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Register a new userDetection of HCN, HCO+ and HNC in the Mrk231 molecular outflow - Dense molecular gas in the AGN wind
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We detect luminous emission from HCN, HCO+ and HNC 1--0 in the QSO ULIRG Mrk~231 with the IRAM Plateau de Bure Interferometer at 1.55 by 1.28 resolution. All three lines show broad line wings - which are particularly prominent for HCN. Velocities are found to be similar (750 km/s) to those found for CO 1-0. This is the first time bright HCN, HCO+ and HNC emission has been detected in a large-scale galactic outflow. We find that both the blue- and red-shifted line wings are spatially extended by at least 0.75 (700 pc) in a north-south direction. The line wings are brighter (relative to the line center intensity) in HCN than in CO 1-0 and line ratios suggest that the molecular outflow consists of dense (n>10E4 cmE-3) and clumpy gas with a high HCN abundance X(HCN)>10E-8. These properties are consistent with the molecular gas being compressed and fragmented by shocks in the outflow. Alternatively, HCN is instead pumped by mid-IR continuum, but we propose that this effect is not strong for the spatially extended outflowing gas. In addition, we find that the rotation of the main disk, in east-west direction, is also evident in the HCN, HCO+ and HNC line emission. An unexpectedly bright HC3N 10-9 line is detected inside the central 400 pc of Mrk231. This HC3N emission may emerge from a shielded, dust-enshrouded region within the inner 40-50 pc where the gas is heated to high temperatures (200 - 300 K) by the AGN.
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It has been recently argued that the HCN J=1--0 line emission may not be an unbiased tracer of dense molecular gas ($rm nga 10^4 cm^{-3}$) in Luminous Infrared Galaxies (LIRGs: $rm L_{FIR}> 10^{11} L_{odot}$) and HCO$^+$ J=1--0 may constitute a better tracer instead (Gracia-Carpio et al. 2006), casting doubt into earlier claims supporting the former as a good tracer of such gas (Gao & Solomon 2004; Wu et al. 2006). In this paper new sensitive HCN J=4--3 observations of four such galaxies are presented, revealing a surprisingly wide excitation range for their dense gas phase that may render the J=1--0 transition from either species a poor proxy of its mass. Moreover the well-known sensitivity of the HCO$^+$ abundance on the ionization degree of the molecular gas (an important issue omitted from the ongoing discussion about the relative merits of HCN and HCO$^+$ as dense gas tracers) may severely reduce the HCO$^+$ abundance in the star-forming and highly turbulent molecular gas found in LIRGs, while HCN remains abundant. This may result to the decreasing HCO$^+$/HCN J=1--0 line ratio with increasing IR luminosity found in LIRGs, and casts doubts on the HCO$^+$ rather than the HCN as a good dense molecular gas tracer. Multi-transition observations of both molecules are needed to identify the best such tracer, its relation to ongoing star formation, and constrain what may be a considerable range of dense gas properties in such galaxies.
We obtained high resolution (0.25 to 0.90) observations of HCN and HCO+ J=3-2 of the ultraluminous QSO galaxy Mrk231 with the IRAM Plateau de Bure Interferometer. We find luminous HCN and HCO+ 3-2 emission in the main disk and we detect compact (r<90 pc) vibrationally excited HCN 3-2, v2=1f emission centred on the nucleus. The velocity field of the vibrationally excited HCN is strongly inclined (PA=155 deg.) compared to the east-west rotation of the main disk. The nuclear molecular mass is estimated to 8e8 Msun with an average N(H2)of 1.2e24 cm-2. Prominent, spatially extended (>350 pc) line wings are found for HCN 3-2 with velocities +-750 km/s. Line ratios indicate that the emission is emerging in dense gas n=1e4 - 5e5 cm-3 of elevated HCN abundance X(HCN)=1e-8 to 1e-6. High X(HCN) also allows for the emission to originate in gas of more moderate density. We tentatively detect nuclear emission from the reactive ion HOC+ with HCO+/HOC+=10-20. The HCN v2=1f line emission is consistent with the notion of a hot, dusty, warped inner disk of Mrk231 where the v2=1f line is excited by bright mid-IR 14 micron continuum. We estimate the vibrational temperature T_vib to 200-400 K. We propose that 50% of the main HCN emission may have its excitation affected by the radiation field through IR pumping of the vibrational ground state. The HCN emission in the line wings, however, is more extended and thus likely not strongly affected by IR pumping. Our results reveal that dense clouds survive (and/or are formed) in the AGN outflow on scales of at least several hundred pc before evaporating or collapsing. The elevated HCN abundance in the outflow is consistent with warm chemistry possibly related to shocks and/or X-ray irradiated gas. An upper limit to the mass and momentum flux is 4e8 Msun and 12L_AGN/c, respectively, and we discuss possible driving mechanisms for the dense outflow.
We report the detection of HCO+(J=4-3) emission in the Cloverleaf Quasar at z=2.56, using the IRAM Plateau de Bure Interferometer. HCO+ emission is a star formation indicator similar to HCN, tracing dense molecular hydrogen gas (n(H2) ~= 10^5 cm^-3) within star-forming molecular clouds. We derive a lensing-corrected HCO+(J=4-3) line luminosity of L(HCO+(4-3)) = (1.6+/-0.3) x 10^9 (mu_L/11)^-1 K km/s pc^2, which corresponds to only 48% of the HCO+(J=1=0) luminosity, and <~4% of the CO(J=3-2) luminosity. The HCO+ excitation thus is clearly subthermal in the J=4-3 transition. Modeling of the HCO+ line radiative transfer suggests that the HCO+ emission emerges from a region with physical properties comparable to that exhibiting the CO line emission, but 2x higher gas density. This suggests that both HCO+ and CO lines trace the warm, dense molecular gas where star formation actively takes place. The HCO+ lines have only ~2/3 the width of the CO lines, which may suggest that the densest gas is more spatially concentrated. In contrast to the z=3.91 quasar APM08279+5255, the dense gas excitation in the Cloverleaf is consistent with being purely collisional, rather than being enhanced by radiative processes. Thus, the physical properties of the dense gas component in the Cloverleaf are consistent with those in the nuclei of nearby starburst galaxies. This suggests that the conditions in the dense, star-forming gas in active galactic nucleus-starburst systems at early cosmic times like the Cloverleaf are primarily affected by the starburst itself, rather than the central active black hole.
Aims. The comparative study of several molecular species at the origin of the gas phase chemistry in the diffuse interstellar medium (ISM) is a key input in unraveling the coupled chemical and dynamical evolution of the ISM. Methods. The lowest rotational lines of HCO+, HCN, HNC, and CN were observed at the IRAM-30m telescope in absorption against the lambda 3 mm and lambda 1.3 mm continuum emission of massive star-forming regions in the Galactic plane. The absorption lines probe the gas over kiloparsecs along these lines of sight. The excitation temperatures of HCO+ are inferred from the comparison of the absorptions in the two lowest transitions. The spectra of all molecular species on the same line of sight are decomposed into Gaussian velocity components. Most appear in all the spectra of a given line of sight. For each component, we derived the central opacity, the velocity dispersion, and computed the molecular column density. We compared our results to the predictions of UV-dominated chemical models of photodissociation regions (PDR models) and to those of non-equilibrium models in which the chemistry is driven by the dissipation of turbulent energy (TDR models). Results. The molecular column densities of all the velocity components span up to two orders of magnitude. Those of CN, HCN, and HNC are linearly correlated with each other with mean ratios N(HCN)/N(HNC) = 4.8 $pm$ 1.3 and N(CN)/N(HNC) = 34 $pm$ 12, and more loosely correlated with those of HCO+, N(HNC)/N(HCO+) = 0.5 $pm$ 0.3, N(HCN)/N(HCO+) = 1.9 $pm$ 0.9, and N(CN)/N(HCO+) = 18 $pm$ 9. These ratios are similar to those inferred from observations of high Galactic latitude lines of sight, suggesting that the gas sampled by absorption lines in the Galactic plane has the same chemical properties as that in the Solar neighbourhood. The FWHM of the Gaussian velocity components span the range 0.3 to 3 km s-1 and those of the HCO+ lines are found to be 30% broader than those of CN-bearing molecules. The PDR models fail to reproduce simultaneously the observed abundances of the CN-bearing species and HCO+, even for high-density material (100 cm-3 < nH < 104 cm-3). The TDR models, in turn, are able to reproduce the observed abundances and abundance ratios of all the analysed molecules for the moderate gas densities (30 cm-3 < nH < 200 cm-3) and the turbulent energy observed in the diffuse interstellar medium. Conclusions. Intermittent turbulent dissipation appears to be a promising driver of the gas phase chemistry of the diffuse and translucent gas throughout the Galaxy. The details of the dissipation mechanisms still need to be investigated.
Context. The gas kinetic temperature (TK) determines the physical and chemical evolution of the Interestellar Medium (ISM). However, obtaining reliable TK estimates usually requires expensive observations including the combination of multi-line analysis and dedicated radiative transfer calculations. Aims. This work explores the use of HCN and HNC observations, and particularly its I(HCN)/I(HNC) intensity ratio of their J=1-0 lines, as direct probe of the gas kinetic temperature in the molecular ISM. Methods. We obtained a new set of large-scale observations of both HCN and HNC (1-0) lines along the Integral Shape Filament (ISF) in Orion. In combination with ancillary gas and dust temperature measurements, we find a systematic temperature dependence of the observed I(HCN)/I(HNC) intensity ratio across our maps. Additional comparisons with chemical models demonstrate that these observed I(HCN)/I(HNC) variations are driven by the effective destruction and isomerization mechanisms of HNC under low energy barriers. Results. The observed variations of I(HCN)/I(HNC) with TK can be described with a two-part linear function. This empirical calibration is then used to create a temperature map of the entire ISF. Comparisons with similar dust temperature measurements in this cloud, as well as in other regions and galactic surveys, validate this simple technique to obtain direct estimates of the gas kinetic temperature in a wide range of physical conditions and scales with an optimal working range between 15 K and 40 K. Conclusions. Both observations and models demonstrate the strong sensitivity of the I(HCN)/I(HNC) ratio to the gas kinetic temperature. Since these lines are easily obtained in observations of local and extragalactic sources, our results highlight the potential use of this observable as new chemical thermometer for the ISM.
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