Clusters of Small Clumps Can Explain The Peculiar Properties of Giant Clumps in High-Redshift Galaxies

Understand

Giant clumps are a characteristic feature of observed high-redshift disk galaxies.

• We propose that these kpc-sized clumps have a complex substructure and are the result of many smaller clumps self-organizing themselves into clump clusters (CC).
• This bottom-up scenario is in contrast to the common top-down view that these giant clumps form first and then sub fragment.
• Using a high resolution hydrodynamical simulation of an isolated, fragmented massive gas disk and mimicking the observations from Genzel et al.