Presentation #113.01 in the session “Galaxy Morphology and Star Formation”.
Star formation is one of the primary processes that governs the evolution of galaxies. Decades of observation across the electromagnetic spectrum have taught us that the mechanisms that drive, regulate, and extinguish star formation operate together across a vast range of stellar, interstellar, and galactic scales. Accordingly, we have come to recognize that integrated analysis of systematic observations, spanning all spatial scales and phases of the star formation cycle, are essential to bring together models of star formation and galaxy evolution. In this talk, we give an overview of the PHANGS program, which is combining the capabilities of HST, ALMA, and VLT-MUSE to link together the scales and phases of star formation in a diversity of galactic environments in 38 nearby spiral galaxies. With NUV-U-B-V-I HST WFC3 imaging, ALMA CO(2-1) maps, and VLT-MUSE IFU spectroscopy, we are measuring the observed and physical properties of tens of thousands of star clusters, associations, HII regions, and molecular clouds, and studying how relationships between them depend on the physical conditions of the local and global environment. We present first results and provide a summary of the high level science products that will be released to support community science.