Gas Dynamics and Outflow in the Barred Starburst Galaxy NGC 1808 Revealed with ALMA

NGC 1808 is a nearby barred starburst galaxy with an outflow from the nuclear region. To study the inflow and outflow processes related to star formation and dynamical evolution of the galaxy, we have carried out $^{12}$CO ($J=1-0$) mapping observations of the central $r\sim4$ kpc of NGC 1808 using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). Four distinct components of molecular gas are revealed at high spatial resolution of 2\arcsec ($\sim100$ pc): (1) a compact ($r<200$ pc) circumnuclear disk (CND), (2) $r\sim500$ pc ring, (3) gas-rich galactic bar, and (4) spiral arms. Basic geometric and kinematic parameters are derived for the central 1-kpc region using tilted-ring modeling. The derived rotation curve reveals multiple mass components that include (1) a stellar bulge, (2) nuclear bar and molecular CND, and (3) unresolved massive (\sim10^7~M_\sun) core. Two systemic velocities, 998 km s$^{-1}$ for the CND and 964 km s$^{-1}$ for the 500-pc ring, are revealed, indicating a kinematic offset. The pattern speed of the primary bar, derived by using a cloud-orbit model, is $56\pm11$ km s$^{-1}$ kpc$^{-1}$. Non-circular motions are detected associated with a nuclear spiral pattern and outflow in the central 1-kpc region. The ratio of the mass outflow rate to the star formation rate is $\dot{M}_\mathrm{out}/SFR\sim0.2$ in the case of optically thin CO (1-0) emission in the outflow, suggesting low efficiency of star formation quenching.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journa

Hot Ammonia in the Center of the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 3079

We present the results of ammonia observations toward the center of NGC 3079. The NH3(J, K) = (1, 1) and (2, 2) inversion lines were detected in absorption with the Tsukuba 32-m telescope, and the NH3(1,1) through (6,6) lines with the VLA, although the profile of NH3(3,3) was in emission in contrast to the other transitions. The background continuum source, whose flux density was ~50 mJy, could not be resolved with the VLA beam of ~< 0."09 x 0."08. All ammonia absorption lines have two distinct velocity components: one is at the systemic velocity and the other is blueshifted, and both components are aligned along the nuclear jets. For the systemic components, the relatively low temperature gas is extended more than the high temperature gas. The blueshifted NH3(3,3) emission can be regarded as ammonia masers associated with shocks by strong winds probably from newly formed massive stars or supernova explosions in dense clouds in the nuclear megamaser disk. Using para-NH3(1,1), (2,2), (4,4) and (5,5) lines with VLA, we derived the rotational temperature Trot = 120 +- 12 K and 157 +- 19 K for the systemic and blueshifted components, respectively. The total column densities of NH3(0,0)-(6,6), assuming Tex ~Trot, were (8.85+-0.70) x 10^16 cm^-2 and (4.47+-0.78) x 10^16 cm-2 for the systemic and blueshifted components, respectively. The fractional abundance of NH3 relative to molecular hydrogen H2 for the systemic and blueshifted was [NH3]/[H2]=1.3x10^-7 and 6.5 x 10^-8, respectively. We also found the F = 4-4 and F = 5-5 doublet lines of OH 2{Pi}3/2 J = 9/2 in absorption, which could be fitted by two velocity components, systemic and redshifted components. The rotational temperature of OH was estimated to be Trot,OH >~ 175 K, tracing hot gas associated with the interaction of the fast nuclear outflow with dense molecular material around the nucleus.Comment: 25 pages, 9 figures, Accepted for publication in PAS

Discovery of H2O Megamasers in Obscured Active Galactic Nuclei

Recently a new method to discover obscured active galactic nuclei (AGNs) by utilizing X-ray and Infrared data has been developed. We carried out a survey of H2O maser emission toward ten obscured AGNs with the Nobeyama 45-m telescope. We newly detected the maser emission with the signal-noise-ratio (SNR) of above 4 from two AGNs, NGC 1402 and NGC 7738. We also found a tentative detection with its SNR > 3 in NGC 5037. The detection rate of 20% is higher than those of previous surveys (usually several percents).Comment: 5 pages, 1 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication in PAS

Large-scale CO (J=4-3) Mapping toward the Orion-A Giant Molecular Cloud

We have mapped the Orion-A Giant Molecular Cloud in the CO (J=4-3) line with the Tsukuba 30-cm submillimeter telescope.The map covered a 7.125 deg^2 area with a 9' resolution, including main components of the cloud such as Orion Nebula, OMC-2/3, and L1641-N. The most intense emission was detected toward the Orion KL region. The integrated intensity ratio between CO (J=4-3) and CO (J=1-0) was derived using data from the Columbia-Univ. de Chile CO survey, which was carried out with a comparable angular resolution. The ratio was r_{4-3/1-0} ~ 0.2 in the southern region of the cloud and 0.4-0.8 at star forming regions. We found a trend that the ratio shows higher value at edges of the cloud. In particular the ratio at the north-eastern edge of the cloud at (l, b) = (208.375 deg, -19.0 deg) shows the specific highest value of 1.1. The physical condition of the molecular gas in the cloud was estimated by non-LTE calculation. The result indicates that the kinetic temperature has a gradient from north (Tkin=80 K) to south (20 K). The estimation shows that the gas associated with the edge of the cloud is warm (Tkin~60 K), dense (n_{H_2}~10^4 cm^{-3}), and optically thin, which may be explained by heating and sweeping of interstellar materials from OB clusters.Comment: 12 pages, 11 figures; Accepted for publication in PAS