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arXiv 0810.2726astro-ph
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河外巨分子云的分辨性质

Resolved Properties of Extragalactic Giant Molecular Clouds

Alberto D. Bolatto, Adam K. Leroy, Erik Rosolowsky, Fabian Walter, Leo Blitz

摘要:

巨分子云(GMC)是星系中分子气体的主要储存库,也是恒星形成的起点。因此,它们的性质在设定恒星形成的初始条件方面起着关键作用。我们提出了一个全面的相结合的干涉/单碟研究解决的GMC属性在一些河外星系,包括正常和矮星系。我们发现,在广泛的环境中测量的河外GMC属性,其特征在于拉森关系,是一阶显着兼容与银河系。使用这些数据来研究星系金属丰度的趋势,我们发现:1)这些测量结果不符合光电离调节恒星形成理论的简单预期,2)在所研究的空间尺度上,维里CO到H2转换因子没有趋势,3)在小麦哲伦星云(样本中金属丰度最低的天体)中存在可测量的偏离银河系拉森关系的情况,其中GMC具有对于它们的尺寸来说太小的速度分散。我将根据我们最近对这个星系的远红外分析来讨论这些云的稳定性,并将对比维里和远红外研究的结果,讨论CO到H2的转换因子,以及它们告诉我们的原始星系中分子云的结构。

英文摘要:

Giant molecular clouds (GMCs) are the major reservoirs of molecular gas in galaxies, and the starting point for star formation. As such, their properties play a key role in setting the initial conditions for the formation of stars. We present a comprehensive combined inteferometric/single-dish study of the resolved GMC properties in a number of extragalactic systems, including both normal and dwarf galaxies. We find that the extragalactic GMC properties measured across a wide range of environments, characterized by the Larson relations, are to first order remarkably compatible with those in the Milky Way. Using these data to investigate trends due to galaxy metallicity, we find that: 1) these measurements do not accord with simple expectations from photoionization-regulated star formation theory, 2) there is no trend in the virial CO-to-H2 conversion factor on the spatial scales studied, and 3) there are measurable departures from the Galactic Larson relations in the Small Magellanic Cloud -- the object with the lowest metallicity in the sample -- where GMCs have velocity dispersions that are too small for their sizes. I will discuss the stability of these clouds in the light of our recent far-infrared analysis of this galaxy, and I will contrast the results of the virial and far-infrared studies on the issue of the CO-to-H2 conversion factor and what they tell us about the structure of molecular clouds in primitive galaxies.

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