The Submillimeter Array 1.3 mm line survey of Arp 220

Abstract

We present the first aperture synthesis unbiased spectral line survey toward an extragalactic object. The survey covered the 40 GHz frequency range between 202 and 242 GHz of the 1.3 mm atmospheric window. We find that 80% of the observed band shows molecular emission, with 73 features identified from 15 molecular species and 6 isotopologues. The 13C isotopic substitutions of HC3N and transitions from H2(18)O, 29SiO, and CH2CO are detected for the first time outside the Galaxy. Within the broad observed band, we estimate that 28% of the total measured flux is due to the molecular line contribution, with CO only contributing 9% to the overall flux. We present maps of the CO emission at a resolution of 2.9"x1.9" which, though not enough to resolve the two nuclei, recover all the single-dish flux. The 40 GHz spectral scan has been modelled assuming LTE conditions and abundances are derived for all identified species. The chemical composition of Arp 220 shows no clear evidence of an AGN impact on the molecular emission but seems indicative of a purely starburst-heated ISM. The overabundance of H2S and the low isotopic ratios observed suggest a chemically enriched environment by consecutive bursts of star formation, with an ongoing burst at an early evolutionary stage. The large abundance of water (~10^-5), derived from the isotopologue H2(18)O, as well as the vibrationally excited emission from HC3N and CH3CN are claimed to be evidence of massive star forming regions within Arp 220. Moreover, the observations put strong constraints on the compactness of the starburst event in Arp 220. We estimate that such emission would require ~2-8x10^6 hot cores, similar to those found in the Sgr B2 region in the Galactic center, concentrated within the central 700 pc of Arp 220.