Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Jan 2011
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011aas...21733201r&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #217, #332.01; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 43, 2011
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
We used the EVLA in A configuration to image the C-band transitions of the pre-biotic molecule methanimine (H2CNH) and the J=5 direct l-type transition of hydrogen cyanide (HCN) in the nearest and the prototypical ultra-luminous IR galaxy, Arp 220. The observations were carried out as a result of the first definitive extragalactic detection of these transitions with Arecibo (Salter et al. 2008). These EVLA A-configuration observations spatially resolve the two nuclei of Arp 220, which are separated by about 1 arcsec. The results show that the emission line of the H2CNH and the absorption line of the HCN (J=5) are solely detected toward the western nucleus of Arp 220. The H2CNH emission is very likely due to a maser, because its brightness temperature is several times the decomposition temperature of the molecule. This is similar to the formaldehyde (H2CO) transition, which also shows a weak maser emission in Arp 220 and mostly toward the western nucleus. The confinement of the HCN (J=5) absorption line to the western nucleus is in contrast to previous detections of rotationally excited HCN transitions, which have been observed in emission from both nuclei. These EVLA observations, along with Arecibo's original detections, demonstrate that a new range of molecular transitions can now be detected and imaged at cm wavelengths, thus opening up new opportunities for the study of the physical and chemical characteristics of luminous IR galaxies.
The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.
AO Arp 220 Team
Momjian Emmanuel
Rickert Matthew
Sarma Arun
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