Molecular Gas in Nearby Galaxies - Part One - Co/ Observations of a Distance-Limited Sample

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics

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Scientific paper

This paper presents a discussion of ^12^CO J = 1 - 0 observations of a distance-limited sample of nearby spiral galaxies. The sample is biased towards high inclination galaxies at the lowest blue luminosities, suggesting a systematic effect. Two possible explanations are briefly discussed. The bias may be an artifact of the way Hubble types are assigned to galaxies or axis ratios measured, or it may indicate a measurable effect of the local supercluster on lower mass galaxies. The molecular mass is a relatively constant fraction (~2%) of the dynamical mass within the region containing H_2_, but varies when the total dynamical mass is considered (assuming a constant CO to H_2_ conversion factor for all galaxies in the sample). The ratio of M(H_2_)/M_dyn_ is independent of Hubble type. M(H_2_)/M(HI) is a strong function of Hubble type, but this arises entirely because of the dependence of atomic mass on type. The molecular masses and FIR luminosities are well correlated, but the average ratio of L_FIR_ to M(H_2_) is only ~1/2 that of previous studies, which were based on (primarily) FIR selected samples. This suggests that the efficiency of star formation in a normal spiral galaxy is lower than that estimated by previous studies.

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