Warm molecular gas in a starburst - CO (3-2) observations of Maffei 2

Details Warm molecular gas in a starburst - CO (3-2) observations of Maffei 2 Warm molecular gas in a starburst - CO (3-2) observations of Maffei 2

Feb 1993

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1993apj...404..602h&link_type=abstract

Astrophysical Journal, Part 1 (ISSN 0004-637X), vol. 404, no. 2, p. 602-610.

Other

19

Carbon Monoxide, Emission Spectra, Galactic Radiation, Molecular Gases, Starburst Galaxies, Molecular Clouds, Optical Thickness, Spiral Galaxies

Scientific paper

We have mapped the CO J = 3-2 emission in the inner 60 arcsec (1500 pc) of the nearby SBb(s) pec galaxy Maffei 2 with the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory (CSO). The morphology of the CO (3-2) matches that seen in CO (1-0) interferometric maps, possessing a barlike structure that is coincident with the morphology of radio continuum and mid-infrared observations of the extended starburst region. By assuming that the observed CO (3-2) emission is optically thin we set lower limits to the molecular column densities along the bar of N(H2) = 6.9 x 10 exp 20/sq cm or greater and to the total molecular mass of M(H2) = 6 x 10 exp 6 M(solar) or greater. Since this reflects only about 3 percent of the total molecular mass for the region estimated from (C-13)O (1-0) measurements, the CO (3-2) observations probably sample only the outer, and possibly warmer, surfaces of very optically thick molecular clouds. Indeed, comparisons with other CO transitions indicate that the emission is optically thick with tau(CO)(3-2) about 25-35, which is consistent with the optical depths inferred from CO (1-0) observations.

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