Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Sep 2000
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2000apj...541..142r&link_type=abstract
The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 541, Issue 1, pp. 142-152.
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
26
Galaxies: Ism, Galaxies: Nuclei, Galaxies: Spiral, Ism: Molecules, Radio Lines: Galaxies
Scientific paper
Even though the interstellar medium (ISM) in a galaxy plays a critical role in its evolution, it is difficult to quantitatively measure the ISM content of a galaxy when the gas is primarily molecular. In this paper I present a method for quantitatively deriving the dust mass in a galaxy using optical and near-infrared images. These images are used as inputs to a radiative transfer model to generate a dust optical depth map. By simulating observational errors, I show that up to an optical depth of AV=8 the model is not affected by saturation effects. The method is then applied to the central region (<1.5 kpc) of four nearby spiral galaxies and is used to calibrate the conversion factor between CO luminosity and H2 mass. The resulting conversion factor shows that the CO is overluminous by a factor of at least 5-20 compared to the CO in the solar neighborhood. I also show that in the absence of a full set of optical and near-infrared colors an I-K color map is a good qualitative representation of the dust morphology of a galaxy.
No associations
LandOfFree
Overluminous CO in the Central Regions of Spiral Galaxies does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Overluminous CO in the Central Regions of Spiral Galaxies, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Overluminous CO in the Central Regions of Spiral Galaxies will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1524376