No Arabic abstract
We report the detection of far-infrared (FIR) CO rotational emission from nearby active galactic nuclei (AGN) and starburst galaxies, as well as several merging systems and Ultra-Luminous Infrared Galaxies (ULIRGs). Using Herschel-PACS, we have detected transitions in the J$_{upp}$ = 14 - 20 range ($lambda sim$ 130 - 185 $mu$m, $ u sim$ 1612 - 2300 GHz) with upper limits on (and in two cases, detections of) CO line fluxes up to J$_{upp}$ = 30. The PACS CO data obtained here provide the first well-sampled FIR extragalactic CO SLEDs for this range, and will be an essential reference for future high redshift studies. We find a large range in the overall SLED shape, even amongst galaxies of similar type, demonstrating the uncertainties in relying solely on high-J CO diagnostics to characterize the excitation source of a galaxy. Combining our data with low-J line intensities taken from the literature, we present a CO ratio-ratio diagram and discuss its potential diagnostic value in distinguishing excitation sources and physical properties of the molecular gas. The position of a galaxy on such a diagram is less a signature of its excitation mechanism, than an indicator of the presence (or absence) of warm, dense molecular gas. We then quantitatively analyze the CO emission from a subset of the detected sources with Large Velocity Gradient (LVG) radiative transfer models to fit the CO SLEDs. Using both single-component and two-component LVG models to fit the kinetic temperature, velocity gradient, number density and column density of the gas, we derive the molecular gas mass and the corresponding CO-to-H$_2$ conversion factor, $alpha_{CO}$, for each respective source. For the ULIRGs we find $alpha$ values in the canonical range 0.4 - 5 M$_odot$/(K kms$^{-1}$pc$^2$), while for the other objects, $alpha$ varies between 0.2 and 14.} Finally, we compare our best-fit LVG model ..
We report the first systematic study of the submillimeter water vapor rotational emission lines in infrared (IR) galaxies based on the Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FTS) data of {it Herschel} SPIRE. Among the 176 galaxies with publicly available FTS data, 45 have at least one H$_2$O emission line detected. The H$_2$O line luminosities range from $sim 1 times 10^5$ $L_{odot}$ to $sim 5 times 10^7 L_{odot}$ while the total IR luminosities ($L_mathrm{IR}$) have a similar spread ($sim 1-300 times 10^{10} L_{odot}$). In addition, emission lines of H$_2$O$^+$ and H$_2^{18}$O are also detected. H$_2$O is found, for most galaxies, to be the strongest molecular emitter after CO in FTS spectra. The luminosity of the five most important H$_2$O lines is near-linearly correlated with $L_mathrm{IR}$, no matter whether strong active galactic nucleus signature is present or not. However, the luminosity of H$_2$O($2_{11}-2_{02}$) and H$_2$O($2_{20}-2_{11}$) appears to increase slightly faster than linear with $L_mathrm{IR}$. Although the slope turns out to be slightly steeper when $zsim 2-4$ ULIRGs are included, the correlation is still closely linear. We find that $L_mathrm{H_2O}/L_mathrm{IR}$ decreases with increasing $f_{25}/f_{60}$, but see no dependence on $f_{60}/f_{100}$, possibly indicating that very warm dust contributes little to the excitation of the submillimeter H$_2$O lines. The average spectral line energy distribution (SLED) of the entire sample is consistent with individual SLEDs and the IR pumping plus collisional excitation model, showing that the strongest lines are H$_2$O($2_{02}-1_{11}$) and H$_2$O($3_{21}-3_{12}$).
We present Herschel-PACS observations of rest-frame mid-infrared and far-infrared spectral line emissions from two lensed, ultra-luminous infrared galaxies at high redshift: MIPS J142824.0+352619 (MIPS J1428), a starburst-dominated system at z = 1.3, and IRAS F10214+4724 (F10214), a source at z = 2.3 hosting both star-formation and a luminous AGN. We have detected [OI]63 micron and [OIII]52 micron in MIPS J1428, and tentatively [OIII]52 micron in F10214. Together with the recent ZEUS-CSO [CII]158 micron detection in MIPS J1428 we can for the first time combine [OI], [CII] and far-IR (FIR) continuum measurements for photo-dissociation (PDR) modeling of an ultra-luminous (L_IR > 10^12 L_sun) star forming galaxy at the peak epoch of cosmic star formation. We find that MIPS J1428, contrary to average local ULIRGs, does not show a deficit in [OI] relative to FIR. The combination of far-UV flux G_0 and gas density n (derived from the PDR models), as well as the star formation efficiency (derived from CO and FIR) is similar to normal or starburst galaxies, despite the high infrared luminosity of this system. In contrast, F10214 has stringent upper limits on [OIV] and [SIII], and an [OIII]/FIR ratio at least an order of magnitude lower than local starbursts or AGN, similar to local ULIRGs.
We present correlations between 9 CO transition ($J=4-3$ to $12-11$) and beam-matched far-infrared (Far-IR) luminosities ($L_{mathrm{FIR},,b}$) among 167 local galaxies, using {it{Herschel}} Spectral and Photometric Imaging Receiver Fourier Transform Spectrometer (SPIRE; FTS) spectroscopic data and Photoconductor Array Camera and Spectrometer (PACS) photometry data. We adopt entire-galaxy FIR luminosities ($L_{mathrm{FIR},,e}$) from the {it{IRAS}} Revised Bright Galaxy Sample and correct to $L_{mathrm{FIR},,b}$ using PACS images to match the varying FTS beam sizes. All 9 correlations between $L_{mathrm{CO}}$ and $L_{mathrm{FIR},,b}$ are essentially linear and tight ($sigma$=0.2-0.3 dex dispersion), even for the highest transition, $J=12-11$. This supports the notion that the star formation rate (SFR) is linearly correlated with the dense molecular gas ($n_{mathrm{H}_2}gtrsim10^{4-6},cm^{-3}$). We divide the entire sample into three subsamples and find that smaller sample sizes can induce large differences in the correlation slopes. We also derive an average CO spectral line energy distribution (SLED) for the entire sample and discuss the implied average molecular gas properties for these local galaxies. We further extend our sample to high-{it{z}} galaxies with CO $J=5-4$ data from the literature as an example, including submillimeter galaxies (SMGs) and normal star-forming BzKs. BzKs have similar FIR/CO(5-4) ratios as that of local galaxies, an follow well the locally-determined correlation, whereas SMG ratios fall around or slightly above the local correlation with large uncertainties. Finally, by including Galactic CO($J=10-9$) data as well as very limited high-{it{z}} CO $J=10-9$ data, we verify that the CO(10-9) -- FIR correlation successfully extends to Galactic young stellar objects, suggesting that linear correlations are valid over 15 orders of magnitude.
We present an analysis of [OI]63, [OIII]88, [NII]122 and [CII]158 far-infrared (FIR) fine-structure line observations obtained with Herschel/PACS, for ~240 local luminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs) in the Great Observatories All-sky LIRG Survey (GOALS). We find pronounced declines -deficits- of line-to-FIR-continuum emission for [NII]122, [OI]63 and [CII]158 as a function of FIR color and infrared luminosity surface density, $Sigma_{rm IR}$. The median electron density of the ionized gas in LIRGs, based on the [NII]122/[NII]205 ratio, is $n_{rm e}$ = 41 cm$^{-3}$. We find that the dispersion in the [CII]158 deficit of LIRGs is attributed to a varying fractional contribution of photo-dissociation-regions (PDRs) to the observed [CII]158 emission, f([CII]PDR) = [CII]PDR/[CII], which increases from ~60% to ~95% in the warmest LIRGs. The [OI]63/[CII]158PDR ratio is tightly correlated with the PDR gas kinetic temperature in sources where [OI]63 is not optically-thick or self-absorbed. For each galaxy, we derive the average PDR hydrogen density, $n_{rm H}$, and intensity of the interstellar radiation field, in units of G$_0$, and find G$_0$/$n_{rm H}$ ratios ~0.1-50 cm$^3$, with ULIRGs populating the upper end of the distribution. There is a relation between G$_0$/$n_{rm H}$ and $Sigma_{rm IR}$, showing a critical break at $Sigma_{rm IR}^{star}$ ~ 5 x 10$^{10}$ Lsun/kpc$^2$. Below $Sigma_{rm IR}^{star}$, G$_0$/$n_{rm H}$ remains constant, ~0.32 cm$^3$, and variations in $Sigma_{rm IR}$ are driven by the number density of star-forming regions within a galaxy, with no change in their PDR properties. Above $Sigma_{rm IR}^{star}$, G$_0$/$n_{rm H}$ increases rapidly with $Sigma_{rm IR}$, signaling a departure from the typical PDR conditions found in normal star-forming galaxies towards more intense/harder radiation fields and compact geometries typical of starbursting sources.
We present FIR-CO luminosity relations ($log L_{rm FIR} = alpha log L_{rm CO} + beta$) for the full CO rotational ladder from J=1-0 to J=13-12 for 62 local (z < 0.1) (Ultra) Luminous Infrared Galaxies (LIRGs) using data from Herschel SPIRE-FTS and ground-based telescopes. We extend our sample to high redshifts (z > 1) by including 35 (sub)-millimeter selected dusty star forming galaxies from the literature with robust CO observations. The addition of luminous starbursts at high redshifts enlarge the range of the FIR-CO luminosity relations towards the high-IR-luminosity end while also significantly increasing the small amount of mid-/high-J CO line data available prior to Herschel. This new data-set (both in terms of IR luminosity and J-ladder) reveals linear FIR-CO luminosity relations ($alpha sim 1$) for J=1-0 up to J=5-4, with a nearly constant normalisation ($beta sim 2$). This is expected from the (also) linear FIR-(molecular line) relations found for the dense gas tracer lines (HCN and CS), as long as the dense gas mass fraction does not vary strongly within our (merger/starburst)-dominated sample. However from J=6-5 and up to J=13-12 we find an increasingly sub-linear slope and higher normalization constant with increasing J. We argue that these are caused by a warm (~100K) and dense ($>10^4{rm cm^{-3}}$) gas component whose thermal state is unlikely to be maintained by star formation powered far-UV radiation fields (and thus is no longer directly tied to the star formation rate). We suggest that mechanical heating (e.g., supernova driven turbulence and shocks), and not cosmic rays, is the more likely source of energy for this component. The global CO spectral line energy distributions (SLEDs), which remain highly excited from J=6-5 up to J=13-12, are found to be a generic feature of the (U)LIRGs in our sample, and further support the presence of this gas component.