Distribution and kinematics of CO in the spiral galaxy M51

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy

Scientific paper

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Carbon Monoxide, Galactic Structure, Molecular Clouds, Radio Sources (Astronomy), Spiral Galaxies, Brightness Distribution, Carbon Isotopes, Density Wave Model, Emission Spectra, Galactic Rotation, Kinematics, Radial Velocity

Scientific paper

A study is conducted of the CO J = 1-0 emission from 75 positions in the Sc galaxy M51, with a 33-arcsec spatial resolution. The radial CO brightness distribution is noted to exhibit a strong peak at about 1 kpc, followed by a sharp decrease to a more gradually decaying disk distribution. The intense central emission region exhibits oval-shaped ridge structures which may reflect the presence of incipient spiral arms, dominated by massive giant molecular clouds. The motion in this region deviates from circular rotation. Spiral arm features appear to be present in the disk CO distribution, with an average contrast ratio of about 20 percent, and comparisons between the H-alpha and CO rotational velocities show that the molecular gas rotates systematically more slowly than the ionized gas.

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