ Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2611, Australia
¹⁰ Astronomisches Rechen-Institut, Zentrum für Astronomie der Universität Heidelberg, Mönchhofstraße 12-14, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
¹¹ Gemini Observatory/NSF’s NOIRLab, 950 N. Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA
¹² Departamento de Física de la Tierra y Astrofísica, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain
¹³ Sternberg Astronomical Institute, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Universitetsky pr. 13, 119234 Moscow, Russia
¹⁴ Universität Heidelberg, Zentrum für Astronomie, Institut für theoretische Astrophysik, Albert-Ueberle-Straße 2, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
¹⁵ Universität Heidelberg, Interdisziplinäres Zentrum für Wissenschaftliches Rechnen, Im Neuenheimer Feld 205, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
¹⁶ Department of Astronomy, The Ohio State University, 140 West 18th Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
¹⁷ Sterrenkundig Observatorium, Universiteit Gent, Krijgslaan 281 S9, 9000 Gent, Belgium
¹⁸ Observatorio Astronómico Nacional (IGN), C/Alfonso XII, 3, 28014 Madrid, Spain
¹⁹ Department of Physics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E1, Canada
²⁰ Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA
²¹ Argelander-Institut für Astronomie, Universität Bonn, Auf dem Hügel 71, 53121 Bonn, Germany
²² Centro de Astronomía (CITEVA), Universidad de Antofagasta, Avenida Angamos 601, Antofagasta, Chile
²³ Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, CNES, LAM (Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Marseille), 13388 Marseille, France
²⁴ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071, USA
²⁵ Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2611, Australia
²⁶ Université de Toulouse, UPS-OMP, IRAP, 31028 Toulouse cedex 4, France
²⁷ Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
²⁸ Max-Planck-Institute for extraterrestrial Physics, Giessenbachstraße 1, 85748 Garching, Germany
²⁹ Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM), 300 Rue de la Piscine, 38406 Saint Martin d’Hères, France
³⁰ LERMA, Observatoire de Paris, PSL Research University, CNRS, Sorbonne Universités, 75014 Paris, France
³¹ Center for Astrophysics and Space Sciences, Department of Physics, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Dr., La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
³² Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA

Received: 6 July 2021
Accepted: 30 November 2021

Abstract

We present the PHANGS-MUSE survey, a programme that uses the MUSE integral field spectrograph at the ESO VLT to map 19 massive (9.4 <  log(M_⋆/M_⊙)< 11.0) nearby (D ≲ 20 Mpc) star-forming disc galaxies. The survey consists of 168 MUSE pointings (1′ by 1′ each) and a total of nearly 15 × 10⁶ spectra, covering ∼1.5 × 10⁶ independent spectra. PHANGS-MUSE provides the first integral field spectrograph view of star formation across different local environments (including galaxy centres, bars, and spiral arms) in external galaxies at a median resolution of 50 pc, better than the mean inter-cloud distance in the ionised interstellar medium. This ‘cloud-scale’ resolution allows detailed demographics and characterisations of H II regions and other ionised nebulae. PHANGS-MUSE further delivers a unique view on the associated gas and stellar kinematics and provides constraints on the star-formation history. The PHANGS-MUSE survey is complemented by dedicated ALMA CO(2–1) and multi-band HST observations, therefore allowing us to probe the key stages of the star-formation process from molecular clouds to H II regions and star clusters. This paper describes the scientific motivation, sample selection, observational strategy, data reduction, and analysis process of the PHANGS-MUSE survey. We present our bespoke automated data-reduction framework, which is built on the reduction recipes provided by ESO but additionally allows for mosaicking and homogenisation of the point spread function. We further present a detailed quality assessment and a brief illustration of the potential scientific applications of the large set of PHANGS-MUSE data products generated by our data analysis framework. The data cubes and analysis data products described in this paper represent the basis for the first PHANGS-MUSE public data release and are available in the ESO archive and via the Canadian Astronomy Data Centre.