Computer Science
Scientific paper
Jan 1997
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1997phdt.........1p&link_type=abstract
Thesis (PHD). BOSTON UNIVERSITY , Source DAI-B 57/07, p. 4454, Jan 1997, 214 pages.
Computer Science
2
Galactic Nuclei, Starburst Galaxies, Milky Way
Scientific paper
The properties of the star-forming clouds in galactic nuclei are largely unknown, and no clear explanation exists for the origin and evolution of starburst galaxies-galaxies with unusually high star formation rates. My goal is to determine the relation between the interstellar cloud properties in galaxies and their star formation activity by estimating the gas densities in starburst galaxies and comparing them to those of normal galaxies and the Milky Way. I perform three programs: observing the emission from dense gas in galaxies, wide-field mapping of the Milky Way, and millimeter-wave interferometry of starburst galaxies. In starburst galaxies, I map the millimeter- and submillimeter-wave emission from molecules that require high densities for excitation, such as hydrogen cyanide and carbon monosulfide. This emission is closely tied to star forming regions. I find that the densest clouds lie within several hundred parsecs of starburst nuclei, and the star formation efficiency of a galaxy is correlated with its average gas density. Unfortunately, the spatial resolution of most observations of galaxies is poor, but comparing different sources properly requires examining them on similar spatial scales. Therefore, to compare the gas properties of starburst galaxies and the Milky Way, I utilize innovations at millimeter-wave telescopes to map the large-scale emission from dense gas in the Milky Way. I find that dense gas comprises a higher fraction of the molecular mass in starburst galaxies than in the Milky Way. Further, the density derived from the averaged spectra of the Milky Way equals the mean density found from modeling each map position. Therefore, analyses of this type probe the average gas properties in galaxies. Finally, I use millimeter-wave interferometry to examine dense gas in starburst galaxies on the spatial scales of individual cloud complexes. I find that dense clouds in starburst galaxies are associated with star-forming regions, and some clouds may contain 20-100 times the number of massive stars as the most luminous star-forming regions in the Milky Way. I also find large-scale gradients in chemical abundances and gas densities.
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