A CO(1-0) and CO(2-1) survey of nearby spiral galaxies. III - More H2 gas in perturbed galaxies?

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics

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Carbon Monoxide, Hydrogen, Interstellar Gas, Spiral Galaxies, Infrared Telescopes, Mass Ratios, Molecular Gases

Scientific paper

We present a further analysis of the CO(1-0) and CO(2-1) survey of nearby galaxies carried out at the IRAM 30 meter telescope. Along with existing data for total gas masses, our data indicate that there is more CO emission in tidally perturbed galaxies, and that this emission is more centrally concentrated. This could be interpreted as being due to a different N(H2)/W(CO) conversion ratio. The data suggest that there is more molecular gas in disturbed galaxies and that there is more neutral gas in disturbed galaxies. If the N(H2)/W(CO) ratio does not vary, then the increase in neutral gas mass is likely due to tidal interactions triggering an infall of gas from the outer regions of the galaxies towards the disk and center where it condenses into neutral gas. There is evidence for the existence of a moderately cool diffuse ionized medium beyond the optical disk. If an interaction drives some of this gas inwards, the increase in density results in rapid cooling. As the timescale for H2 formation from H I is much shorter than the infall time, the only accumulation point is H2 in the galaxy center. An interaction therefore raises the level of star formation by both increasing the concentration of molecular gas and, probably, by bringing gas in from the very outer regions of the disk.

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