No Arabic abstract
We present the Submillimeter Array observation of the CO J=2-1 transition towards the northern galaxy, ARP 302N, of the early merging system, ARP 302. Our high angular resolution observation reveals the extended spatial distribution of the molecular gas in ARP 302N. We find that the molecular gas has a very asymmetric distribution with two strong concentrations on either side of the center together with a weaker one offset by about 8 kpc to the north. The molecular gas distribution is also found to be consistent with that from the hot dust as traced by the 24 micro continuum emission observed by the Spitzer. The line ratio of CO J=2-1/1-0 is found to vary strongly from about 0.7 near the galaxy center to 0.4 in the outer part of the galaxy. Excitation analysis suggests that the gas density is low, less than 10$^3$ cm$^{-3}$, over the entire galaxy. By fitting the SED of ARP 302N in the far infrared we obtain a dust temperature of $Trm_d$=26-36 K and a dust mass of M$rm _{dust}$=2.0--3.6$times10^8$ M$rm_odot$. The spectral index of the radio continuum is around 0.9. The spatial distribution and spectral index of the radio continuum emission suggests that most of the radio continuum emission is synchrotron emission from the star forming regions at the nucleus and ARP302N-cm. The good spatial correspondance between the 3.6 cm radio continuum emission, the Spitzer 8 & 24 $mu$m data and the high resolution CO J=2-1 observation from the SMA shows that there is the asymmetrical star forming activities in ARP 302N.
(abridged) We report here a factor of 5.7 higher total CO flux in Arp~244 (the ``Antennae galaxies) than that previously accepted in the literature (thus a total molecular gas mass of 1.5x10$^{10}$ Msun), based on our fully sampled CO(1-0) observations at the NRAO 12m telescope. Our observations show that the molecular gas peaks predominately in the disk-disk overlap region between the nuclei, similar to the far-infrared (FIR) and mid-infrared (MIR) emission. The bulk of the molecular gas is forming into stars with a normal star formation efficiency (SFE) L_{IR}/M(H_2) approx 4.2 Lsun/Msun, same as that of giant molecular clouds in the Galactic disk. Additional supportive evidence is the extremely low fraction of the dense molecular gas in Arp~244, revealed by our detections of the HCN(1-0) emission. We estimate the local SFE indicated by the ratio map of the radio continuum to CO(1-0) emission. Remarkably, the local SFE stays roughly same over the bulk of the molecular gas distribution. Only some localized regions show the highest radio-to-CO ratios that we have identified as the sites of the most intense starbursts with SFE >~ 20 Lsun/Msun. These starburst regions are confined exclusively in the dusty patches seen in the HST images near the CO and FIR peaks where presumably the violent starbursts are heavily obscured. Nevertheless, recent large-scale star formation is going on throughout the system, yet the measured level is more suggestive of a moderate starburst (SFE >~ 10 Lsun/Msun) or a weak to normal star formation (SFE ~ 4 Lsun/Msun). The overall starburst from the bulk of the molecular gas is yet to be initiated as most of the gas further condenses into kpc scale in the final coalescence.
We present the detection of molecular gas using CO(1-0) line emission and follow up Halpha imaging observations of galaxies located in nearby voids. The CO(1-0) observations were done using the 45m telescope of the Nobeyama Radio Observatory (NRO) and the optical observations were done using the Himalayan Chandra Telescope (HCT). Although void galaxies lie in the most under dense parts of our universe, a significant fraction of them are gas rich, spiral galaxies that show signatures of ongoing star formation. Not much is known about their cold gas content or star formation properties. In this study we searched for molecular gas in five void galaxies using the NRO. The galaxies were selected based on their relatively higher IRAS fluxes or Halpha line luminosities. CO(1--0) emission was detected in four galaxies and the derived molecular gas masses lie between (1 - 8)E+9 Msun. The H$alpha$ imaging observations of three galaxies detected in CO emission indicates ongoing star formation and the derived star formation rates vary between from 0.2 - 1.0 Msun/yr, which is similar to that observed in local galaxies. Our study shows that although void galaxies reside in under dense regions, their disks may contain molecular gas and have star formation rates similar to galaxies in denser environments.
Understanding the heating and cooling mechanisms in nearby (Ultra) luminous infrared galaxies can give us insight into the driving mechanisms in their more distant counterparts. Molecular emission lines play a crucial role in cooling excited gas, and recently, with Herschel Space Observatory we have been able to observe the rich molecular spectrum. CO is the most abundant and one of the brightest molecules in the Herschel wavelength range. CO transitions are observed with Herschel, and together, these lines trace the excitation of CO. We study Arp 299, a colliding galaxy group, with one component harboring an AGN and two more undergoing intense star formation. For Arp 299 A, we present PACS spectrometer observations of high-J CO lines up to J=20-19 and JCMT observations of $^{13}$CO and HCN to discern between UV heating and alternative heating mechanisms. There is an immediately noticeable difference in the spectra of Arp 299 A and Arp 299 B+C, with source A having brighter high-J CO transitions. This is reflected in their respective spectral energy line distributions. We find that photon-dominated regions (PDRs) are unlikely to heat all the gas since a very extreme PDR is necessary to fit the high-J CO lines. In addition, this extreme PDR does not fit the HCN observations, and the dust spectral energy distribution shows that there is not enough hot dust to match the amount expected from such an extreme PDR. Therefore, we determine that the high-J CO and HCN transitions are heated by an additional mechanism, namely cosmic ray heating, mechanical heating, or X-ray heating. We find that mechanical heating, in combination with UV heating, is the only mechanism that fits all molecular transitions. We also constrain the molecular gas mass of Arp 299 A to 3e9 Msun and find that we need 4% of the total heating to be mechanical heating, with the rest UV heating.
Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) 12CO(J=1-0) observations are used to study the cold molecular ISM of the Cartwheel ring galaxy and its relation to HI and massive star formation (SF). CO moment maps find $(2.69pm0.05)times10^{9}$ M$_{odot}$ of H$_2$ associated with the inner ring (72%) and nucleus (28%) for a Galactic I(CO)-to-N(H2) conversion factor ($alpha_{rm CO}$). The spokes and disk are not detected. Analysis of the inner rings CO kinematics show it to be expanding ($V_{rm exp}=68.9pm4.9$ km s$^{-1}$) implying an $approx70$ Myr age. Stack averaging reveals CO emission in the starburst outer ring for the first time, but only where HI surface density ($Sigma_{rm HI}$) is high, representing $M_{rm H_2}=(7.5pm0.8)times10^{8}$ M$_{odot}$ for a metallicity appropriate $alpha_{rm CO}$, giving small $Sigma_{rm H_2}$ ($3.7$ M$_{odot}$ pc$^{-2}$), molecular fraction ($f_{rm mol}=0.10$), and H$_2$ depletion timescales ($tau_{rm mol} approx50-600$ Myr). Elsewhere in the outer ring $Sigma_{rm H_2}lesssim 2$ M$_{odot}$ pc$^{-2}$, $f_{rm mol}lesssim 0.1$ and $tau_{rm mol}lesssim 140-540$ Myr (all $3sigma$). The inner ring and nucleus are H$_2$-dominated and are consistent with local spiral SF laws. $Sigma_{rm SFR}$ in the outer ring appears independent of $Sigma_{rm H_2}$, $Sigma_{rm HI}$ or $Sigma_{rm HI+H_2}$. The ISMs long confinement in the robustly star forming rings of the Cartwheel and AM0644-741 may result in either a large diffuse H$_2$ component or an abundance of CO-faint low column density molecular clouds. The H$_2$ content of evolved starburst rings may therefore be substantially larger. Due to its lower $Sigma_{rm SFR}$ and age the Cartwheels inner ring has yet to reach this state. Alternately, the outer ring may trigger efficient SF in an HI-dominated ISM.
We present molecular line and submillimeter dust continuum observations of the Lynds 870 cloud in the vicinity of IRAS 20231+3440. Two submillimeter cores, SMM1 and SMM2, are identified mapping the 870 micron dust continuum and ammonia emission. The total molecular mass is ~70-110 solar mass. The northern core is warmer and denser than the southern one. Molecular outflows are discovered in both cores. In the northern one a significant amount of low velocity (1.3-2.8 km/s) outflowing gas is found, that is hidden in the relatively broad CO lines but that is revealed by the narrower HCO+ spectra. While IRAS 20231+3440 is most likely the exciting star of the northern outflow, the driving source of the southern outflow is not detected by infrared surveys and must be deeply embedded in the cloud core. Large scale (~0.2 pc) infall motion is indicated by blue asymmetric profiles observed in the HCO+ J = 3-2 spectra. Red K_s band YSO candidates revealed by the 2MASS survey indicate ongoing star formation throughout the cloud. The calculated masses and the measured degree of turbulence are also reminiscent of clouds forming groups of stars. The excitation of the molecular lines, molecular abundances, and outflow properties are discussed. It is concluded that IRAS 20231+3440 is a ClassI object, while the southern core most likely contains a Class0 source.