On the chains of star complexes and superclouds in spiral arms
  The relation is studied between occurrence of a regular chain of star
complexes and superclouds in a spiral arm, and other properties of the latter.
A regular string of star complexes is located in the north-western arm of M31;
they have about the same size 0.6 kpc with spacing of 1.1 kpc. Within the same
arm segment the regular magnetic field with the wavelength of 2.3 kpc was found
by Beck et al. (1989). We noted that this wavelength is twice as large as the
spacing between complexes and suggested that they were formed in result of
magneto-gravitational instability developed along the arm. In this NW arm, star
complexes are located inside the gas-dust lane, whilst in the south-western arm
of M31 the gas-dust lane is upstream of the bright and uniform stellar arm.
Earlier, evidence for the age gradient has been found in the SW arm. All these
are signatures of a spiral shock, which may be associated with unusually large
(for M31) pitch-angle of this SW arm segment. Such a shock may prevent the
formation of the regular magnetic field, which might explain the absence of
star complexes there. Anti-correlation between shock wave signatures and
presence of star complexes is observed in spiral arms of a few other galaxies.
Regular chains of star complexes and superclouds in spiral arms are rare, which
may imply that a rather specific mechanism is involved in their formation, and
the most probable one is the Parker-Jeans instability. The spiral pattern of
our Galaxy is briefly discussed; it may be of M101 type in the outer parts. The
regular bi-modal spacing of HI superclouds is found in Carina and Cygnus
(Outer) arms, which may be an indirect evidence for the regular magnetic field
along these arms.
