1. |
- van der Werf, P.P., et al.
(författare)
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Black hole accretion and star formation as drivers of gas excitation and chemistry in Markarian 231
- 2010
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 518:Article Number: L42
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present a full high resolution SPIRE FTS spectrum of the nearby ultraluminous infrared galaxy Mrk 231. In total 25 lines are detected, including CO J = 5-4 through J = 13-12, 7 rotational lines of H2O, 3 of OH+ and one line each of H2O+, CH+, and HF. We find that the excitation of the CO rotational levels up to J = 8 can be accounted for by UV radiation from star formation. However, the approximately flat luminosity distribution of the CO lines over the rotational ladder above J = 8 requires the presence of a separate source of excitation for the highest CO lines. We explore X-ray heating by the accreting supermassive black hole in Mrk 231 as a source of excitation for these lines, and find that it can reproduce the observed luminosities. We also consider a model with dense gas in a strong UV radiation field to produce the highest CO lines, but find that this model strongly overpredicts the hot dust mass in Mrk 231. Our favoured model consists of a star forming disk of radius 560 pc, containing clumps of dense gas exposed to strong UV radiation, dominating the emission of CO lines up to J = 8. X-rays from the accreting supermassive black hole in Mrk 231 dominate the excitation and chemistry of the inner disk out to a radius of 160 pc, consistent with the X-ray power of the AGN in Mrk 231. The extraordinary luminosity of the OH+ and H2O+ lines reveals the signature of X-ray driven excitation and chemistry in this region.
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2. |
- Gratier, P., et al.
(författare)
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Molecular and atomic gas in the Local Group galaxy M 33
- 2010
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 522:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present high-resolution large-scale observations of the molecular and atomic gas in the Local Group galaxy M 33. The observations were carried out using the HEterodyne Receiver Array (HERA) at the 30 m IRAM telescope in the CO(2-1) line, achieving a resolution of 12 '' x 2.6 km s(-1), enabling individual giant molecular clouds (GMCs) to be resolved. The observed region is 650 square arcminutes mainly along the major axis and out to a radius of 8.5 kpc, and covers entirely the 2' x 40' radial strip observed with the HIFI and PACS Spectrometers as part of the HERM33ES Herschel key program. The achieved sensitivity in main-beam temperature is 20-50 mK at 2.6 km s(-1) velocity resolution. The CO(2-1) luminosity of the observed region is 1.7 +/- 0.1 x 10(7) K km s(-1) pc(2) and is estimated to be 2.8 +/- 0.3 x 10(7) K km s(-1) pc(2) for the entire galaxy, corresponding to H-2 masses of 1.9 x 10(8) M-circle dot and 3.3 x 10(8) M-circle dot respectively (including He), calculated with N(H-2)/ICO(1-0) twice the Galactic value due to the half-solar metallicity of M 33. The HI 21 cm VLA archive observations were reduced, and the mosaic was imaged and cleaned using the multi-scale task in the CASA software package, yielding a series of datacubes with resolutions ranging from 5 '' to 25 ''. The HI mass within a radius of 8.5 kpc is estimated to be 1.4 x 10(9) M-circle dot. The azimuthally averaged CO surface brightness decreases exponentially with a scale length of 1.9 +/- 0.1 kpc whereas the atomic gas surface density is constant at Sigma(HI) = 6 +/- 2 M-circle dot pc(-2) deprojected to face-on. For an N(H-2)/ICO(1-0) conversion factor twice that of the Milky Way, the central kiloparsec H-2 surface density is Sigma(H2) = 8.5 +/- 0.2 M-circle dot pc(-2). The star formation rate per unit molecular gas (SF efficiency, the rate of transformation of molecular gas into stars), as traced by the ratio of CO to H-alpha and FIR brightness, is constant with radius. The SFE, with a N(H-2)/ICO(1-0) factor twice galactic, appears 2-4 times greater than for large spiral galaxies. A morphological comparison of molecular and atomic gas with tracers of star formation is presented showing good agreement between these maps both in terms of peaks and holes. A few exceptions are noted. Several spectra, including those of a molecular cloud situated more than 8 kpc from the galaxy center, are presented.
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3. |
- Rosenberg, M. J. F., et al.
(författare)
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The Herschel Comprehensive (U)lirg Emission Survey (Hercules): Co Ladders, Fine Structure Lines, and Neutral Gas Cooling
- 2015
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Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal. - : American Astronomical Society. - 1538-4357 .- 0004-637X. ; 801:2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- (Ultra) luminous infrared galaxies ((U)LIRGs) are objects characterized by their extreme infrared (8-1000 mu m) luminosities (L-LIRG > 10(11) L-circle dot and L-ULIRG > 10(12) L-circle dot). The Herschel Comprehensive ULIRG Emission Survey (PI: van derWerf) presents a representative flux-limited sample of 29 (U)LIRGs that spans the full luminosity range of these objects (10(11)L(circle dot)
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4. |
- Gonzalez-Alfonso, E., et al.
(författare)
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Herschel observations of water vapour in Markarian 231
- 2010
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 518:Article Number: L43
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Ultra luminous infrared galaxy (ULIRG) Mrk 231 reveals up to seven rotational lines of water (H2O) in emission, including a very high-lying (Eupper = 640 K) line detected at a 4 sigma level, within the Herschel/SPIRE wavelength range (190
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5. |
- Meijerink, R., et al.
(författare)
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Evidence for CO Shock Excitation in NGC 6240 from Herschel SPIRE Spectroscopy
- 2013
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Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal Letters. - 2041-8213 .- 2041-8205. ; 762:2, s. L16-L20
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present Herschel SPIRE FTS spectroscopy of the nearby luminous infrared galaxy NGC 6240. In total 20 linesare detected, including CO J = 4−3 through J = 13−12, 6 H2O rotational lines, and [C i] and [N ii] fine-structurelines. The CO to continuum luminosity ratio is 10 times higher in NGC 6240 than Mrk 231. Although the COladdersof NGC 6240 and Mrk 231 are very similar, UV and/or X-ray irradiation are unlikely to be responsible for theexcitation of the gas in NGC 6240.We applied both C and J shock models to the H2 v = 1–0 S(1) and v = 2–1 S(1)lines and the CO rotational ladder. The CO ladder is best reproduced by amodel with shock velocity vs = 10 km s−1and a pre-shock density nH = 5 × 104 cm−3. We find that the solution best fitting the H2 lines is degenerate. The shock velocities and number densities range between vs = 17–47 km s−1 and nH = 107–5×104 cm−3, respectively.The H2 lines thus need a much more powerful shock than the CO lines.We deduce that most of the gas is currently moderately stirred up by slow (10 km s−1) shocks while only a small fraction (1%) of the interstellar mediumis exposed to the high-velocity shocks. This implies that the gas is rapidly losing its highly turbulent motions. We argue that a high CO line-to-continuum ratio is a key diagnostic for the presence of shocks.
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