Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
1998-03-19
Astrophys.J. 503 (1998) 219
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
15 pages with 10 figures. To appear in the August 10 1998 issue of The Astrophysical Journal
Scientific paper
10.1086/305975
This paper presents CI, CO J=4-3, and CO J=3-2 maps of the barred spiral galaxy M83 taken at the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope. Observations indicate a double peaked structure which is consistent with gas inflow along the bar collecting at the inner Lindblad resonance. This structure suggests that nuclear starbursts can occur even in galaxies where this inflow/collection occurs, in contrast to previous studies of barred spiral galaxies. However, the observations also suggest that the double peaked emission may be the result of a rotating molecular ring oriented nearly perpendicular to the main disk of the galaxy. The CO J=4-3 data indicate the presence of warm gas in the nucleus that is not apparent in the lower-J CO observations, which suggests that CO J=1-0 emission may not be a reliable tracer of molecular gas in starburst galaxies. The twelve CI/CO J=4-3 line ratios in the inner 24'' x 24'' are uniform at the 2 sigma level, which indicates that the CO J=4-3 emission is originating in the same hot photon-dominated regions as the CI emission. The CO J=4-3/J=3-2 line ratios vary significantly within the nucleus with the higher line ratios occurring away from peaks of emission along an arc of active star forming regions. These high line ratios (>1) likely indicate optically thin gas created by the high temperatures caused by star forming regions in the nucleus of this starburst galaxy.
Petitpas Glen R.
Wilson Christine Diana
No associations
LandOfFree
The Physical Conditions and Dynamics of the Interstellar Medium in the Nucleus of M83: Observations of CO and CI 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 The Physical Conditions and Dynamics of the Interstellar Medium in the Nucleus of M83: Observations of CO and CI, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and The Physical Conditions and Dynamics of the Interstellar Medium in the Nucleus of M83: Observations of CO and CI will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-528511