1. |
- Henkel, C., et al.
(author)
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Molecular line emission in NGC 4945, imaged with ALMA
- 2018
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In: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 615
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- NGC 4945 is one of the nearest (D ≈ 3.8 Mpc; 1 00 ≈ 19 pc) starburst galaxies. To investigate the structure, dynamics, and composition of the dense nuclear gas of this galaxy, ALMA band 3 (λ ≈ 3−4 mm) observations were carried out with ≈2 00 resolution. Three HCN and two HC + isotopologues, CS, C 3 H 2 , SiO, HCO, and CH 3 C 2 H were measured. Spectral line imaging demonstrates the presence of a rotating nuclear disk of projected size 10 00 × 2 00 reaching out to a galactocentric radius of r ≈ 100 pc with position angle PA = 45 ◦ ± 2 ◦ , inclination i = 75 ◦ ± 2 ◦ and an unresolved bright central core of size <∼ 2 00 . The continuum source, representing mostly free-free radiation from star forming regions, is more compact than the nuclear disk by a linear factor of two but shows the same position angle and is centered 0 00 . 39 ± 0 00 . 14 northeast of the nuclear accretion disk defined by H 2 O maser emission. Near the systemic velocity but outside the nuclear disk, both HCN J = 1 → 0 and CS J = 2 → 1 delineate molecular arms of length >∼ 15 00 ( >∼ 285 pc) on opposite sides of the dynamical center. These are connected by a (deprojected) ≈ 0.6 kpc sized molecular bridge, likely a dense gaseous bar seen almost ends-on, shifting gas from the front and back side into the nuclear disk. Modeling this nuclear disk located farther inside (r <∼ 100 pc) with tilted rings provides a good fit by inferring a coplanar outflow reaching a characteristic deprojected velocity of ≈50 km s −1 . All our molecular lines, with the notable exception of CH 3 C 2 H, show significant absorption near the systemic velocity (≈571 km s −1 ), within the range ≈500-660 km s −1 . Apparently, only molecular transitions with low critical H 2 density (n crit<∼ 10 4 cm −3 ) do not show absorption. The velocity field of the nuclear disk, derived from CH 3 C 2 H, provides evidence for rigid rotation in the inner few arcseconds and a dynamical mass of M tot = (2.1 ± 0.2) × 10 8 M inside a galactocentric radius of 2 00 . 45 (≈45 pc), with a significantly flattened rotation curve farther out. Velocity integrated line intensity maps with most pronounced absorption show molecular peak positions up to ≈1 00 . 5 (≈30 pc) southwest of the continuum peak, presumably due to absorption, which appears to be most severe slightly northeast of the nuclear maser disk. A nitrogen isotope ratio of 14 N/ 15 N ≈ 200-450 is estimated. This range of values is much higher then previously reported on a tentative basis. Therefore, because 15 N is less abundant than expected, the question for strong 15 N enrichment by massive star ejecta in starbursts still remains to be settled.
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2. |
- Tang, X. D., et al.
(author)
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Kinetic temperature of massive star-forming molecular clumps measured with formaldehyde: IV. The ALMA view of N113 and N159W in the LMC
- 2021
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In: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 655
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We mapped the kinetic temperature structure of two massive star-forming regions, N113 and N159W, in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). We have used 1.6 (0.4 pc) resolution measurements of the para-H2CO JKaKc = 303-202, 322-221, and 321-220 transitions near 218.5 GHz to constrain RADEX non local thermodynamic equilibrium models of the physical conditions. The gas kinetic temperatures derived from the para-H2CO line ratios 322-221/303-202 and 321-220/303-202 range from 28 to 105 K in N113 and 29 to 68 K in N159W. Distributions of the dense gas traced by para-H2CO agree with those of the 1.3 mm dust and Spitzer 8.0 μm emission, but they do not significantly correlate with the Hα emission. The high kinetic temperatures (Tkin50 K) of the dense gas traced by para-H2CO appear to be correlated with the embedded infrared sources inside the clouds and/or young stellar objects in the N113 and N159W regions. The lower temperatures (Tkin < 50 K) were measured at the outskirts of the H2CO-bearing distributions of both N113 and N159W. It seems that the kinetic temperatures of the dense gas traced by para-H2CO are weakly affected by the external sources of the Hα emission. The non thermal velocity dispersions of para-H2CO are well correlated with the gas kinetic temperatures in the N113 region, implying that the higher kinetic temperature traced by para-H2CO is related to turbulence on a 0.4 pc scale. The dense gas heating appears to be dominated by internal star formation activity, radiation, and/or turbulence. It seems that the mechanism heating the dense gas of the star-forming regions in the LMC is consistent with that in Galactic massive star-forming regions located in the Galactic plane.
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3. |
- Henkel, C., et al.
(author)
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Carbon and oxygen isotope ratios in starburst galaxies: New data from NGC 253 and Mrk 231 and their implications
- 2014
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In: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 565
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Carbon and oxygen isotope ratios are excellent measures of nuclear processing, but few such data have been taken toward extragalactic targets so far. Therefore, using the IRAM 30-m telescope, CN and CO isotopologues have been measured toward the nearby starburst galaxy NGC 253 and the prototypical ultraluminous infrared galaxy Mrk 231. Toward the center of NGC 253, the CN and (CN)-C-13 N = 1 -> 0 lines indicate no significant deviations from expected local thermodynamical equilibrium after accounting for moderate saturation effects (10 and 25%) in the two detected spectral components of the main species. Including calibration uncertainties, which dominate the error budget, the C-12/C-13 ratio becomes 40 +/- 10. This is larger than the ratio in the central molecular zone of the Galaxy, suggesting a higher infall rate of poorly processed gas toward the central region. Assuming that the ratio also holds for the CO emitting gas, this yields O-16/O-18 = 145 +/- 36 and O-16/O-17 = 1290 +/- 365 and a S-32/S-34 ratio close to the one measured for the local interstellar medium (2025). No indication of vibrationally excited CN is found in the lower frequency fine structure components of the N = 1 -> 0 and 2 -> 1 transitions at rms noise levels of 3 and 4 mK (15 and 20 mJy) in 8.5 km s-1 wide channels. Peak line intensity ratios between NGC 253 and Mrk 231 are similar to 100 for (CO)-C-12-O-16 and (CO)-C-12-O-18 J = 1 -> 0, while the ratio for (CO)-C-13-O-16 J = 1 -> 0 is similar to 250. This and similar (CO)-C-13 and (CO)-O-18 line intensities in the J = 1 -> 0 and 2 -> 1 transitions of Mrk 231 suggest C-12/C-13 similar to 100 and O-16/O-18 similar to 100, in agreement with values obtained for the less evolved ultraluminous merger Arp 220. Also, when accounting for other (scarcely available) extragalactic data, C-12/C-13 ratios appear to vary over a full order of magnitude, from >100 in ultraluminous high redshift galaxies to similar to 100 in more local such galaxies to similar to 40 in weaker starbursts that are not undergoing a large scale merger to 25 in the central molecular zone of the Milky Way. With C-12 being predominantly synthesized in massive stars, while C-13 is mostly ejected by longer lived lower mass stars at later times, this is qualitatively consistent with our results of decreasing carbon isotope ratios with time and rising metallicity. It is emphasized, however, that both infall of poorly processed material, initiating a nuclear starburst, and the ejecta from newly formed massive stars (in particular in the case of a top-heavy stellar initial mass function) can raise the carbon isotope ratio for a limited amount of time.
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4. |
- Tang, X. D., et al.
(author)
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ALMA view of the C-12/C-13 isotopic ratio in starburst galaxies
- 2019
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In: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 629
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We derive molecular-gas-phase C-12/C-13 isotope ratios for the central few hundred parsecs of the three nearby starburst galaxies NGC 253, NGC 1068, and NGC 4945 making use of the lambda similar to 3 mm (CN)-C-12 and (CNN)-C-13= 1-0 lines in the ALMA Band 3. The C-12/C-13 isotopic ratios derived from the ratios of these lines range from 30 to 67 with an average of 41.6 +/- 0.2 in NGC 253, from 24 to 62 with an average of 38.3 +/- 0.4 in NGC 1068, and from 6 to 44 with an average of 16.9 +/- 0.3 in NGC 4945. The highest C-12/C-13 isotopic ratios are determined in some of the outskirts of the nuclear regions of the three starburst galaxies. The lowest ratios are associated with the northeastern and southwestern molecular peaks of NGC 253, the northeastern and southwestern edge of the mapped region in NGC 1068, and the very center of NGC 4945. In the case of NGC 1068, the measured ratios suggest inflow from the outer part of NGC 1068 into the circum-nuclear disk through both the halo and the bar. Low C-12/C-13 isotopic ratios in the central regions of these starburst galaxies indicate the presence of highly processed material.
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