46 research outputs found
Physical Properties of Giant Molecular Clouds in the Large Magellanic Cloud
The Magellanic Mopra Assessment (MAGMA) is a high angular resolution CO
mapping survey of giant molecular clouds (GMCs) in the Large and Small
Magellanic Clouds using the Mopra Telescope. Here we report on the basic
physical properties of 125 GMCs in the LMC that have been surveyed to date. The
observed clouds exhibit scaling relations that are similar to those determined
for Galactic GMCs, although LMC clouds have narrower linewidths and lower CO
luminosities than Galactic clouds of a similar size. The average mass surface
density of the LMC clouds is 50 Msol/pc2, approximately half that of GMCs in
the inner Milky Way. We compare the properties of GMCs with and without signs
of massive star formation, finding that non-star-forming GMCs have lower peak
CO brightness than star-forming GMCs. We compare the properties of GMCs with
estimates for local interstellar conditions: specifically, we investigate the
HI column density, radiation field, stellar mass surface density and the
external pressure. Very few cloud properties demonstrate a clear dependence on
the environment; the exceptions are significant positive correlations between
i) the HI column density and the GMC velocity dispersion, ii) the stellar mass
surface density and the average peak CO brightness, and iii) the stellar mass
surface density and the CO surface brightness. The molecular mass surface
density of GMCs without signs of massive star formation shows no dependence on
the local radiation field, which is inconsistent with the
photoionization-regulated star formation theory proposed by McKee (1989). We
find some evidence that the mass surface density of the MAGMA clouds increases
with the interstellar pressure, as proposed by Elmegreen (1989), but the
detailed predictions of this model are not fulfilled once estimates for the
local radiation field, metallicity and GMC envelope mass are taken into
account.Comment: 28 pages, 10 figures, accepted by MNRA
Dust in Hot Environments: Giant Dusty Galactic Halos
I review some of the evidences for dust in the Local Bubble and in galactic
halos and show that a general mechanism based on radiation pressure is capable
of evacuating dust grains from regions dominated by massive star energy input
and thus originate huge dusty halos. A Monte Carlo/particle model has been
developed to study the dust dynamics above HII chimneys and the results, among
other findings, show that dust can travel several kpc away from the plane of
the parent galaxy. The cosmological implications of extragalactic dust are
briefly outlined.Comment: 10 pages, LaTeX (lamuphys.sty), 3 figures, IAU166, The Local Bubble
and Beyond, Highlight Tal
Milestones in the Observations of Cosmic Magnetic Fields
Magnetic fields are observed everywhere in the universe. In this review, we
concentrate on the observational aspects of the magnetic fields of Galactic and
extragalactic objects. Readers can follow the milestones in the observations of
cosmic magnetic fields obtained from the most important tracers of magnetic
fields, namely, the star-light polarization, the Zeeman effect, the rotation
measures (RMs, hereafter) of extragalactic radio sources, the pulsar RMs, radio
polarization observations, as well as the newly implemented sub-mm and mm
polarization capabilities.
(Another long paragraph is omitted due to the limited space here)Comment: Invited Review (ChJA&A); 32 pages. Sorry if your significant
contributions in this area were not mentioned. Published pdf & ps files (with
high quality figures) now availble at http://www.chjaa.org/2002_2_4.ht
A High Resolution Study of the HI-H2 Transition across the Perseus Molecular Cloud
To investigate the fundamental principles of H2 formation in a giant
molecular cloud (GMC), we derive the HI and H2 surface density (Sigma_HI and
Sigma_H2) images of the Perseus molecular cloud on sub-pc scales (~0.4 pc). We
use the far-infrared data from the Improved Reprocessing of the IRAS Survey and
the V-band extinction image provided by the COMPLETE Survey to estimate the
dust column density image of Perseus. In combination with the HI data from the
Galactic Arecibo L-band Feed Array HI Survey and an estimate of the local
dust-to-gas ratio, we then derive the Sigma_H2 distribution across Perseus. We
find a relatively uniform Sigma_HI ~ 6-8 Msun pc^-2 for both dark and
star-forming regions, suggesting a minimum HI surface density required to
shield H2 against photodissociation. As a result, a remarkably tight and
consistent relation is found between Sigma_H2/Sigma_HI and Sigma_HI+Sigma_H2.
The transition between the HI- and H2-dominated regions occurs at N(HI)+2N(H2)
~ (8-14) x 10^20 cm^-2. Our findings are consistent with predictions for H2
formation in equilibrium, suggesting that turbulence may not be of primary
importance for H2 formation. However, the importance of a warm neutral medium
for H2 shielding, an internal radiation field, and the timescale of H2
formation still remain as open questions. We also compare H2 and CO
distributions and estimate the fraction of "CO-dark" gas, f_DG ~ 0.3. While
significant spatial variations of f_DG are found, we do not find a clear
correlation with the mean V-band extinction.Comment: updated to match the final version published in April 201
The Pressure of an Equilibrium Interstellar Medium in Galactic Disks
Based on an axisymmetric galactic disk model, we estimate the equilibrium gas
pressure P/k in the disk plane as a function of the galactocentric distance R
for several galaxies (MW, M33, M51, M81, M100, M101, M106, and the SMC). For
this purpose, we solve a self-consistent system of equations by taking into
account the gas self-gravity and the presence of a dark pseudo-isothermal halo.
We assume that the turbulent velocity dispersions of the atomic and molecular
gases are fixed and that the velocity dispersion of the old stellar disk
corresponds to its marginal stability (except for the Galaxy and the SMC). We
also consider a model with a constant disk thickness. Of the listed galaxies,
the SMC and M51 have the highest pressure at a given relative radius R/R_25,
while M81 has the lowest pressure. The pressure dependence of the relative
molecular gas fraction confirms the existence of a positive correlation between
these quantities, but it is not so distinct as that obtained previously when
the pressure was estimated very roughly. This dependence breaks down for the
inner regions of M81 and M106, probably because the gas pressure has been
underestimated in the bulge region. We discuss the possible effects of factors
other than the pressure affecting the relative content of molecular gas in the
galaxies under consideration.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure