Computer Science
Scientific paper
May 2007
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007sptz.prop40773b&link_type=abstract
Spitzer Proposal ID #40773
Computer Science
Scientific paper
Molecular hydrogen (H2) is inherently connected with the evolution of a galaxy through a variety of processes. In galaxies, H2 traces star formation in nuclear regions, near the ends of bars in barred spirals, and along spiral arms where star formation is triggered by the passage of a spiral density wave. The SINGS legacy program has used the Spitzer Infrared Spectrograph (IRS) long-low module (LL; 14 - 38 microns) in spectral mapping mode to map large strips across 65 galaxies ranging in Hubble type, star-formation rate, and nuclear activity. We propose to use the SINGS LL data cubes to map the spatial distribution of warm (T = 100 - 300 K) H2, traced by the H2 S(0) (28.2 micron) and H2 S(1) (17.0 micron) lines, in 18 SINGS galaxies that have also been observed in CO (J = 1 - 0) emission through the Berkeley-Illinois-Maryland Array Survey of Nearby Galaxies (BIMA SONG). We have developed unique software that creates spatially resolved maps of extremely faint and blended spectral lines from Spitzer IRS LL data cubes. Using our software, we propose to map H2 S(0) and H2 S(1) emission across each galaxy and use these two lines to model variations in the H2 excitation and mass across each galaxy. We will distinguish the H2 excitation mechanism as a function of position across each galaxy by comparing the H2 maps to CO emission (from SONG) and maps of mid-infrared spectral diagnostics such as the [O IV](25.89 micron) line (a shock diagnostic) and the [S III](18.71 micron)-to-[S III](33.48 micron) line ratio (an HII region electron density diagnostic). We will also compare H2 spatial variations to UV and optical imagery (U, B, V, R, and H(alpha)) for additional insight into the H2 excitation mechanisms and to correlate H2 properties with the ages, masses, and star formation rates of stellar clusters and associations across the sample of SINGS galaxies.
Brunner Gregory
Dufour Reginald
Sheth Kartik
Vogel Stuart
Wolfire Mark
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