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arXiv · astro-ph/0603173

Methanol detection in M82

Abstract

We present a multilevel study of the emission of methanol, detected for the first time in this galaxy, and discuss the origin of its emission. The high observed methanol abundance of a few 10^-9 can only be explained if injection of methanol from dust grains is taken into account. While the overall [CH3OH]/[NH3] ratio is much larger than observed towards other starbursts, the dense high excitation component shows a similar value to that found in NGC 253 and Maffei 2. Our observations suggest the molecular material in M 82 to be formed by dense warm cores, shielded from the UV radiation and similar to the molecular clouds in other starbursts, surrounded by a less dense photodissociated halo. The dense warm cores are likely the location of recent and future star formation within M 82.

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S. Martín, J. Martín-Pintado, R. Mauersberger. 2006-03-07. Methanol detection in M82. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361%3A200600021

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