Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2002-05-10
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
47 pages, 6 tables, 27 figures. Accepted by AJ, scheduled for August 2002
Scientific paper
10.1086/341648
I present interferometric images (approx. 7" resolution) of CO emission in five elliptical galaxies and nondetections in two others. These data double the number of elliptical galaxies whose CO emission has been fully mapped. The sample galaxies have 10^8 to 5x10^9 solar masses of molecular gas distributed in mostly symmetric rotating disks with diameters of 2 to 12 kpc. Four out of the five molecular disks show remarkable alignment with the optical major axes of their host galaxies. The molecular masses are a few percent of the total dynamical masses which are implied if the gas is on circular orbits. If the molecular gas forms stars, it will make rotationally supported stellar disks which will be very similar in character to the stellar disks now known to be present in many ellipticals. Comparison of stellar kinematics to gas kinematics in NGC 4476 implies that the molecular gas did not come from internal stellar mass loss because the specific angular momentum of the gas is about three times larger than that of the stars.
No associations
LandOfFree
Molecular Gas in Elliptical Galaxies: Distribution and Kinematics 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 Molecular Gas in Elliptical Galaxies: Distribution and Kinematics, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Molecular Gas in Elliptical Galaxies: Distribution and Kinematics will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-497637