arXiv subjects

Kotaro Kohno

Publications and source records attributed to Kotaro Kohno.

261 records · Page 15Linked to original sources

arXiv2006

Kinematics of SiO J=8-7 Emission towards the HH 212 Jet

We present SiO J=8-7 (347.3 GHz) observations towards HH 212 using the ASTE telescope. Our observations with a 22''-diameter beam show that the SiO emission is highly concentrated within 1' of the driving source. We carefully compare the SiO observations with archival H_2 1-0 S(1) images and published H_2 echelle spectra. We find that, although the SiO velocities closely match the radial velocities seen in H_2, the distribution of H_2 and SiO emission differ markedly. We attribute the latter to the different excitation conditions required for H_2 and SiO emission, particularly the higher critical density (n_H2 ~10^8 cm^-3) of the SiO J=8-7 emission. The kinematic similarities imply that the H_2 and SiO are associated with the same internal working surfaces. We conclude that the SiO J=8-7 emission has a potential to probe the jet/wind launching region through interferometric observations in the future, particularly for the youngest, most deeply embedded protostars where IR observations are not possible.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2004

Starburst at the Expanding Molecular Superbubble in M82: Self-Induced Starburst at the Inner Edge of the Superbubble

We present high spatial resolution (2.3"x1.9" or 43 pc x 36 pc at D = 3.9 Mpc) 100 GHz millimeter-wave continuum emission observations with the Nobeyama Millimeter Array toward an expanding molecular superbubble in the central region of M82. The 100 GHz continuum image, which is dominated by free-free emission, revealed that the four strongest peaks are concentrated at the inner edge of the superbubble along the galactic disk. The production rates of Lyman continuum photons calculated from 100 GHz continuum flux at these peaks are an order of magnitude higher than those from the most massive star forming regions in our Galaxy. At these regions, high velocity ionized gas (traced by H41a and [Ne II]) can be seen, and H2O and OH masers are also concentrated. The center of the superbubble, on the other hand, is weak in molecular and free-free emissions and strong in diffuse hard X-ray emission. These observations suggest that a strong starburst produced energetic explosions and resultant plasma and superbubble expansions, and induced the present starburst regions traced by our 100 GHz continuum observations at the inner edge of the molecular superbubble. These results, therefore, provide the first clear evidence of self-induced starburst in external galaxies. Starburst at the center of the superbubble, on the other hand, begins to cease because of a lack of molecular gas. This kind of intense starburst seems to have occurred several times within 10^6-10^7 years in the central region of M82.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2004

Near-infrared and Millimeter Constraints on the Nuclear Energy Source of the Infrared Luminous Galaxy NGC 4418

We present near-infrared and millimeter investigations of the nucleus of the infrared luminous galaxy NGC 4418, which previous observations suggest possesses a powerful buried AGN. We found the following main results: (1) The infrared K-band spectrum shows CO absorption features at 2.3-2.4 micron owing to stars and very strong H2 emission lines. The luminosity ratios of H2 emission lines are suggestive of a thermal origin, and the equivalent width of the H2 1-0 S(1) line is the second largest observed to date in an external galaxy, after the well-studied strong H2-emitting galaxy NGC 6240. (2) The infrared L-band spectrum shows a clear polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emission feature at 3.3 micron, which is usually found in star-forming galaxies. The estimated star-formation luminosity from the observed PAH emission can account for only a small fraction of the infrared luminosity. (3) Millimeter interferometric observations of the nucleus reveal a high HCN (1-0) to HCO+ (1-0) luminosity ratio of 1.8, as has been previously found in pure AGNs. (4) The measurements of HCN (1-0) luminosity using a single-dish millimeter telescope show that the HCN (1-0) to infrared luminosity ratio is slightly larger than the average, but within the scattered range, for other infrared luminous galaxies. All of these results can be explained by the scenario in which, in addition to energetically-insignificant, weakly-obscured star-formation at the surface of the nucleus, a powerful X-ray emitting AGN deeply buried in dust and high density molecular gas is present.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2004

Virgo High-Resolution CO Survey IV. Spiral-Driven Gas Dynamics in the Non-Barred Seyfert Galaxy NGC 4501

We report on high-resolution interferometer observations of the 12CO(J=1-0) emission in the central 5 kpc region of the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 4501. The observations were made using the Nobeyama Millimeter Array during a long-term CO line survey of Virgo spirals. The major features are: (1) a nuclear concentration with a radius of r~5'' (390 pc), which is resolved into double peaks, and (2) spiral arms which extend out from the nuclear region. The nuclear component has a mass of 1.3x10^8 Mo, which corresponds to ~3.5% of the dynamical mass, and shows a slight non-circular motion. The double peaks are separated by ~4''.7. (370 pc), and located on the root of optical spiral arms in a HST image. The gas arms are associated with the spiral dust lanes, and are linked to the central double peaks. The non-circular motions along the molecular arms indicate the fact that the gas is driven by the density wave, rather than the stochastic processes. We calculated the gas cloud orbits in a stellar spiral potential, and explained the observed CO spiral arms and non-circular motions. We suggest that the central gas condensation arises from spiral-driven gas transfer. We estimated and compared the effect of two possible mechanisms of angular-momentum transfer: galactic shock, and gravitational torques. We discuss that the galactic shock is dominant.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2001

Impact of Future Submillimeter and Millimeter Large Facilities on the Studies of Galaxy Formation and Evolution

We investigate what we can learn about galaxy formation and evolution from the data which will be obtained by the forthcoming large submillimeter/millimeter facilities, mainly by the Atacama Submillimeter Telescope Experiment (ASTE) and the Atacama Large Millimeter Array/Large Millimeter and Submillimeter Array (ALMA/LMSA). We first calculate the source counts from 350 um to 3 mm using the empirical infrared galaxy number count model of Takeuchi et al. (2001). Based on the number counts, we evaluate the source confusion and determine the confusion limit at various wavebands as a function of the characteristic beam size. At submillimeter wavelengths, source confusion with the 10-15-m class facilities becomes severe at 0.1 to 1 mJy level, and astrometry and flux measurements will be difficult. However, we show that very a large-area survey of submillimeter sources brighter than 10-50 mJy can provide a unique constraint on infrared galaxy evolution at z = 1-2. We also find that the 5σ-confusion limit of the LMSA is fainter than 1 μJy. The source counts at such faint flux levels give important information of the epoch of galaxy formation. We then show that multiband photometry from the infrared (by ASTRO-F) to the millimeter can be utilized as a redshift estimator. In addition, we compare the observed 1.4, 5, and 8-GHz source counts with our model counts to examine the contribution of star forming galaxies to the faint radio galaxies.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2000

Substructures revealed by the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect at 150GHz in the high resolution map of RXJ1347-1145

We report on mapping observations toward the region of the most luminous X-ray cluster RXJ1347-1145 (z=0.45) through the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect at 21GHz and 150GHz with the Nobeyama 45-m telescope. While a low angular resolution image at 21GHz (beam-size of 76'') shows a consistent feature with the ROSAT/HRI X-ray image, a higher angular resolution image (13'') at 150GHz reveals complex morphological structures of the cluster region, which cannot be simply described by the spherical isothermal beta-model. If such inhomogeneous morphological features prove to be generic for high redshift clusters, distance measurements to the clusters based on their Sunyaev-Zel'dovich data with low angular resolution imaging should be interpreted with caution.

astro-ph↗

arXiv1999

Aperture Synthesis Images of Dense Molecular Gas in Nearby Galaxies with the Nobeyama Millimeter Array

In order to study the distribution of dense molecular gas and its relation to the central activities (starburst and AGN) in galaxies, we have conducted an imaging survey of HCN(1-0) and HCO+(1-0) emissions from nearby spiral galaxies with the Nobeyama Millimeter Array. In starburst galaxies, we find that there is good spatial coincidence between dense molecular gas and star-forming regions. The ratios of HCN to CO integrated intensities on the brightness temperature scale, R(HCN/CO), are as high as 0.1 to 0.2 in the starburst regions, and quickly decrease outside of these regions. In contrast, we find a remarkable decrease of the HCN emission in the post-starburst nuclei, despite the strong CO concentrations there. The R(HCN/CO) values in the central a few 100 pc regions of these quiescent galaxies are very low, 0.02 to 0.04. A rough correlation between R(HCN/CO) and Ha/CO ratios, which is an indicator of star formation efficiency, is found at a few 100 pc scale. The fraction of dense molecular gas in the total molecular gas, measured from R(HCN/CO), may be an important parameter that controls star formation. In some Seyfert galaxies we find extremely high R(HCN/CO) exceeding 0.3. These very high ratios are never observed even in strong starburst regions, implying a physical link between extremely high R(HCN/CO) and Seyfert activity.

astro-ph↗

arXiv1999

NMA Survey of CO and HCN Emission from Nearby Active Galaxies

High resolution (a few arcseconds) observations of CO(1-0) and HCN(1-0) emission from nearby Seyfert galaxies have been conducted with the Nobeyama Millimeter Array. Based on the observed CO distributions and kinematics,we suggest that a small scale (a few 100 pc - a few kpc) distortion of the underlying potential seems to be necessary for Seyfert activity, although it is not a sufficient condition. We also find that the Toomre's Q values in the centers of Seyfert galaxies tend to be larger than unity, indicating the circumnuclear molecular gas disks around Seyfert nuclei would be gravitationally stable. The HCN/CO integrated intensity ratios (R_HCN/CO) range over an order of magnitude, from 0.086 to 0.6. The Seyfert galaxies with high R_HCN/CO may have an extended (r ~ 100 pc scale) envelope of obscuring material. The presence of kpc scale jet/ outflow might be also related to the extremely high R_HCN/CO.

astro-ph↗

arXiv1998

Dense Molecular Gas Associated with the Circumnuclear Star Forming Ring in the Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 6951

We present high resolution (3" - 5") observations of CO(1-0) and HCN(1-0) emission from the circumnuclear star forming ring in the barred spiral galaxy NGC 6951, a host of a type-2 Seyfert, using the Nobeyama Millimeter Array and 45 m telescope. We find that most of the HCN emission is associated with the circumnuclear ring, where vigorous star formation occurs. The HCN to CO integrated intensity ratio is also enhanced in the star forming ring; the peak value of HCN/CO ratio is 0.18, which is comparable to the ratio in the starbursts NGC 253 and M82. The formation mechanism of dense molecular gas has been investigated. We find that the shocks along the orbit crowding do not promote the formation of the dense molecular gas effectively but enhance the presence of low density GMCs. Instead, gravitational instabilities of the gas can account for the dense molecular gas formation. The HCN/CO ratio toward the Seyfert nucleus of NGC 6951 is a rather normal value (0.086), in contrast with other Seyferts NGC 1068 and M51 where extremely high HCN/CO value of ~ 0.5 have been reported.

astro-ph↗