Astronomy Colloquium

Galaxies grow and stars form from a complex interplay of gravity, stellar feedback, and dynamical processes in the interstellar medium (ISM). I will present results from recent surveys that aim to resolve galaxies into the individual units of this gas-star formation-feedback cycle. I will highlight results from PHANGS, which has observed nearby galaxies using ALMA, JWST, Hubble, and the VLT. These include measurements showing how the properties of star-forming molecular clouds depend on the large scale environment where they are found. I will also show new measurements of the mass, structure, and dominant feedback mechanisms in HII regions, the immediate products of massive star formation. Finally I will discuss next directions in this field, including using the VLA to resolve the volume-filling atomic gas at unprecedented < 30 pc resolution and using JWST and ALMA to push our studies of molecular gas in galaxies to even higher 10-20 pc resolution.