No Arabic abstract
(Ultra) Luminous Infrared Galaxies ((U)LIRGs) are objects characterized by their extreme infrared (8-1000 $mu$m) luminosities ($L_{LIRG}>10^{11} $L$_odot$ and $L_{ULIRG}>10^{12}$ L$_odot$). The Herschel Comprehensive ULIRG Emission Survey (HerCULES; PI van der Werf) presents a representative flux-limited sample of 29 (U)LIRGs that spans the full luminosity range of these objects (10$^{11}leq L_odot geq10^{13}$). With the emph{Herschel Space Observatory}, we observe [CII] 157 $mu$m, [OI] 63 $mu$m, and [OI] 145 $mu$m line emission with PACS, CO J=4-3 through J=13-12, [CI] 370 $mu$m, and [CI] 609 $mu$m with SPIRE, and low-J CO transitions with ground-based telescopes. The CO ladders of the sample are separated into three classes based on their excitation level. In 13 of the galaxies, the [OI] 63 $mu$m emission line is self absorbed. Comparing the CO excitation to the IRAS 60/100 $mu$m ratio and to far infrared luminosity, we find that the CO excitation is more correlated to the far infrared colors. We present cooling budgets for the galaxies and find fine-structure line flux deficits in the [CII], [SiII], [OI], and [CI] lines in the objects with the highest far IR fluxes, but do not observe this for CO $4leq J_{upp}leq13$. In order to study the heating of the molecular gas, we present a combination of three diagnostic quantities to help determine the dominant heating source. Using the CO excitation, the CO J=1-0 linewidth, and the AGN contribution, we conclude that galaxies with large CO linewidths always have high-excitation CO ladders, and often low AGN contributions, suggesting that mechanical heating is important.
We present the first large scale high angular resolution survey of ionized nitrogen in the Galactic Plane through emission of its two fine structure transitions ([NII]) at 122 $mu$m and 205 $mu$m. The observations were largely obtained with the PACS instrument onboard the Herschel Space Observatory. The lines-of-sight were in the Galactic plane, following those of the Herschel OTKP project GOT C+. Both lines are reliably detected at the 10$^{-8}$ - 10$^{-7}$ $W$m$^{-2}$sr$^{-1}$ level over the range -60$^{o}$ $leq$ $l$ $leq$ 60$^{o}$. The $rms$ of the intensity among the 25 PACS spaxels of a given pointing is typically less than one third of the mean intensity, showing that the emission is extended. [NII] is produced in gas in which hydrogen is ionized, and collisional excitation is by electrons. The ratio of the two fine structure transitions provides a direct measurement of the electron density, yielding $n(e)$ largely in the range 10 to 50 cm$^{-3}$ with an average value of 29 cm$^{-3}$ and N$^+$ column densities 10$^{16}$ to 10$^{17}$ cm$^{-2}$. [NII] emission is highly correlated with that of [CII], and we calculate that between 1/3 and 1/2 of the [CII] emission is associated with the ionized gas. The relatively high electron densities indicate that the source of the [NII] emission is not the Warm Ionized Medium (WIM), which has electron densities more than 100 times smaller. Possible origins of the observed [NII] include the ionized surfaces of dense atomic and molecular clouds, the extended low density envelopes of HII regions, and low-filling factor high-density fluctuations of the WIM.
Aims. We present new IRAM Plateau de Bure Interferometer observations of Arp 220 in HCN, HCO$^{+}$, HN$^{13}$C J=1-0, C$_{2}$H N=1-0, SiO J = 2-1, HNCO J$_{k,k}$ = 5$_{0,4}$ - 4$_{0,4}$, CH$_{3}$CN(6-5), CS J=2-1 and 5-4 and $^{13}$CO J=1-0 and 2-1 and of NGC 6240 in HCN, HCO$^{+}$ J = 1-0 and C$_{2}$H N = 1-0. In addition, we present Atacama Large Millimeter/submillmeter Array science verification observations of Arp 220 in CS J = 4-3 and CH$_{3}$CN(10-9). Various lines are used to analyse the physical conditions of the molecular gas including the [$^{12}$CO]/[$^{13}$CO] and [$^{12}$CO]/[C$^{18}$O] abundance ratios. These observations will be made available to the public. Methods. We create brightness temperature line ratio maps to present the different physical conditions across Arp 220 and NGC 6240. In addition, we use the radiative transfer code RADEX and a Monte Carlo Markov Chain likelihood code to model the $^{12}$CO, $^{13}$CO and C$^{18}$O lines of Arp 220 at ~2 (~700 pc) scales, where the $^{12}$CO and C$^{18}$O measurements were obtained from literature. Results. Line ratios of optically thick lines such as $^{12}$CO show smoothly varying ratios while the line ratios of optically thin lines such as $^{13}$CO show a east-west gradient across Arp 220. The HCN/HCO$^{+}$ line ratio differs between Arp 220 and NGC 6240, where Arp 220 has line ratios above 2 and NGC 6240 below 1. The radiative transfer analysis solution is consistent with a warm (~40 K), moderately dense (~10$^{3.4}$ cm$^{-3}$) molecular gas component averaged over the two nuclei. We find [$^{12}$CO]/[$^{13}$CO] and [$^{12}$CO]/[C$^{18}$O] abundance ratios of ~90 for both. The abundance enhancement of C$^{18}$O can be explained by stellar nucleosynthesis enrichment of the interstellar medium.
Far-infrared (FIR) images and photometry are presented for 201 Luminous and Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies [LIRGs: log$(L_{rm IR}/L_odot) = 11.00 - 11.99$, ULIRGs: log$(L_{rm IR}/L_odot) = 12.00 - 12.99$], in the Great Observatories All-Sky LIRG Survey (GOALS) based on observations with the $Herschel$ $Space$ $Observatory$ Photodetector Array Camera and Spectrometer (PACS) and the Spectral and Photometric Imaging Receiver (SPIRE) instruments. The image atlas displays each GOALS target in the three PACS bands (70, 100, and 160 $mu$m) and the three SPIRE bands (250, 350, and 500 $mu$m), optimized to reveal structures at both high and low surface brightness levels, with images scaled to simplify comparison of structures in the same physical areas of $sim$$100times100$ kpc$^2$. Flux densities of companion galaxies in merging systems are provided where possible, depending on their angular separation and the spatial resolution in each passband, along with integrated system fluxes (sum of components). This dataset constitutes the imaging and photometric component of the GOALS Herschel OT1 observing program, and is complementary to atlases presented for the Hubble Space Telescope (Evans et al. 2017, in prep.), Spitzer Space Telescope (Mazzarella et al. 2017, in prep.), and Chandra X-ray Observatory (Iwasawa et al. 2011, 2017, in prep.). Collectively these data will enable a wide range of detailed studies of AGN and starburst activity within the most luminous infrared galaxies in the local Universe.
We present the results of surveying [CI] $^3P_1-^3P_0$, $^{12}$CO $J=4-3$, and 630 $mu$m dust continuum emission for 36 nearby ultra/luminous infrared galaxies (U/LIRGs) using the Band 8 receiver mounted on the Atacama Compact Array (ACA) of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array. We describe the survey, observations, data reduction, and results; the main results are as follows. (i) We confirmed that [CI] $^3P_1-^3P_0$ has a linear relationship with both the $^{12}$CO $J=4-3$and 630 $mu$m continuum. (ii) In NGC 6052 and NGC 7679, $^{12}$CO $J=4-3$ was detected but [CI] $^3P_1-^3P_0$ was not detected with a [CI] $^3P_1-^3P_0$/ $^{12}$CO $J=4-3$ ratio of $lesssim0.08$. Two possible scenarios of weak [CI] $^3P_1-^3P_0$ emission are C$^0$-poor/CO-rich environments or an environment with an extremely large [CI] $^3P_1-^3P_0$ missing flux. (iii) There is no clear evidence showing that galaxy mergers, AGNs, and dust temperatures control the ratios of [CI] $^3P_1-^3P_0$/ $^{12}$CO $J=4-3$ and $L_{rm [CI](1-0)}/L_{rm 630mu m}$. (iv) We compare our nearby U/LIRGs with high-z galaxies, such as galaxies on the star formation main sequence (MS) at z$sim1$ and submillimeter galaxies (SMGs) at $z=2-4$. We found that the mean value for the [CII] $^3P_1$--$^3P_0$/ $^{12}$CO $J=4-3$ ratio of U/LIRGs is similar to that of SMGs but smaller than that of galaxies on the MS.
In bright photodissociation regions (PDRs) associated to massive star formation, the presence of dense clumps that are immersed in a less dense interclump medium is often proposed to explain the difficulty of models to account for the observed gas emission in high-excitation lines. We aim at presenting a comprehensive view of the modeling of the CO rotational ladder in PDRs, including the high-J lines that trace warm molecular gas at PDR interfaces. We observed the 12CO and 13CO ladders in two prototypical PDRs, the Orion Bar and NGC 7023 NW using the instruments onboard Herschel. We also considered line emission from key species in the gas cooling of PDRs (C+, O, H2) and other tracers of PDR edges such as OH and CH+. All the intensities are collected from Herschel observations, the literature and the Spitzer archive and are analyzed using the Meudon PDR code. A grid of models was run to explore the parameter space of only two parameters: thermal gas pressure and a global scaling factor that corrects for approximations in the assumed geometry. We conclude that the emission in the high-J CO lines, which were observed up to Jup=23 in the Orion Bar (Jup=19 in NGC7023), can only originate from small structures of typical thickness of a few 1e-3 pc and at high thermal pressures (Pth~1e8 K cm-3). Compiling data from the literature, we found that the gas thermal pressure increases with the intensity of the UV radiation field given by G0, following a trend in line with recent simulations of the photoevaporation of illuminated edges of molecular clouds. This relation can help rationalising the analysis of high-J CO emission in massive star formation and provides an observational constraint for models that study stellar feedback on molecular clouds.