Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Jan 1994
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1994a%26a...281..725c&link_type=abstract
Astronomy and Astrophysics (ISSN 0004-6361), vol. 281, no. 3, p. 725-736
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
55
Carbon Monoxide, Far Infrared Radiation, Galactic Clusters, Gas Flow, Gravitational Effects, Infrared Astronomy, Interacting Galaxies, Star Formation, Starburst Galaxies, Correlation, Emission Spectra, Southern Sky, Stellar Color, Stellar Luminosity
Scientific paper
We present CO(1-0) observations of 51 galaxies from an optically-selected smaple of binaries in the southern hemisphere. Data were taken with the SEST 15m telescope (44 in beam). CO emission was detected from 33 galaxies, corresponding to a 65% detection rate. There is a strong correlation between the normalized CO and FIR luminosities. As already noted in other samples, the far infrared luminosity L(FIR) normalized to the blue luminosity and the star formation efficiency, as traced by the L(FIR)/M(H2) ratio, are enhanced, suggesting a tidal trigger for the star-formation. The FIR luminosity normalized to the optical surface is also enhanced. The CO luminosity is enhanced in tidally perturbed objects, suggesting that the amount of molecular gas is higher in the interacting objetcs. The L(FIR)/L(B), and L(CO)/L(B) ratios correlate, although weakly, with the component separation in the binaries, while the L(FIR)/M(H2) does not. This suggests that one of the main phenomena triggering star formation is the enhancement in the total amount of molecular gas. The gas inflow is probably due to gravitational torques produced by tidal interaction. Our observations show that interacting galaxies have both a higher star formation efficiency and a larger mass of molecular gas available to fuel star formation.
Combes François
Prugniel Philippe
Rampazzo Roberto
Sulentic Jack W.
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