molecular gas and star formation in nearby galaxies
DESCRIPTION
Molecular Gas and Star Formation in Nearby Galaxies. Tony Wong Bolton Fellow. Australia Telescope National Facility. Outline. Observations of molecular gas in galaxies CO single-dish CO interferometry (Sub)millimetre dust emission UV absorption - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
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Molecular Gas and Star Formation in Nearby Galaxies
Tony WongTony Wong
Bolton Fellow
Australia Telescope National Facility
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Outline1. Observations of molecular gas in galaxies
– CO single-dish
– CO interferometry
– (Sub)millimetre dust emission
– UV absorption
2. Current issues in relating H2 to star formation
– Radial CO distributions, vs. HI and stellar light
– The Schmidt law within galaxies
– Triggered (sequential) star formation
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CO as a Tracer of H2
Advantages of the CO molecule:
1. Most abundant trace molecule: 10-5 of H2
2. Rotational lines easily excited: E10/k = 5.5 K
3. Effective critical density quite low, due to high opacity: ncr/ ~ 300 cm-3
Disadvantages:
1. Optically thick in most regions
2. Not as self-shielding as H2
3. Expect low abundance in metal-poor regions
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CO Single-Dish Studies
1. 300 galaxies, incl. most bright northern ones
2. CO usually peaked toward galaxy centres (Young et al. 1995)
3. CO linearly related to star formation tracers (Rownd & Young 1996) except in merging or interacting galaxies (Young et al. 1996)
4. Molecular gas not easily stripped by intracluster medium (Kenney & Young 1986, 1989)
The baseline for our understanding of H2 in galaxies
FCRAO Extragalactic CO Survey:
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Local Group: LMC
CO (1-0)
4m NANTEN telescope (2.6’ ~ 40 pc)
Fukui et al. 1999, 2001
168 GMCs identified
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Local Group: M31
30m IRAM (23” ~ 70 pc)
Neininger et al. 2001
• CO in narrow arms extending into inner disk
• No structure comparable to Milky Way’s Molecular Ring
•CO appears to trace H2 well (no dust extinction w/o CO)
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CO InterferometryIndividual case studies (e.g. NGC 4736)
Wong & Blitz 2000, BIMA E. Schinnerer, PdB
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Large-Scale Mapping: BIMA SONG
44 nearby spirals
6”-9” resolution
Most maps extend to 100” radius or more
Single-dish data included
Helfer et al. 2003,ApJS 145:259
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High Resolution Towards Nuclei
IRAM PdB NUGA
NGC 1068
(Baker 2000)
NGC 4826
(García-Burillo et al. 2003)
OVRO MAIN
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Other Probes of H2
(Sub)millimetre dust emission
• Reveals cold dust not seen by IRAS
• Conversion to NH depends on Td (but only linearly),
grain parameters, and gas-to-dust ratio
• Very good correlation with CO (Alton et al. 2002)
UV absorption towards continuum sources
• Extremely sensitive tracer of diffuse H2
• Tumlinson et al. 2002: diffuse H2 fraction in MCs
very low (~1% vs. ~10% in Galaxy)
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CO Profiles from BIMA SONGR
eg
an
et a
l. (2001)
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CO Profiles from BIMA SONGOf 27 SONG galaxies for which reliable CO profiles could be derived, 19 show evidence of a central CO excess corresponding to the stellar bulge.
12
15
3
6
9
SA SAB/SB
Central excessNo central excess
(5) (6)
(14)
(2)
2
4
6
8
10
Sab/Sb Sbc Sc/Scd
Central excessNo central excess
Thornley, Spohn-Larkins, Regan, & Sheth (2003)
CO excesses are found in galaxies of all Hubble types, and preferentially in galaxies with some bar contribution (SAB-SB).
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CO vs. HI Radial ProfilesOverlaid CO (KP 12m) and HI (VLA)
images
Crosthwaite et al. 2001, 2002
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CO vs. HI Radial ProfilesIC 342 M83
Crosthwaite et al. 2001, 2002
HI
CO
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Atomic to Molecular Gas Ratio
Wong & Blitz (2002) found evidence for a
strong dependence of the HI/H2 ratio on the
hydrostatic midplane pressure.
Consistent with ISM modelling (e.g.
Elmegreen 1993) & observations of star formation “edges.”
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The Edge-On Spiral NGC 891
WSRT HI
Sw
ate
rs,
San
cisi
, &
van
der
Hu
lst
(19
97
)
BIMA CO
10
kp
c
Won
g,
How
k, &
van
der
Hu
lst
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The Star Formation Law
Various empirical “laws” have been devised to explain correlations between SFR and other quantities, the most popular being the Schmidt law:
SFR (gas)n
Ken
nicu
tt 1998
n=1.4 ± 0.15
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Determining the SFR
A difficulty with such studies is estimating SFRs from H fluxes, which are subject to extinction.
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Determining the SFR
Kewley et al. (‘02) derive a correction factor of ~3 for H, and conclude that LIR is a
better SFR indicator.
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Considering HI and H2 Separately
Within galaxies, the SFR surface density is roughly proportional to (H2) but is poorly correlated with HI.
Wo
ng
& B
litz 2002
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Origin of Schmidt Law Index
1. Stars form on dynamical timescale of gas:
5.15.0)( gas
gas
gasSFR G
2. Stars form on a constant timescale from H2 only:
,molSFR mgasmolf )4.0( m
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Normalisation of the Schmidt Law
Elmegreen (2002) derives the observed SF timescale from the fraction of gas above a critical density of ~105 cm–3, which in turn is determined by the density PDF resulting from turbulence.
See also Kravtsov (2003).
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Sequential Star FormationCan pressures from one generation of stars compress surrounding gas to form a new generation?
Ya
ma
gu
ch
i et a
l. 200
1
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Summary1.High-resolution observations of molecular gas in
nearby galaxies, using the CO line as a tracer, are becoming available for large numbers of galaxies.
2.At high resolution, CO radial profile often shows a depression or excess relative to exponential.
3.The CO/HI ratio decreases strongly with radius, mainly due to decreasing interstellar pressure.
4.The SFR (traced by Ha or IR emission) is well-correlated with CO but not necessarily HI.
5.The ‘universality’ of the Schmidt law may be related to the generic nature of turbulence.