Physics
Scientific paper
Jun 2005
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2005sptz.prop20610c&link_type=abstract
Spitzer Proposal ID #20610
Physics
Scientific paper
Knowledge of the nature of molecular gas at sub-solar metallicities is essential for understanding the process of star formation both in the local and the high-redshift universe. CO is usually used to trace the molecular phase, but there have been no extragalactic detections of CO in environments more metal poor than the SMC. With detailed studies of nearby metal-deficient systems, we can discern trends between molecular gas properties and ambient metallicity that may be generalized to more distant systems. In this project we propose IRS spectral mapping observations of carefully-selected star formation regions in the nearby extremely metal-poor (less than 5% solar abundance) dwarf galaxy Leo A, concentrating on the S(0) H2 pure rotational line at 28 microns. The unprecedented sensitivity of Spitzer will allow variations in molecular gas content to be studied as a function of HI column density, stellar population, HI line width, H Alpha luminosity, and dust content. These data will directly probe the molecular phase, overcoming the limitations of tracer species that may be environmentally-dependent. These observations are designed to provide the first detections of molecular gas in extremely metal-poor environments, thus giving new insights into the low-metallicity ISM. These observations will allow a concise investigation of the H2 content of low-metallicity galaxies in a modest number of telescope hours, and the results will be applicable to a wide range of models of star formation at low metallicities.
Cannon John
Skillman Evan
Walter Fabian
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