Parameters of the brightest star formation regions in the two principal
  spiral arms of NGC 628
  We study photometric properties, chemical abundances and sizes of star
formation regions in the two principal arms of the galaxy NGC 628 (M74). The
GALEX ultraviolet, optical UBVRI, and H-alpha? surface photometry data are
used, including those obtained with the 1.5-m telescope of the Maidanak
Observatory. The thirty brightest star formation regions in ultraviolet light
located in the spiral arms of NGC 628 are identified and studied. We find that
the star formation regions in one (longer) arm are systematically brighter and
larger than the regions in the other (shorter) arm. However, both luminosity
and size distribution functions have approximately the same slopes for the
samples of star formation regions in both arms. The star formation regions in
the longer arm have a higher star formation rate density than the regions in
the shorter arm. The regions in the shorter arm show higher N/O ratio at a
higher oxygen abundance, but they have lower ultraviolet and H-alpha?
luminosities. These findings can be explained if we assume that star formation
regions in the shorter arm had higher star formation rate in the past, but now
it is lower than for those in the opposite arm. Results of stellar evolutionary
synthesis show that the brightest regions in the longer arm are slightly
younger than the ones in the shorter arm (3.5+-2.2 Myr versus 6.0+-1.1 Myr).
Our results demonstrate that there is a difference in the inner structures and
parameters of the interstellar medium between the spiral arms of NGC 628, one
of which is long and hosts a regular chain of bright star formation complexes
and the other, shorter one does not.
