Giant molecular clouds in the Galaxy. I - The axisymmetric distribution of H2

Details Giant molecular clouds in the Galaxy. I - The axisymmetric distribution of H2 Giant molecular clouds in the Galaxy. I - The axisymmetric distribution of H2

Jan 1984

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1984apj...276..182s&link_type=abstract

Astrophysical Journal, Part 1 (ISSN 0004-637X), vol. 276, Jan. 1, 1984, p. 182-203.

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

474

Carbon Monoxide, Hydrogen, Interstellar Gas, Mass Distribution, Milky Way Galaxy, Molecular Clouds, Disk Galaxies, Early Stars, Galactic Rotation, Gravitational Collapse, Spectrum Analysis, Stellar Evolution

Scientific paper

A two-dimensional (l, b) survey of molecular clouds in the Galaxy is presented. Observations of CO (J = 1→0) emission at over 2500 positions between l = -4° and 170° are interpreted to determine the distribution of molecules at galactic radius, R, from 0 to 16 kpc. The radial distribution of CO surface brightness ICO, exhibits a sharp maximum in the central 1.5 kpc, a minimum at R = 1.5 - 3.5 kpc, and a ring peaking at 6 kpc. Between 6 and 15 kpc, ICO falls by two orders of magnitude, while 21 cm measurements show virtually constant H I surface density. The conversion of ICO to H2 mass is discussed. All empirical measures of this conversion factor agree to better than a factor of 2. The H2 density and surface density are presented as a function of R and z out to R = 16 kpc and compared with the H I densities. The total surface density of interstellar gas (H2 + H I) as function of R is derived from these data. In particular, a detailed discussion of the distribution of interstellar gas in the galactic center region is presented.

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