345 research outputs found
Supporting Your Researchers
Article by subject librarians at the University of East London describing the organisation and outcome of a Research Support Day held in order to inform academic staff of new resources and training opportunities (especially in new databases and other electronic resources such as Endnote) and find out their current training needs. The article contains practical tips for librarians on how to organise a similar event and feed back from attendees
Low, Milky-Way like, Molecular Gas Excitation of Massive Disk Galaxies at z~1.5
We present evidence for Milky-Way-like, low-excitation molecular gas
reservoirs in near-IR selected massive galaxies at z~1.5, based on IRAM Plateau
de Bure Interferometer CO[3-2] and NRAO Very Large Array CO[1-0] line
observations for two galaxies that had been previously detected in CO[2-1]
emission. The CO[3-2] flux of BzK-21000 at z=1.522 is comparable within the
errors to its CO[2-1] flux, implying that the CO[3-2] transition is
significantly sub-thermally excited. The combined CO[1-0] observations of the
two sources result in a detection at the 3 sigma level that is consistent with
a higher CO[1-0] luminosity than that of CO[2-1]. Contrary to what is observed
in submillimeter galaxies and QSOs, in which the CO transitions are thermally
excited up to J>=3, these galaxies have low-excitation molecular gas, similar
to that in the Milky Way and local spirals. This is the first time that such
conditions have been observed at high redshift. A Large Velocity Gradient
analysis suggests that molecular clouds with density and kinetic temperature
comparable to local spirals can reproduce our observations. The similarity in
the CO excitation properties suggests that a high, Milky-Way-like, CO to H_2
conversion factor could be appropriate for these systems. If such
low-excitation properties are representative of ordinary galaxies at high
redshift, centimeter telescopes such as the Expanded Very Large Array and the
longest wavelength Atacama Large Millimeter Array bands will be the best tools
for studying the molecular gas content in these systems through the
observations of CO emission lines.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures. ApJ Letters in pres
[S IV] in the NGC 5253 Supernebula: Ionized Gas Kinematics at High Resolution
The nearby dwarf starburst galaxy NGC 5253 hosts a deeply embedded
radio-infrared supernebula excited by thousands of O stars. We have observed
this source in the 10.5{\mu}m line of S+3 at 3.8 kms-1 spectral and 1.4"
spatial resolution, using the high resolution spectrometer TEXES on the IRTF.
The line profile cannot be fit well by a single Gaussian. The best simple fit
describes the gas with two Gaussians, one near the galactic velocity with FWHM
33.6 km s-1 and another of similiar strength and FWHM 94 km s-1 centered \sim20
km s-1 to the blue. This suggests a model for the supernebula in which gas
flows towards us out of the molecular cloud, as in a "blister" or "champagne
flow" or in the HII regions modelled by Zhu (2006).Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal 4 June 201
The volume densities of giant molecular clouds in M83
Using observed GALEX far-ultraviolet (FUV) fluxes and VLA images of the 21-cm
HI column densities, along with estimates of the local dust abundances, we
measure the volume densities of a sample of actively star-forming giant
molecular clouds (GMCs) in the nearby spiral galaxy M83 on a typical resolution
scale of 170 pc. Our approach is based on an equilibrium model for the cycle of
molecular hydrogen formation on dust grains and photodissociation under the
influence of the FUV radiation on the cloud surfaces of GMCs. We find a range
of total volume densities on the surface of GMCs in M83, namely 0.1 - 400 cm-3
inside R25, 0.5 - 50 cm-3 outside R25 . Our data include a number of GMCs in
the HI ring surrounding this galaxy. Finally, we discuss the effects of
observational selection, which may bias our results.Comment: 9 pages, 11 figure
CO(1-0), CO(2-1) and Neutral Gas in NGC 6946: Molecular Gas in a Late-Type, Gas Rich, Spiral Galaxy
We present "On The Fly" maps of the CO(1-0) and CO(2-1) emission covering a
10' X 10' region of the NGC 6946. Using our CO maps and archival VLA HI
observations we create a total gas surface density map, Sigma_gas, for NGC
6946. The predominantly molecular inner gas disk transitions smoothly into an
atomic outer gas disk, with equivalent atomic and molecular gas surface
densities at R = 3.5' (6 kpc). We estimate that the total H2 mass is 3 X 10^9
Mo, roughly 1/3 of the interstellar hydrogen gas mass, and about 2% of the
dynamical mass of the galaxy at our assumed distance of 6 Mpc. The value of the
CO(2-1)/CO(1-0) line ratio ranges from 0.35 to 2; 50% of the map is covered by
very high ratio, >1, gas. The very high ratios are predominantly from interarm
regions and appear to indicate the presence of wide-spread optically thin gas.
Star formation tracers are better correlated with the total neutral gas disk
than with the molecular gas by itself implying SFR is proportional to
Sigma_gas. Using the 100 FIR and 21 cm continuum from NGC 6946 as star
formation tracers, we arrive at a gas consumption timescale of 2.8 Gyr, which
is relatively uniform across the disk. The high star formation rate at the
nucleus appears to be due to a large accumulation of molecular gas rather than
a large increase in the star formation efficiency. The mid-plane gas pressure
in the outer (R > 10 kpc) HI arms of NGC 6946 is close to the value at the
radial limit (10 kpc) of our observed CO disk. If the mid-plane gas pressure is
a factor for the formation of molecular clouds, these outer HI gas arms should
contain molecular gas which we do not see because they are beyond our detection
limit
Nuclear Bar Catalyzed Star Formation: 13^CO, C18^O and Molecular Gas Properties in the Nucleus of Maffei 2
(Abridged) We present resolution maps of CO, its isotopologues, and HCN from
in the center of Maffei 2. The J=1-0 rotational lines of 12^CO, 13^CO, C18^O
and HCN, and the J=2-1 lines of 13^CO and C18^O were observed with the OVRO and
BIMA arrays. The 2-1/1-0 line ratios of the isotopologues constrain the bulk of
the molecular gas to originate in low excitation, subthermal gas. From LVG
modeling, we infer that the central GMCs have n(H_2) ~10^2.75 cm^-3 and T_k ~
30 K. Continuum emission at 3.4 mm, 2.7 mm and 1.4 mm was mapped to determine
the distribution and amount of HII regions and dust. Column densities derived
from C18^O and 1.4 mm dust continuum fluxes indicate the CO conversion factor
in the center of Maffei 2 is lower than Galactic by factors of ~2-4. Gas
morphology and the clear ``parallelogram'' in the Position-Velocity diagram
shows that molecular gas orbits within the potential of a nuclear (~220 pc)
bar. The nuclear bar is distinct from the bar that governs the large scale
morphology of Maffei 2. Giant molecular clouds in the nucleus are nonspherical
and have large linewidths. Dense gas and star formation are concentrated at the
sites of the x_1-x_2 orbit intersections of the nuclear bar, suggesting that
the starburst is dynamically triggered.Comment: 50 pages, 14 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
An extragalactic supernebula confined by gravity
Little is known about the origins of the giant star clusters known as
globular clusters. How can hundreds of thousands of stars form simultaneously
in a volume only a few light years across the distance of the sun to its
nearest neighbor? Radiation pressure and winds from luminous young stars should
disperse the star-forming gas and disrupt the formation of the cluster.
Globular clusters in our Galaxy cannot provide answers; they are billions of
years old. Here we report the measurement of infrared hydrogen recombination
lines from a young, forming super star cluster in the dwarf galaxy, NGC 5253.
The lines arise in gas heated by a cluster of an estimated million stars, so
young that it is still enshrouded in gas and dust, hidden from optical view. We
verify that the cluster contains 4000-6000 massive, hot "O" stars. Our
discovery that the gases within the cluster are bound by gravity may explain
why these windy and luminous O stars have not yet blown away the gases to allow
the cluster to emerge from its birth cocoon. Young clusters in "starbursting"
galaxies in the local and distant universe may be similarly gravitationally
confined and cloaked from view.Comment: Letter to Natur
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