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arXiv · 1001.4757

Characterizing the Low-Mass Molecular Component in the Northern Small Magellanic Cloud

E. Muller·J. Ott·A. Hughes·J. Pineda·T. Wong·N. Mizuno·A. Kawamura·Y. Mizuno·Y. Fukui·T. Onishi·M. Rubio
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Abstract

We present here the first results from a high-resolution survey of the 12CO(J=1-0) emission across the northern part of the poorly-enriched Small Magellanic Cloud, made with the ATNF Mopra telescope. Three molecular complexes detected in the lower resolution NANTEN survey are mapped with a beam FWHM of ~42'', to sensitivities of approximately 210 mK per 0.9 km/s channel, resolving each complex into 4-7 small clouds of masses in the range of Mvir~10^3-4 Msol and with radii no larger than 16 pc. The northern SMC CO clouds follow similar empirical relationships to the southern SMC population, yet they appear relatively under-luminous for their size, suggesting that the star-forming environment in the SMC is not homogeneous. Our data also suggests that the CO cloud population has little or no extended CO envelope on scales<30 pc, further evidence that the weak CO component in the north SMC is being disassociated by penetrating UV radiation. The new high-resolution data provide evidence for a variable correlation of the CO integrated brightness with integrated HI and um emission; in particular CO is often, but not always, found coincident with peaks of um emission, verifying the need for matching-resolution um and HI data for a complete assessment of the SMC H2 mass.

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E. Muller, J. Ott, A. Hughes, J. Pineda, T. Wong, N. Mizuno, A. Kawamura, Y. Mizuno, Y. Fukui, T. Onishi, M. Rubio. 2010-01-26. Characterizing the Low-Mass Molecular Component in the Northern Small Magellanic Cloud. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637x%2F712%2F2%2F1248

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