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Register a new userNuclear gas dynamics in Arp 220 - sub-kiloparsec scale atomic hydrogen disks
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Added by
Dr Carole G. Mundell
Publication date
2001
fields
Physics
and research's language is
English
Authors
C.G. Mundell
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We present new, high angular resolution (~0.22) MERLIN observations of neutral hydrogen (HI) absorption and 21-cm radio continuum emission across the central ~900 parsecs of the ultraluminous infrared galaxy, Arp220. Spatially resolved HI absorption is detected against the morphologically complex and extended 21-cm radio continuum emission, consistent with two counterrotating disks of neutral hydrogen, with a small bridge of gas connecting the two. We propose a merger model in which the two nuclei represent the galaxy cores which have survived the initial encounter and are now in the final stages of merging, similar to conclusions drawn from previous CO studies (Sakamoto, Scoville & Yun 1999). However, we suggest that instead of being coplanar with the main CO disk (in which the eastern nucleus is embedded), the western nucleus lies above it and, as suggested by bridge of HI connecting the two nuclei, will soon complete its final merger with the main disk. We suggest that the collection of radio supernovae (RSN) detected in VLBA studies in the more compact western nucleus represent the second burst of star formation associated with this final merger stage and that free-free absorption due to ionised gas in the bulge-like component can account for the observed RSN distribution. (Abridged)
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We present the first very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) detections of Zeeman splitting in another galaxy. We used Arecibo Observatory, the Green Bank Telescope, and the Very Long Baseline Array to perform dual-polarization observations of OH maser lines in the merging galaxy Arp 220. We measured magnetic fields of $sim$1-5 mG associated with three roughly parsec-sized clouds in the nuclear regions of Arp 220. Our measured magnetic fields have comparable strengths and the same direction as features at the same velocity identified in previous Zeeman observations with Arecibo alone. The agreement between single dish and VLBI results provides critical validation of previous Zeeman splitting observations of OH megamasers that used a single large dish. The measured magnetic field strengths indicate that magnetic energy densities are comparable to gravitational energy in OH maser clouds. We also compare our total intensity results to previously published VLBI observations of OH megamasers in Arp 220. We find evidence for changes in both structure and amplitude of the OH maser lines that are most easily explained by variability intrinsic to the masing region, rather than variability produced by interstellar scintillation. Our results demonstrate the potential for using high-sensitivity VLBI to study magnetic fields on small spatial scales in extragalactic systems.
We present new images of Arp 220 from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array with the highest combination of frequency (691 GHz) and resolution ($0.36 times 0.20^{primeprime}$) ever obtained for this prototypical ultraluminous infrared galaxy. The western nucleus is revealed to contain warm (200 K) dust that is optically thick ($tau_{434mu m} = 5.3$), while the eastern nucleus is cooler (80 K) and somewhat less opaque ($tau_{434mu m} = 1.7$). We derive full-width half-maximum diameters of $ 76 times le 70$ pc and $123 times 79$ pc for the western and eastern nucleus, respectively. The two nuclei combined account for ($83 ^{+65}_{-38}$ (calibration) $^{+0}_{-34}$ (systematic))% of the total infrared luminosity of Arp 220. The luminosity surface density of the western nucleus ($ log(sigma T^4) = 14.3pm 0.2 ^{+0}_{-0.7}$ in units of L$_odot$ kpc$^{-2}$) appears sufficiently high to require the presence of an AGN or a hot starburst, although the exact value depends sensitively on the brightness distribution adopted for the source. Although the role of any central AGN remains open, the inferred mean gas column densities of $0.6-1.8 times 10^{25}$ cm$^{-2}$ mean that any AGN in Arp 220 must be Compton-thick.
We present a high spatial resolution optical and infrared study of the circumnuclear region in Arp 220, a late-stage galaxy merger. Narrowband imaging using HST/WFC3 has resolved the previously observed peak in H$alpha$+[NII] emission into a bubble-shaped feature. This feature measures 1.6 in diameter, or 600 pc, and is only 1 northwest of the western nucleus. The bubble is aligned with the western nucleus and the large-scale outflow axis seen in X-rays. We explore several possibilities for the bubble origin, including a jet or outflow from a hidden active galactic nucleus (AGN), outflows from high levels of star formation within the few hundred pc nuclear gas disk, or an ultraluminous X-ray source. An obscured AGN or high levels of star formation within the inner $sim$100 pc of the nuclei are favored based on the alignment of the bubble and energetics arguments.
We present an imaging and spectral analysis of the nuclear region of the ULIRG merger Arp 220, using deep textit{Chandra}-ACIS observations summing up to (sim 300mbox{ ks}). Narrow-band imaging with sub-pixel resolution of the innermost nuclear region reveals two distinct Fe-K emitting sources, coincident with the infrared and radio nuclear clusters. These sources are separated by 1 ((sim 380) pc). The X-ray emission is extended and elongated in the eastern nucleus, like the disk emission observed in millimeter radio images, suggesting starburst dominance in this region. We estimate Fe-K equivalent width (gtrsim 1) keV for both sources, and observed 2-10 keV luminosities (sim 2times{10}^{40}mbox{ erg}mbox{ s}^{-1}) (W) and (sim 3 times {10}^{40}mbox{ erg}mbox{ s}^{-1}) (E). In the 6-7 keV band the emission from these regions is dominated by the 6.7 keV Fe textsc{xxv} line, suggesting contribution from collisionally ionized gas. The thermal energy content of this gas is consistent with kinetic energy injection in the interstellar medium by Type II SNe. However, nuclear winds from hidden AGN ((varvsim 2000 mbox{ km}mbox{ s}^{-1})) cannot be excluded. The (3sigma) upper limits on the neutral Fe-K(alpha) flux of the nuclear regions correspond to intrinsic AGN 2-10 keV luminosities (< 1times {10}^{42}mbox{ erg}mbox{ s}^{-1}) (W) and (< 0.4times {10}^{42}mbox{ erg}mbox{ s}^{-1}) (E). For typical AGN SEDs the bolometric luminosities are (< 3times {10}^{43}mbox{ erg}mbox{ s}^{-1}) (W) and (< 8times {10}^{43}mbox{ erg}mbox{ s}^{-1}) (E), and black hole masses (<1times{10}^5 M_{astrosun}) (W) and (< 5times{10}^5 M_{astrosun}) (E) for Eddington limited AGNs with a standard 10% efficiency.
We present the results of interferometric spectral line observations of Arp 220 at 3.5mm and 1.2mm from the Plateau de Bure Interferometer (PdBI), imaging the two nuclear disks in H$^{13}$CN$(1 - 0)$ and $(3 - 2)$, H$^{13}$CO$^+(1 - 0)$ and $(3 - 2)$, and HN$^{13}$C$(3 - 2)$ as well as SiO$(2 - 1)$ and $(6 - 5)$, HC$^{15}$N$(3 - 2)$, and SO$(6_6 - 5_5)$. The gas traced by SiO$(6 - 5)$ has a complex and extended kinematic signature including a prominent P Cygni profile, almost identical to previous observations of HCO$^+(3 - 2)$. Spatial offsets $0.1$ north and south of the continuum centre in the emission and absorption of the SiO$(6 - 5)$ P Cygni profile in the western nucleus (WN) imply a bipolar outflow, delineating the northern and southern edges of its disk and suggesting a disk radius of $sim40$ pc, consistent with that found by ALMA observations of Arp 220. We address the blending of SiO$(6 - 5)$ and H$^{13}$CO$^+(3 - 2)$ by considering two limiting cases with regards to the H$^{13}$CO$^+$ emission throughout our analysis. Large velocity gradient (LVG) modelling is used to constrain the physical conditions of the gas and to infer abundance ratios in the two nuclei. Our most conservative lower limit on the [H$^{13}$CN]/[H$^{13}$CO$^+$] abundance ratio is 11 in the WN, cf. 0.10 in the eastern nucleus (EN). Comparing these ratios to the literature we argue on chemical grounds for an energetically significant AGN in the WN driving either X-ray or shock chemistry, and a dominant starburst in the EN.
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