arXiv subjects

Kazuyuki Muraoka

Publications and source records attributed to Kazuyuki Muraoka.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2019

CO Multi-line Imaging of Nearby Galaxies (COMING) IV. Overview of the Project

Observations of the molecular gas in galaxies are vital to understanding the evolution and star-forming histories of galaxies. However, galaxies with molecular gas maps of their whole discs having sufficient resolution to distinguish galactic structures are severely lacking. Millimeter wavelength studies at a high angular resolution across multiple lines and transitions are particularly needed, severely limiting our ability to infer the universal properties of molecular gas in galaxies. Hence, we conducted a legacy project with the 45 m telescope of the Nobeyama Radio Observatory, called the CO Multi-line Imaging of Nearby Galaxies (COMING), which simultaneously observed 147 galaxies with high far-infrared flux in $^{12}$CO, $^{13}$CO, and C$^{18}$O $J=1-0$ lines. The total molecular gas mass was derived using the standard CO-to-H$_2$ conversion factor and found to be positively correlated with the total stellar mass derived from the WISE $3.4 μ$m band data. The fraction of the total molecular gas mass to the total stellar mass in galaxies does not depend on their Hubble types nor the existence of a galactic bar, although when galaxies in individual morphological types are investigated separately, the fraction seems to decrease with the total stellar mass in early-type galaxies and vice versa in late-type galaxies. No differences in the distribution of the total molecular gas mass, stellar mass, and the total molecular gas to stellar mass ratio was observed between barred and non-barred galaxies, which is likely the result of our sample selection criteria, in that we prioritized observing FIR bright (and thus molecular gas-rich) galaxies.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2019

CO Multi-line Imaging of Nearby Galaxies (COMING). III. Dynamical effect on molecular gas density and star formation in the barred spiral galaxy NGC 4303

We present the results of $^{12}$CO($J$=1-0) and $^{13}$CO($J$=1-0) simultaneous mappings toward the nearby barred spiral galaxy NGC 4303 as a part of the CO Multi-line Imaging of Nearby Galaxies (COMING) project. Barred spiral galaxies often show lower star-formation efficiency (SFE) in their bar region compared to the spiral arms. In this paper, we examine the relation between the SFEs and the volume densities of molecular gas $n(\rm{H}_2)$ in the eight different regions within the galactic disk with CO data combined with archival far-ultraviolet and 24 $μ$m data. We confirmed that SFE in the bar region is lower by 39% than that in the spiral arms. Moreover, velocity-alignment stacking analysis was performed for the spectra in the individual regions. The integrated intensity ratios of $^{12}$CO to $^{13}$CO ($R_{12/13}$) range from 10 to 17 as the results of stacking. Fixing a kinetic temperature of molecular gas, $n(\rm{H}_2)$ was derived from $R_{12/13}$ via non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (non-LTE) analysis. The density $n(\rm{H}_2)$ in the bar is lower by 31-37% than that in the arms and there is a rather tight positive correlation between SFEs and $n(\rm{H}_2)$, with a correlation coefficient of $\sim 0.8$. Furthermore, we found a dependence of $n(\rm{H}_2)$ on the velocity dispersion of inter-molecular clouds ($ΔV/ \sin i$). Specifically, $n(\rm{H}_2)$ increases as $ΔV/ \sin i$ increases when $ΔV/ \sin i < 100$ km s$^{-1}$. On the other hand, $n(\rm{H}_2)$ decreases as $ΔV/ \sin i$ increases when $ΔV/ \sin i > 100$ km s$^{-1}$. These relations indicate that the variations of SFE could be caused by the volume densities of molecular gas, and the volume densities could be governed by the dynamical influence such as cloud-cloud collisions, shear and enhanced inner-cloud turbulence.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2019

CO Multi-line Imaging of Nearby Galaxies (COMING): VI. Radial variations in star formation efficiency

We examined radial variations in molecular-gas based star formation efficiency (SFE), which is defined as star formation rate per unit molecular gas mass, for 80 galaxies selected from the CO Multi-line Imaging of Nearby Galaxies project (Sorai et al. 2019). The radial variations in SFE for individual galaxies are typically a factor of 2 -- 3, which suggests that SFE is nearly constant along galactocentric radius. We found the averaged SFE in 80 galaxies of $(1.69 \pm 1.1) \times 10^{-9}$ yr$^{-1}$, which is consistent with Leroy et al. 2008 if we consider the contribution of helium to the molecular gas mass evaluation and the difference in the assumed initial mass function between two studies. We compared SFE among different morphological (i.e., SA, SAB, and SB) types, and found that SFE within the inner radii ($r/r_{25} < 0.3$, where $r_{25}$ is $B$-band isophotal radius at 25 mag arcsec$^{-2}$) of SB galaxies is slightly higher than that of SA and SAB galaxies. This trend can be partly explained by the dependence of SFE on global stellar mass, which probably relates to the CO-to-H$_2$ conversion factor through the metallicity. For two representative SB galaxies in our sample, NGC 3367 and NGC 7479, the ellipse of $r/r_{25}$ = 0.3 seems to cover not only the central region but also the inner part of the disk, mainly the bar. These two galaxies show higher SFE in the bar than in spiral arms. However, we found an opposite trend in NGC 4303; SFE is lower in the bar than in spiral arms, which is consistent with earlier studies (e.g., Momose et al. 2010). These results suggest diversity of star formation activities in the bar.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2019

CO Multi-line Imaging of Nearby Galaxies (COMING). VII. Fourier decomposition of molecular gas velocity fields and bar pattern speed

The $^{12}$CO $(J=1\rightarrow0)$ velocity fields of a sample of 20 nearby spiral galaxies, selected from the CO Multi-line Imaging of Nearby Galaxies (COMING) legacy project of Nobeyama Radio Observatory, have been analyzed by Fourier decomposition to determine their basic kinematic properties, such as circular and noncircular velocities. On average, the investigated barred (SAB and SB) galaxies exhibit a ratio of noncircular to circular velocities of molecular gas larger by a factor of 1.5-2 than non-barred (SA) spiral galaxies at radii within the bar semimajor axis $a_\mathrm{b}$ at 1 kpc resolution, with a maximum at a radius of $R/a_\mathrm{b}\sim0.3$. Residual velocity field images, created by subtracting model velocity fields from the data, reveal that this trend is caused by kpc-scale streaming motions of molecular gas in the bar region. Applying a new method based on radial velocity reversal, we estimated the corotation radius $R_\mathrm{CR}$ and bar pattern speed $Ω_\mathrm{b}$ in seven SAB and SB systems. The ratio of the corotation to bar radius is found to be in a range of $\mathcal{R}\equiv R_\mathrm{CR}/a_\mathrm{b}\sim0.8\mathrm{-}1.6$, suggesting that intermediate (SBb-SBc), luminous barred spiral galaxies host fast and slow rotator bars. Tentative negative correlations are found for $Ω_\mathrm{b}$ vs. $a_\mathrm{b}$ and $Ω_\mathrm{b}$ vs. total stellar mass $M_\ast$, indicating that bars in massive disks are larger and rotate slower, possibly a consequence of angular momentum transfer. The kinematic properties of SAB and SB galaxies, derived from Fourier decomposition, are compared with recent numerical simulations that incorporate various rotation curve models and galaxy interactions.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2018

ALMA $^{12}$CO (J=1--0) imaging of the nearby galaxy M83: Variations in the efficiency of star formation in giant molecular clouds

We present results of the $^{12}$CO (1--0) mosaic observations of the nearby barred-spiral galaxy M83 obtained with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). The total flux is recovered by combining the ALMA data with single-dish data obtained using the Nobeyama 45-m telescope. The combined map covers a $\sim$13 kpc$^{2}$ field that includes the galactic center, eastern bar, and spiral arm with a resolution of \timeform{2''.03} $\times$ \timeform{1''.1} ($\sim$45 pc $\times$ $\sim$25 pc). With a resolution comparable to typical sizes of giant molecular clouds (GMCs), the CO distribution in the bar and arm is resolved into many clumpy peaks that form ridge-like structures. Remarkably, in the eastern arm, the CO peaks form two arc-shaped ridges that run along the arm and exhibit a distinct difference in the activity of star formation: the one on the leading side has numerous HII regions associated with it, whereas the other one on the trailing side has only a few. To see whether GMCs form stars with uniform star formation efficiency (SFE) per free-fall time (SFEff), GMCs are identified from the data cube and then cross-matched with the catalog of HII regions to estimate the star formation rate for each of them. 179 GMCs with a median mass of 1.6 $\times$ 10$^{6}$ $M_{\odot}$ are identified. The mass-weighted average SFEff of the GMCs is $\sim$9.4 $\times$ 10$^{-3}$, which is in agreement with models of turbulence regulated star formation. Meanwhile, we find that SFEff is not universal within the mapped region. In particular, one of the arm ridges shows a high SFEff with a mass-weighted value of $\sim$2.7 $\times$ 10$^{-2}$, which is higher by more than a factor of 5 compared to the inter-arm regions. This large regional variation in SFEff favors the recent interpretation that GMCs do not form stars at a constant rate within their lifetime.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2018

Triggering the formation of the supergiant H II region NGC 604 in M33

Formation mechanism of a supergiant H II region NGC 604 is discussed in terms of collision of H I clouds in M33. An analysis of the archival H I data obtained with the Very Large Array (VLA) reveals complex velocity distributions around NGC 604. The H I clouds are composed of two velocity components separated by ~ 20 km s^-1 for an extent of ~ 700 pc, beyond the size of the the H II region. Although the H I clouds are not easily separated in velocity with some mixed component represented by merged line profiles, the atomic gas mass amounts to 6 x 10^6 M_Sol and 9 x 10^6 M_Sol for each component. These characteristics of H I gas and the distributions of dense molecular gas in the overlapping regions of the two velocity components suggest that the formation of giant molecular clouds and the following massive cluster formation have been induced by the collision of H I clouds with different velocities. Referring to the existence of gas bridging feature connecting M33 with M31 reported by large-scale HI surveys, the disturbed atomic gas possibly represent the result of past tidal interaction between the two galaxies, which is analogous to the formation of the R136 cluster in the LMC.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2018

Molecular Gas Properties in M83 from CO PDFs

We have obtained 12CO(1--0) data of the nearby barred spiral galaxy M83 from Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array and Nobeyama 45m observations. By combining these two data sets, the total CO flux has been recovered, and a high angular resolution (2" corresponding to ~40 pc at the distance of M83) has been achieved. The field of view is 3' corresponding to ~3.4 kpc and covers the galactic center, bar, and spiral arm regions. In order to investigate how these galactic structures affect gas properties, we have created a probability distribution function (PDF) of the CO integrated intensity (I_CO), peak temperature, and velocity dispersion for a region with each structure. We find that the I_CO PDF for the bar shows a bright-end tail while that for the arm does not. Since the star formation efficiency is lower in the bar, this difference in PDF shape is contrary to the trend in Milky Way studies where the bright-end tail is found for star-forming molecular clouds. While the peak temperature PDFs are similar for bar and arm regions, velocity dispersion in bar is systematically larger than in arm. This large velocity dispersion is likely a major cause of the bright-end tail and of suppressed star formation. We also investigate an effect of stellar feedback to PDF profiles and find that the different I_CO PDFs between bar and arm regions cannot be explained by the feedback effect, at least at the current spatial scale.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2017

ALMA observations of N83C in the early stage of star formation in the Small Magellanic Cloud

We have performed Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observations in $^{12}$CO($J=2-1$), $^{13}$CO($J=2-1$), C$^{18}$O($J=2-1$), $^{12}$CO($J=3-2$), $^{13}$CO($J=3-2$), and CS($J=7-6$) lines toward the active star-forming region N83C in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), whose metallicity is $\sim$ 1/5 of the Milky Way (MW). The ALMA observations first reveal sub-pc scale molecular structures in $^{12}$CO($J=2-1$) and $^{13}$CO($J=2-1$) emission. We found strong CO peaks associated with young stellar objects (YSOs) identified by the $Spitzer$ Space Telescope, and also found that overall molecular gas is distributed along the edge of the neighboring HII region. We derived a gas density of $\sim 10^4$ cm$^{-3}$ in molecular clouds associated with YSOs based on the virial mass estimated from $^{12}$CO($J=2-1$) emission. This high gas density is presumably due to the effect of the HII region under the low-metallicity (accordingly small-dust content) environment in the SMC; far-UV radiation from the HII region can easily penetrate and photo-dissociate the outer layer of $^{12}$CO molecules in the molecular clouds, and thus only the innermost parts of the molecular clouds are observed even in $^{12}$CO emission. We obtained the CO-to-H$_2$ conversion factor $X_{\rm CO}$ of $7.5 \times 10^{20}$ cm$^{-2}$ (K km s$^{-1}$)$^{-1}$ in N83C based on virial masses and CO luminosities, which is four times larger than that in the MW, 2 $\times 10^{20}$ cm$^{-2}$ (K km s$^{-1}$)$^{-1}$. We also discuss the difference in the nature between two high-mass YSOs, each of which is associated with a molecular clump with a mass of about a few $\times 10^3 M_{\odot}$.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2017

Kennicutt-Schmidt relation variety and star-forming cloud fraction

The observationally derived Kennicutt-Schmidt (KS) relation slopes differ from study to study, ranging from sub-linear to super-linear. We investigate the KS-relation variety (slope and normalization) as a function of integrated intensity ratio, R31=CO(J=3-2)/CO(J=1-0) using spatially resolved CO(J=1-0), CO(J=3-2), HI, Ha and 24um data of three nearby spiral galaxies (NGC3627, NGC5055 and M83). We find that (1) the slopes for each subsample with a fixed R31 are shallower but the slope for all datasets combined becomes steeper, (2) normalizations for high R31 subsamples tend to be high, (3) R31 correlates with star-formation efficiency, thus the KS relation depends on the distribution in R31-Sigma_gas space of the samples: no Sigma_gas dependence of R31 results in a linear slope of the KS relation whereas a positive correlation between Sigma_gas and R31 results in a super-linear slope of the KS relation, and (4) R31-Sigma_gas distributions are different from galaxy to galaxy and within a galaxy: galaxies with prominent galactic structure tend to have large R31 and Sigma_gas. Our results suggest that the formation efficiency of star-forming cloud from molecular gas is different among galaxies as well as within a galaxy and is one of the key factors inducing the variety in galactic KS relation.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2016

CO Multi-line Imaging of Nearby Galaxies (COMING): I. Physical properties of molecular gas in the barred spiral galaxy NGC 2903

We present simultaneous mappings of J=1-0 emission of 12CO, 13CO, and C18O molecules toward the whole disk (8' x 5' or 20.8 kpc x 13.0 kpc) of the nearby barred spiral galaxy NGC 2903 with the Nobeyama Radio Observatory 45-m telescope at an effective angular resolution of 20" (or 870 pc). We detected 12CO(J=1-0) emission over the disk of NGC 2903. In addition, significant 13CO(J=1-0) emission was found at the center and bar-ends, whereas we could not detect any significant C18O(J=1-0) emission. In order to improve the signal-to-noise ratio of CO emission and to obtain accurate line ratios of 12CO(J=2-1)/12CO(J=1-0) ($R_{2-1/1-0}$) and 13CO(J=1-0)/12CO(J=1-0) ($R_{13/12}$), we performed the stacking analysis for our 12CO(J=1-0), 13CO(J=1-0), and archival 12CO(J=2-1) spectra with velocity-axis alignment in nine representative regions of NGC 2903. We successfully obtained the stacked spectra of the three CO lines, and could measure averaged $R_{2-1/1-0}$ and $R_{13/12}$ with high significance for all the regions. We found that both $R_{2-1/1-0}$ and $R_{13/12}$ differ according to the regions, which reflects the difference in the physical properties of molecular gas; i.e., density ($n_{\rm H_2}$) and kinetic temperature ($T_K$). We determined $n_{\rm H_2}$ and $T_K$ using $R_{2-1/1-0}$ and $R_{13/12}$ based on the large velocity gradient approximation. The derived $n_{\rm H_2}$ ranges from ~ 1000 cm$^{-3}$ (in the bar, bar-ends, and spiral arms) to 3700 cm$^{-3}$ (at the center) and the derived $T_K$ ranges from 10 K (in the bar and spiral arms) to 30 K (at the center). We examined the dependence of star formation efficiencies (SFEs) on $n_{\rm H_2}$ and $T_K$, and found the positive correlation between SFE and $n_{\rm H_2}$ with the correlation coefficient for the least-square power-law fit $R^2$ of 0.50. This suggests that molecular gas density governs the spatial variations in SFEs.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2015

CO(J=3-2) On-the-fly Mapping of the Nearby Spiral Galaxies NGC 628 and NGC 7793: Spatially-resolved CO(J=3-2) Star-formation Law

We present the results of CO(J=3-2) on-the-fly mappings of two nearby non-barred spiral galaxies NGC 628 and NGC 7793 with the Atacama Submillimeter Telescope Experiment at an effective angular resolution of 25". We successfully obtained global distributions of CO(J=3-2) emission over the entire disks at a sub-kpc resolution for both galaxies. We examined the spatially-resolved (sub-kpc) relationship between CO(J=3-2) luminosities (L'CO(3-2)) and infrared (IR) luminosities (LIR) for NGC 628, NGC 7793, and M 83, and compared it with global luminosities of JCMT Nearby Galaxy Legacy Survey sample. We found a striking linear L'CO(3-2)-LIR correlation over the 4 orders of magnitude, and the correlation is consistent even with that for ultraluminous infrared galaxies and submillimeter selected galaxies. In addition, we examined the spatially-resolved relationship between CO(J=3-2) intensities (ICO(3-2)) and extinction-corrected star formation rates (SFRs) for NGC 628, NGC 7793, and M 83, and compared it with that for GMCs in M 33 and 14 nearby galaxy centers. We found a linear ICO(3-2)-SFR correlation with 1 dex scatter. We conclude that the CO(J=3-2) star formation law (i.e., linear L'CO(3-2)-LIR and ICO(3-2)-SFR correlations) is universally applicable to various types and spatial scales of galaxies, from spatially-resolved nearby galaxy disks to distant IR-luminous galaxies, within 1 dex scatter.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2014

Revealing the physical properties of molecular gas in Orion with a large scale survey in J=2-1 lines of 12CO, 13CO and C18O

We present fully sampled ~3' resolution images of the 12CO(J=2-1), 13CO(J=2-1), and C18O(J=2-1) emission taken with the newly developed 1.85-m mm-submm telescope toward the entire area of the Orion A and B giant molecular clouds. The data were compared with the J=1-0 of the 12CO, 13CO, and C18O data taken with the Nagoya 4-m telescope and the NANTEN telescope at the same angular resolution to derive the spatial distributions of the physical properties of the molecular gas. We explore the large velocity gradient formalism to determine the gas density and temperature by using the line combinations of 12CO(J=2-1), 13CO(J=2-1), and 13CO(J=1-0) assuming uniform velocity gradient and abundance ratio of CO. The derived gas density is in the range of 500 to 5000 cm-3, and the derived gas temperature is mostly in the range of 20 to 50 K along the cloud ridge with a temperature gradient depending on the distance from the star forming region. We found the high-temperature region at the cloud edge facing to the HII region, indicating that the molecular gas is interacting with the stellar wind and radiation from the massive stars. In addition, we compared the derived gas properties with the Young Stellar Objects distribution obtained with the Spitzer telescope to investigate the relationship between the gas properties and the star formation activity therein. We found that the gas density and star formation efficiency are well positively correlated, indicating that stars form effectively in the dense gas region.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2014

Dense Molecular Clumps associated with the LMC Supergiant Shells LMC 4 \& LMC 5

We investigate the effects of Supergiant Shells (SGSs) and their interaction on dense molecular clumps by observing the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) star forming regions N48 and N49, which are located between two SGSs, LMC 4 and LMC 5. $^{12}$CO ($J$=3-2, 1-0) and $^{13}$CO ($J$=1-0) observations with the ASTE and Mopra telescopes have been carried out towards these regions. A clumpy distribution of dense molecular clumps is revealed with 7 pc spatial resolution. Large velocity gradient analysis shows that the molecular hydrogen densities ($n({\rm H}_2)$) of the clumps are distributed from low to high density ($10^3$-$10^5$ cm$^{-3}$) and their kinetic temperatures ($T_{\rm kin}$) are typically high (greater than $50$ K). These clumps seem to be in the early stages of star formation, as also indicated from the distribution of H$α$, young stellar object candidates, and IR emission. We found that the N48 region is located in the high column density HI envelope at the interface of the two SGSs and the star formation is relatively evolved, whereas the N49 region is associated with LMC 5 alone and the star formation is quiet. The clumps in the N48 region typically show high $n({\rm H}_2)$ and $T_{\rm kin}$, which are as dense and warm as the clumps in LMC massive cluster-forming areas (30 Dor, N159). These results suggest that the large-scale structure of the SGSs, especially the interaction of two SGSs, works efficiently on the formation of dense molecular clumps and stars.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2014

Wide-field 12CO (J = 1-0) Imaging of the Nearby Barred Galaxy M83 with NMA and Nobeyema 45-m telescope: Molecular Gas Kinematics and Star Formation Along the Bar

We present the results of the wide-field $^{12}$CO (1--0) observations of the nearby barred galaxy M83 carried out with the Nobeyama Millimeter Array (NMA). The interferometric data are combined with the data obtained with the Nobeyama 45-m telescope to recover the total-flux. The target fields of the observations cover the molecular bar and part of the spiral arms, with a spatial resolution of ~110 pc x 260 pc. By exploiting the resolution and sensitivity to extended CO emission, the impact of the galactic structures on the molecular gas content is investigated in terms of the gas kinematics and the star formation. By inspecting the gas kinematics, the pattern speed of the bar is estimated to be 57.4 $\pm$ 2.8 km s$^{-1}$ kpc$^{-1}$, which places the corotation radius to be about 1.7 times the semi-major radius of the bar. Within the observed field, HII regions brighter than 10$^{37.6}$ erg s$^{-1}$ in Hα luminosity are found to be preferentially located downstream of the CO emitting regions. Azimuthal angular offsets between molecular gas and star forming (SF) calculated with the angular cross-correlation method confirm the trend. By comparing with a cloud orbit model based on the derived pattern speed, the angular offsets are found to be in accordance with a time delay of about 10 Myr. Finally, to test whether the arm/bar promote star formation efficiency (SFE $\equiv$ Star Formation Rate (SFR)/H$_2$ mass), SFR is derived with the diffuse-background-subtracted H{alpha} and 24μm images. The arm-to-interarm ratio of the SFE is found to lie in the range of 2 to 5, while it is ~1 if no background-removal is performed. The CO-SF offsets and the enhancement of the SFE in the arm/bar found in the inner region of M83 are in agreement with the predictions of the classical galactic shock model.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2014

Enhancement of CO(3-2)/CO(1-0) Ratios and Star Formation Efficiencies in Supergiant HII Regions

We present evidence that super giant HII regions (GHRs) and other disk regions of the nearby spiral galaxy, M33, occupy distinct locations in the correlation between molecular gas, $Σ_{\rm H_2}$, and the star formation rate surface density, $Σ_{\rm SFR}$. This result is based on wide field and high sensitivity CO(3-2) observations at 100 pc resolution. Star formation efficiencies (SFE), defined as $Σ_{\rm SFR}$/$Σ_{\rm H_2}$, in GHRs are found to be about 1 dex higher than in other disk regions. The CO(3-2)/CO(1-0) integrated intensity ratio is also higher than the average over the disk. Such high SFE and CO(3-2)/CO(1-0) can reach the values found in starburst galaxies, which suggests that GHRs may be the elements building up a larger scale starburst region. Three possible contributions to high SFEs in GHR are investigated: (1) the $I_{CO}$-$N({\rm H_2})$ conversion factor, (2) the dense gas fraction traced by CO(3-2)/CO(1-0), and (3) the initial mass function (IMF). We conclude that these starburst-like properties in GHRs can be interpreted by a combination of both a top-heavy IMF and a high dense gas fraction, but not by changes in the $I_{CO}$-$N({\rm H_2})$ conversion factor.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2012

NRO M33 All-Disk Survey of Giant Molecular Clouds (NRO MAGiC): II. Dense Gas Formation within Giant Molecular Clouds in M33

We report the results of our observations of the 12CO (J=1-0) and 12CO (J=3-2) line emission of 74 major giant molecular clouds (GMCs) within the galactocentric distance of 5.1 kpc in the Local Group galaxy M33. The observations have been conducted as part of the Nobeyama Radio Observatory M33 All-disk survey of Giant Molecular Clouds project (NRO MAGiC). The spatial resolutions are 80 pc for 12CO (J=1-0) and 100 pc for 12CO (J=3-2). We detect 12CO (J=3-2) emission of 65 GMCs successfully. Furthermore, we find that the correlation between the surface density of the star formation rate, which is derived from a linear combination of Halpha and 24um emissions, and the 12CO (J=3-2) integrated intensity still holds at this scale. This result show that the star-forming activity is closely associated with warm and dense gases that are traced with the 12CO (J=3-2) line, even in the scale of GMCs. We also find that the GMCs with a high star-forming activity tend to show a high integrated intensity ratio (R3-2/1-0). Moreover, we also observe a mass-dependent trend of R3-2/1-0 for the GMCs with a low star-forming activity. From these results, we speculate that the R3-2/1-0 values of the GMCs with a low star-forming activity mainly depend on the dense gas fraction and not on the temperature, and therefore, the dense gas fraction increases with the mass of GMCs, at least in the GMCs with a low star-forming activity.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2012

GMC Evolutions in the Nearby Spiral Galaxy M33

We present a Giant Molecular Cloud (GMC) catalog toward M33, containing 71 GMCs in total, based on wide field and high sensitivity CO(J=3-2) observations with a spatial resolution of 100 pc using the ASTE 10 m telescope. Employing archival optical data, we identify 75 young stellar groups (YSGs) from the excess of the surface stellar density, and estimate their ages by comparing with stellar evolution models. A spatial comparison among the GMCs, YSGs, and HII regions enable us to classify GMCs into four categories: Type A showing no sign of massive star formation (SF), Type B being associated only with HII regions, Type C with both HII regions and <10 Myr-old YSGs and Type-D with both HII regions and 10--30 Myr YSGs. Out of 65 GMCs (discarding those at the edges of the observed fields), 1 (1%), 13 (20%), 29 (45%), and 22 (34%) are Types A, B, C, and D, respectively. We interpret these categories as stages in a GMC evolutionary sequence. Assuming that the timescale for each evolutionary stage is proportional to the number of GMCs, the lifetime of a GMC with a mass >10^5 Mo is estimated to be 20--40 Myr. In addition, we find that the dense gas fraction as traced by the CO(J=3-2)/CO(J=1-0) ratio is enhanced around SF regions. This confirms a scenario where dense gas is preferentially formed around previously generated stars, and will be the fuel for the next stellar generation. In this way, massive SF gradually propagates in a GMC until gas is exhausted.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2011

13CO(J=1-0) On-the-fly Mapping of the Giant HII Region NGC 604: Variation in Molecular Gas Density and Temperature due to Sequential Star Formation

We present 13CO(J=1-0) line emission observations with the Nobeyama 45-m telescope toward the giant HII region NGC 604 in the spiral galaxy M 33. We detected 13CO(J=1-0) line emission in 3 major giant molecular clouds (GMCs) labeled as GMC-A, B, and C beginning at the north. We derived two line intensity ratios, 13CO(J=1-0)/12CO(J =1-0), R13/12, and 12CO(J=3-2)/12CO(J =1-0), R31, for each GMC at an angular resolution of 25" (100 pc). Averaged values of R13/12 and R31 are 0.06 and 0.31 within the whole GMC-A, 0.11 and 0.67 within the whole GMC-B, and 0.05 and 0.36 within the whole GMC-C, respectively. In addition, we obtained R13/12=0.09\pm0.02 and R31=0.76\pm0.06 at the 12CO(J=1-0) peak position of the GMC-B. Under the Large Velocity Gradient approximation, we determined gas density of 2.8 \times10^3 cm^-3 and kinetic temperature of 33+9-5 K at the 12CO(J=1-0) peak position of the GMC-B. Moreover, we determined 2.5 \times10^3 cm^-3 and 25\pm2 K as averaged values within the whole GMC-B. We concluded that dense molecular gas is formed everywhere in the GMC-B because derived gas density not only at the peak position of the GMC but also averaged over the whole GMC exceeds 10^3 cm^-3. On the other hand, kinetic temperature averaged over the whole GM-B, 25 K, is significantly lower than that at the peak position, 33 K. This is because HII regions are lopsided to the northern part of the GMC-B, thus OB stars can heat only the northern part, including the 12CO(J=1-0) peak position, of this GMC.

astro-ph.CO↗