arXiv subjects

Kazuo Sorai

Publications and source records attributed to Kazuo Sorai.

50 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2011

Detection of CO(J=1-0) Emission from Barred Spiral Galaxies at z~0.1

We present the results of CO (J=1-0) observations towards nine barred spiral galaxies at z=0.08-0.25 using the 45-m telescope at Nobeyama Radio Observatory (NRO). This survey is the first one specialized for barred spiral galaxies in this redshift range. We detected CO emission from six out of nine galaxies, whose CO luminosity (L_CO') ranges (1.09-10.8)\times10^9 K km s^{-1} pc^2. These are the infrared (IR) dimmest galaxies that have ever been detected in CO at z~0.1 to date. They follow the L_CO'-L_IR relation among local spiral galaxies, Luminous Infrared Galaxies (LIRGs), Ultra-Luminous Infrared Galaxies (ULIRGs) and Sub-millimeter Galaxies (SMGs). Their L_CO' and L_IR are higher than that of local spiral galaxies which have been detected in CO so far, and L_IR/L'_CO, which is a measure of star formation efficiency, is comparable to or slightly higher than that of local ones. This result suggests that these galaxies are forming stars more actively than local spirals galaxies simply because they have more fuel.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2011

Giant Molecular Clouds in the Spiral Arm of IC 342

We present results of 12CO (1--0) and 13CO (1--0) observations of the northeastern spiral arm segment of IC 342 with a ~50pc resolution carried out with the Nobeyama Millimeter Array. Zero-spacing components were recovered by combining with the existing data taken with the Nobeyama 45m telescope. The objective of this study is to investigate the variation of cloud properties across the spiral arm with a resolution comparable to the size of giant molecular clouds (GMCs). The observations cover a 1 kpc times 1.5 kpc region located ~2 kpc away from the galactic center, where a giant molecular association is located at trailing side and associated star forming regions at leading side. The spiral arm segment was resolved into a number of clouds whose size, temperature and surface mass density are comparable to typical GMCs in the Galaxy. Twenty-six clouds were identified from the combined data cube and the identified clouds followed the line width-size relation of the Galactic GMCs. The identified GMCs were divided into two categories according to whether they are associated with star formation activity or not. Comparison between both categories indicated that the active GMCs are more massive, have smaller line width, and are closer to virial equilibrium compared to the quiescent GMCs. These variations of the GMC properties suggest that dissipation of excess kinetic energy of GMC is a required condition for the onset of massive star formation.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2010

Dense Clumps in Giant Molecular Clouds in the Large Magellanic Cloud: Density and Temperature Derived from $^{13}$CO($J=3-2$) Observations

In order to precisely determine temperature and density of molecular gas in the Large Magellanic Cloud, we made observations of optically thin $^{13}$CO($J=3-2$) transition by using the ASTE 10m telescope toward 9 peaks where $^{12}$CO($J=3-2$) clumps were previously detected with the same telescope. The molecular clumps include those in giant molecular cloud (GMC) Types I (with no signs of massive star formation), II (with HII regions only), and III (with HII regions and young star clusters). We detected $^{13}$CO($J=3-2$) emission toward all the peaks and found that their intensities are 3 -- 12 times lower than those of $^{12}$CO($J=3-2$). We determined the intensity ratios of $^{12}$CO($J=3-2$) to $^{13}$CO($J=3-2$), $R^{12/13}_{3-2}$, and $^{13}$CO($J=3-2$) to $^{13}$CO($J=1-0$), $R^{13}_{3-2/1-0}$, at 45$\arcsec$ resolution. These ratios were used for radiative transfer calculations in order to estimate temperature and density of the clumps. The parameters of these clumps range kinetic temperature $T\mathrm{_{kin}}$ = 15 -- 200 K, and molecular hydrogen gas density $n(\mathrm{H_2})$ = 8$\times 10^2$ -- 7$\times 10^3$ cm$^{-3}$. We confirmed that the higher density clumps show higher kinetic temperature and that the lower density clumps lower kinetic temperature at a better accuracy than in the previous work. The kinetic temperature and density increase generally from a Type I GMC to a Type III GMC. We interpret that this difference reflects an evolutionary trend of star formation in molecular clumps. The $R^{13}_{3-2/1-0}$ and kinetic temperature of the clumps are well correlated with H$α$ flux, suggesting that the heating of molecular gas $n(\mathrm{H_2})$ = $10^3$ -- $10^4$ cm$^{-3}$ can be explained by stellar FUV photons.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2010

New Distance and Revised Natures of High Mass Star Formation in G5.89-0.39

We report on the astrometric observations of the 22 GHz H2O masers in the high mass star-forming region G5.89-0.39 with VERA (VLBI Exploration of Radio Astrometry). Newly derived distance of 1.28^{+0.09}_{-0.08} kpc is the most precise and significantly nearer than previous values. We revised physical parameters and reconsidered nature of G5.89-0.39 based on the new distance as follows. (1) The ionizing star of the ultra compact (UC) HII region is a late O-type (O8 - 8.5) zero age main sequence (ZAMS) star, consistent with previously established limits based on its infrared spectral line emission. (2) Crescent-like maser alignment at the position of the O type ZAMS star may trace accretion disk (or its remnant), which suggests that the star is still young and before complete evaporation of circumstellar materials. (3) Although the revised mass for the east-west outflow has been reduced, it still quite large (100 Msun) which indicates that a significant fraction of the mass is entrained material and that the dynamical age significantly underestimates the actual outflow age. Our newly-derived distance emphasizes that G5.89-0.39 is one of the nearest targets to investigate ongoing high-mass star formation and evolution in a compact cluster containing a young O-type star.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2009

VLBI Detections of Parsec-Scale Nonthermal Jets in Radio-Loud Broad Absorption Line Quasars

We conducted radio detection observations at 8.4 GHz for 22 radio-loud broad absorption line (BAL) quasars, selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Third Data Release, by a very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) technique. The VLBI instrument we used was developed by the Optically ConnecTed Array for VLBI Exploration project (OCTAVE), which is operated as a subarray of the Japanese VLBI Network (JVN). We aimed at selecting BAL quasars with nonthermal jets suitable for measuring their orientation angles and ages by subsequent detailed VLBI imaging studies to evaluate two controversial issues of whether BAL quasars are viewed nearly edge-on, and of whether BAL quasars are in a short-lived evolutionary phase of quasar population. We detected 20 out of 22 sources using the OCTAVE baselines, implying brightness temperatures greater than 10^5 K, which presumably come from nonthermal jets. Hence, BAL outflows and nonthermal jets can be generated simultaneously in these central engines. We also found four inverted-spectrum sources, which are interpreted as Doppler-beamed, pole-on-viewed relativistic jet sources or young radio sources: single edge-on geometry cannot describe all BAL quasars. We discuss the implications of the OCTAVE observations for investigations for the orientation and evolutionary stage of BAL quasars.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2009

ASTE CO(3-2) Mapping toward the Whole Optical Disk of M 83: Properties of Inter-arm GMAs

We present a new on-the-fly (OTF) mapping of CO(J=3-2) line emission with the Atacama Submillimeter Telescope Experiment (ASTE) toward the 8' x 8' (or 10.5 x 10.5 kpc at the distance of 4.5 Mpc) region of the nearby barred spiral galaxy M 83 at an effective resolution of 25''. Due to its very high sensitivity, our CO(J=3-2) map can depict not only spiral arm structures but also spur-like substructures extended in inter-arm regions. This spur-like substructures in CO(J=3-2) emission are well coincident with the distribution of massive star forming regions traced by Halpha luminosity and Spitzer/IRAC 8 um emission. We have identified 54 CO(J=3-2) clumps as Giant Molecular-cloud Associations (GMAs) employing the CLUMPFIND algorithm, and have obtained their sizes, velocity dispersions, virial masses, and CO luminosity masses. We found that the virial parameter alpha, which is defined as the ratio of the virial mass to the CO luminosity mass, is almost unity for GMAs in spiral arms, whereas there exist some GMAs whose alpha are 3 -- 10 in the inter-arm region. We found that GMAs with higher $α$ tend not to be associated with massive star forming regions, while other virialized GMAs are. Since alpha mainly depends on velocity dispersion of the GMA, we suppose the onset of star formation in these unvirialized GMAs with higher alpha are suppressed by an increase in internal velocity dispersions of Giant Molecular Clouds within these GMAs due to shear motion.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2008

Nobeyama Millimeter Array Observations of the Nuclear Starburst of M83: A GMA Scale Correlation between Dense Gas Fraction and Star Formation Efficiency

We present aperture synthesis high-resolution (~ 7" x 3") observations in CO(J=1-0) line, HCN(J=1-0) line, and 95 GHz continuum emission toward the central (~ 1.5 kpc) region of the nearby barred spiral galaxy M 83 with the Nobeyama Millimeter Array. Our high-resolution CO(J=1-0) mosaic map depicts the presence of molecular ridges along the leading sides of the stellar bar and nuclear twin peak structure. On the other hand, we found the distribution of the HCN(J=1-0) line emission which traces dense molecular gas (nH2 > a few x 10^4 cm^-3) shows nuclear single peak structure and coincides well with that of the 95 GHz continuum emission which traces massive starburst. The peaks of the HCN(J=1-0) line and the 95 GHz continuum emission are not spatially coincident with the optical starburst regions traced by the HST V-band image. This suggests the existence of deeply buried ongoing starburst due to strong extinction (A_v ~ 5 mag) near the peaks of the HCN(J=1-0) line and the 95 GHz continuum emission. We found that the HCN(J=1-0)/CO(J=1-0) intensity ratio R_HCN/CO correlates well with extinction-corrected SFE in the central region of M 83 at a resolution of 7.5" (~ 160 pc). This suggests that SFE is controlled by dense gas fraction traced by R_HCN/CO even on a Giant Molecular cloud Association (GMA) scale. Moreover, the correlation between R_HCN/CO and the SFE in the central region of M 83 seems to be almost coincident with that of the Gao & Solomon (2004a) sample. This suggests that the correlation between R_HCN/CO and the SFE on a GMA (~ 160 pc) scale found in M 83 is the origin of the global correlation on a few kpc scale shown by Gao & Solomon (2004a).

astro-ph↗

arXiv2008

The Stellar Abundances for Galactic Archeology (SAGA) Database - Compilation of the Characteristics of Known Extremely Metal-Poor Stars

We describe the construction of a database of extremely metal-poor (EMP) stars in the Galactic halo whose elemental abundances have been determined. Our database contains detailed elemental abundances, reported equivalent widths, atmospheric parameters, photometry, and binarity status, compiled from papers in the recent literature that report studies of EMP halo stars with [Fe/H] < -2.5. The compilation procedures for this database have been designed to assemble the data effectively from electronic tables available from online journals. We have also developed a data retrieval system that enables data searches by various criteria, and permits the user to explore relationships between the stored variables graphically. Currently, our sample includes 1212 unique stars (many of which are studied by more than one group) with more than 15000 individual reported elemental abundances, covering all of the relevant papers published by December 2007. We discuss the global characteristics of the present database, as revealed by the EMP stars observed to date. For stars with [Fe/H] < -2.5, the number of giants with reported abundances is larger than that of dwarfs by a factor of two. The fraction of carbon-rich stars (among the sample for which the carbon abundance is reported) amount to ~30 % for [Fe/H] < -2.5. We find that known binaries exhibit different distributions of orbital period, according to whether they are giants or dwarfs, and also as a function of metallicity, although the total sample of such stars is still quite small.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2007

Central Spiral Structure of Molecular Gas in Maffei 2

Distribution and kinematics of molecular gas in the central region of the barred spiral galaxy Maffei 2 were investigated using a data set of 12CO(1-0), 12CO(2-1), CS(2-1) lines and 103 GHz continuum. We found that the offset ridges along the kpc-scale bar continue to the central spiral structure embedded in the weak oval structure which is regarded as x2 orbit in the bar potential. The spiral structure continues toward the center diverging from the oval structure. The size of these structures is less than R ~ 100 pc. The mass concentration within R = 35 pc is estimated to be 2 X 10^8 Mo. The high mass concentration is consistent with theoretical predictions concerning the creation of such a nuclear spiral structure. A comparison with the tracers of dense gas and star-forming region suggests that the dense molecular gas traced by CS(2-1) line is formed at the crossing points of x1 and x2 orbits and the star-forming region appears after 2 X 10^5 yr which is comparable with the free-fall time of the dense gas traced by the CS line (~ 10^5 cm^-3).

astro-ph↗

arXiv2007

Japanese VLBI Network observations of radio-loud narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies

We performed phase-reference very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) observations on five radio-loud narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies (NLS1s) at 8.4 GHz with the Japanese VLBI Network (JVN). Each of the five targets (RXS J08066+7248, RXS J16290+4007, RXS J16333+4718, RXS J16446+2619, and B3 1702+457) in milli-Jansky levels were detected and unresolved in milli-arcsecond resolutions, i.e., with brightness temperatures higher than 10^7 K. The nonthermal processes of active galactic nuclei (AGN) activity, rather than starbursts, are predominantly responsible for the radio emissions from these NLS1s. Out of the nine known radio-loud NLS1s, including the ones chosen for this study, we found that the four most radio-loud objects exclusively have inverted spectra. This suggests a possibility that these NLS1s are radio-loud due to Doppler beaming, which can apparently enhance both the radio power and the spectral frequency.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2007

ASTE CO(3-2) Observations of the Barred Spiral Galaxy M 83: I. Correlation between CO(3-2)/CO(1-0) Ratios and Star Formation Efficiencies

We present CO(J=3-2) emission observations with the Atacama Submillimeter Telescope Experiment (ASTE) toward the 5' x 5' (or 6.6 x 6.6 kpc at the distance D = 4.5 Mpc) region of the nearby barred spiral galaxy M 83. We successfully resolved the major structures, i.e., the nuclear starburst region, bar, and inner spiral arms in CO(J=3-2) emission at a resolution of 22'' (or 480 pc), showing a good spatial coincidence between CO(J=3-2) and 6 cm continuum emissions. We found a global CO(J=3-2) luminosity L'_CO(3-2) of 5.1 x 10^8 K km s^-1 pc^2 within the observed region. We also found L'_CO(3-2) in the disk region (0.5 < r < 3.5 kpc) of 4.2 x 10^8 K km s^-1 pc^2, indicating that CO(J=3-2) emission in the disk region significantly contributes to the global L'_CO(3-2). From a comparison of a CO(J=3-2) data with CO(J=1-0) intensities measured with Nobeyama 45-m telescope, we found that the radial profile of CO(J=3-2)/CO(J=1-0) integrated intensity ratio R_3-2/1-0 is almost unity in the central region (r < 0.25 kpc), whereas it drops to a constant value, 0.6--0.7, in the disk region. The radial profile of star formation efficiencies (SFEs), determined from 6 cm radio continuum and CO(J=1-0) emission, shows the same trend as that of R_3-2/1-0. At the bar-end (r ~ 2.4 kpc), the amounts of molecular gas and the massive stars are enhanced when compared with other disk regions, whereas there is no excess of R_3-2/1-0 and SFE in that region. This means that a simple summation of the star forming regions at the bar-end and the disk cannot reproduce the nuclear starburst of M 83, implying that the spatial variation of the dense gas fraction traced by R_3-2/1-0 governs the spatial variation of SFE in M 83.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2006

Japanese VLBI Network

We present the basic features and the activities of Japanese VLBI network (JVN), a newly-established VLBI network with baselines ranging from 50 to 2560 km spreading across the Japanese islands, and capable of observing at 6.7, 8.4, and 22 GHz. We show a number of results of JVN observations: 8.4-GHz continuum images of a Giga-hertz Peaked Spectrum (GPS) source and radio-loud Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 galaxies (NLS1s), the spatial and velocity structures of water masers in NML Cygni as well as methanol masers in Cep A, and demonstrative observations with the bigradient phase referencing.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2006

Environmental Effects on Gaseous Disks of the Virgo Spiral Galaxies

We found high molecular fractions ($f_{\rm mol}$; ratio of the molecular to total gas surface densities) in three of five Virgo spiral galaxies in spite of their low total gas column density, based on $^{12}$CO$(J=1-0)$ observations with the Nobeyama 45 m telescope equipped with a multi-beam receiver, BEARS. We interpret this as a result of environmental effects. Combining the CO data with HI data, the relationship between the surface density of the total gas (HI plus H$_2$) and $f_{\rm mol}$ indicates that the three galaxies near the cluster center have larger $f_{\rm mol}$ values than expected for field galaxies, while the others show normal $f_{\rm mol}$. The large $f_{\rm mol}$ is interpreted as being due either to effective HI gas stripping, even in the inner disks, or to large ISM pressure induced by the high ICM pressure and/or ram pressure, although the possibility of an unusually high metallicity cannot be ruled out.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2006

A collimated jet and an infalling-rotating disk in G192.16-3.84 traced by H2O maser emission

We report H2O masers associated with the massive-star forming region G192.16-3.84 observed with the new Japan VLBI network at three epochs spanned for two months, which have revealed the three-dimensional kinematical structure of the whole \h2o maser region in G192.16-3.84, containing two young stellar objects separated by ~1200 AU. The maser spatio-kinematical structure has well persisted since previous observations, in which the masers are expected to be associated with a highly-collimated bipolar jet and an infalling-rotating disk in the northern and southern clusters of H2O maser features, respectively. We estimated a jet expansion speed of ~100 km/s and re-estimated a dynamical age of the whole jet to be 5.6x10^4 yrs. We have investigated the spatial distribution of Doppler velocities during the previous and present observations and relative proper motions of H2O maser features in the southern cluster, and a relative bulk motion between the two maser clusters. They are well explained by a model of an infalling-rotating disk with a radius of ~1000 AU and a central stellar mass of 5-10 M_sun, rather than by a model of a bipolar jet perpendicular to the observed CO outflow. Based on the derived H2O maser spatio-kinematical parameters, we discuss the formation mechanism of the massive young stellar objects and the outflow development in G192.16-3.84.

astro-ph↗