The properties and kinematics of HCN emission across the closest starburst galaxy NGC 253 observed with ALMA
Ivana Beslic, Ashley T. Barnes, Frank Bigiel, Maria Jesus Jimenez-Donaire, Antonio Usero, Jonathan D. Henshaw, Christopher Faesi, Adam K. Leroy, Erik Rosolowsky… 展开作者
Ivana Beslic, Ashley T. Barnes, Frank Bigiel, Maria Jesus Jimenez-Donaire, Antonio Usero, Jonathan D. Henshaw, Christopher Faesi, Adam K. Leroy, Erik Rosolowsky, Jakob S. den Brok, Melanie Chevance, Cosima Eibensteiner, Kathryn Grasha, Ralf S. Klessen, J. M. Diedrerik Kruijssen, Daizhong Liu, Sharon Meidt, Justus Neumann, Lukas Neumann, Hsi-An Pan, Johannes Puschnig, Miguel Querejeta, Eva Schinnerer, Thomas G. Williams
备注：
Accepted for publication to Astronomy and Astrophysics
本研究利用 ALMA 对最近星暴星系 NGC 253 中的 HCN 发射进行高分辨率观测，分析了 HCN(1-0)/CO(2-1) 比率的强度对比与运动学，揭示了致密气体的分布特征、环境依赖性及恒星形成效率的转变。
摘要：
使用氰化氢（HCN）作为比 CO 发射更高密度的示踪剂来研究近邻星系中的分子气体仍然是一个重大挑战。尽管几个星系已有几 kpc 尺度的 HCN 图，但仍需要更高分辨率的图。我们的目标是检验探测不同密度范围的两个示踪剂之间强度对比——HCN(1-0)/CO(2-1) 比率——及其在 NGC 253 中的运动学。通过利用阿塔卡马大型毫米/亚毫米波阵列（ALMA）的先进能力，我们可以在大视场范围内以高分辨率绘制这些特征，并揭示这类致密气体在星系系统中的本质。我们展示了横跨 NGC 253 的 HCN 发射的新 ALMA 阿塔卡马紧凑阵列和总功率（ACA+TP）观测，覆盖了星系盘内部 8.6'，分辨率达 300 pc 尺度。我们分析了每条视线方向上 HCN 和 CO 的积分强度和平均速度，并使用 SCOUSE 软件进行光谱分解，分别考虑每个速度分量。由 HCN 示踪的分子气体堆积在半径 2 kpc 的环状结构中。HCN 发射在中心 2 kpc 区域增强了 2 个数量级，超出该范围其强度随星系中心距离增加而降低。HCN 光谱中的分量数量显示出稳健的环境依赖性，在中心和棒状结构中具有多个速度特征。我们已识别出这些区域 HCN/CO 比率的增加，对应于可能与分子外流相关的速度分量。我们还发现，总红外光度与致密气体质量之间的比率（指示致密气体的恒星形成效率）与分子气体面密度呈反相关，直至约 200 Msun/pc^2。相反，超过该点后，该比率开始增加。
英文摘要：
Studying molecular gas in nearby galaxies using hydrogen cyanide (HCN) as a tracer for higher densities than CO emission still poses a significant challenge. Even though several galaxies have HCN maps on a few kpc scales, higher-resolution maps are still required. Our goal is to examine the contrast in intensity between two tracers that probe different density regimes - HCN(1-0)/CO(2-1) ratio - and their kinematics across NGC 253. By utilizing the advanced capabilities of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), we can map these features at high resolution across a large field of view and uncover the nature of such dense gas in extragalactic systems. We present new ALMA Atacama Compact Array and Total Power (ACA+TP) observations of the HCN emission across NGC 253, covering the inner 8.6' of the galaxy disk at 300 pc scales. We analyze the integrated intensity and mean velocity of HCN and CO along each line of sight and use SCOUSE software to perform spectral decomposition, which considers each velocity component separately. Molecular gas traced by HCN piles up in a ring-like structure at a radius of 2 kpc. The HCN emission is enhanced by 2 orders of magnitude in the central 2 kpc regions, beyond which its intensity decreases with increasing galactocentric distance. The number of components in the HCN spectra shows a robust environmental dependence, with multiple velocity features across the center and bar. We have identified an increase in the HCN/CO ratio in these regions, corresponding to a velocity component likely associated with a molecular outflow. We have also discovered that the ratio between the total infrared luminosity and dense gas mass, which indicates the star formation efficiency of dense gas, is anti-correlated with the molecular gas surface density up to approximately 200 Msul/pc^2. In contrast, beyond this point, the ratio starts to increase.
We present the results of ALMA Cycle 2 observations of the ultraluminous infrared galaxy, IRAS 20551-4250, at HCN/HCO+/HNC J=3-2 lines at both vibrational-ground (v=0) and vibrationally excited (v2=1) levels. This galaxy contains a luminous buried active galactic nucleus (AGN), in addition to starburst activity, and our ALMA Cycle 0 data revealed a tentatively detected vibrationally excited HCN v2=1f J=4-3 emission line. In our ALMA Cycle 2 data, the HCN/HCO+/HNC J=3-2 emission lines at v=0 are clearly detected. The HCN and HNC v2=1f J=3-2 emission lines are also detected, but the HCO+ v2=1f J…
We present the results of our ALMA observations of three AGN-dominated nuclei in optical Seyfert 1 galaxies (NGC 7469, I Zw 1, and IC 4329 A) and eleven luminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs) with various levels of infrared estimated energetic contributions by AGNs at the HCN and HCO+ J=3-2 emission lines. The HCN and HCO+ J=3-2 emission lines are clearly detected at the main nuclei of all sources, except for IC 4329 A. The vibrationally excited (v2=1f) HCN J=3-2 and HCO+ J=3-2 emission lines are simultaneously covered, and HCN v2=1f J=3-2 emission line signatures are seen in the main nuclei of tw…
We present our ALMA multi-transition molecular line observational results for the ultraluminous infrared galaxy, IRAS 20551-4250, which is known to contain a luminous buried AGN and shows detectable vibrationally excited (v2=1f) HCN and HNC emission lines. The rotational J=1-0, 4-3, and 8-7 of HCN, HCO+, and HNC emission lines were clearly detected at a vibrational ground level (v=0). Vibrationally excited (v2=1f) J=4-3 emission lines were detected for HCN and HNC, but not for HCO+. Their observed flux ratios further support our previously obtained suggestion, based on J=3-2 data, that (1) inf…
We present observations of the dense molecular gas tracers HCN, HNC, and HCO+ in the J=1-0 transition using ALMA. We supplement our datasets with previous observations of CO J=1-0, which traces the total molecular gas content. We separate the Antennae into 7 bright regions in which we detect emission from all three molecules, including the nuclei of NGC 4038 and NGC 4039, 5 super giant molecular complexes in the overlap region and 2 additional bright clouds. We find that the ratio of L(HCN)/L(CO), which traces the dense molecular gas fraction, is greater in the two nuclei (L(HCN)/L(CO) ~ 0.07 …
We present the results of our ALMA observations of eleven (ultra)luminous infrared galaxies ((U)LIRGs) at J=4-3 of HCN, HCO+, HNC and J=3-2 of HNC. This is an extension of our previously published HCN and HCO+ J=3-2 observations to multiple rotational J-transitions of multiple molecules, to investigate how molecular emission line flux ratios vary at different J-transitions. We confirm that ULIRGs that contain or may contain luminous obscured AGNs tend to show higher HCN-to-HCO+ flux ratios than starburst galaxies, both at J=4-3 and J=3-2. For selected HCN-flux-enhanced AGN-important ULIRGs, ou…
We present the results of high spatial resolution HCO$^{+}$($1-0$) and HCN($1-0$) observations of N55 south region (N55-S) in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), obtained with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). N55-S is a relatively less extreme star-forming region of the LMC characterized by a low radiation field. We carried out a detailed analysis of the molecular emission to investigate the relation between dense molecular clumps and star formation in the quiescent environment of N55-S. We detect ten molecular clumps with significant HCO$^{+}(1-0)$ emission and eight wit…
We present ALMA ~0.02"-resolution observations of the nucleus of the nearby (~14 Mpc) type-2 AGN NGC 1068 at HCN/HCO+/HNC J=3-2 lines, as well as at their 13C isotopologue and vibrationally excited lines, to scrutinize the morphological/dynamical/chemical/physical properties of dense molecular gas in the putative dusty molecular torus around a mass-accreting supermassive black hole. We confirm almost east-west-oriented dense molecular gas emission both morphologically and dynamically, which we regard as coming from the torus. Bright emission is compact (<3 pc), and low-surface-brightness emiss…
We present the results of ALMA $\sim$2 mm, $\lesssim$1$''$-resolution observations of ten (ultra)luminous infrared galaxies ([U]LIRGs; infrared luminosity $\gtrsim$ 10$^{11.7}$L$_{\odot}$) at $z <$ 0.15, targeting dense ($>$10$^{4}$ cm$^{-3}$) molecular (HCN, HCO$^{+}$, and HNC J=2-1) and 183 GHz H$_{2}$O 3$_{1,3}$-2$_{2,0}$ emission lines. Higher HCN to HCO$^{+}$ J=2-1 flux ratios are observed in some, but not all, AGN-important ULIRGs than in starburst-classified sources. We detect 183 GHz H$_{2}$O emission in almost all AGN-important ULIRGs, and elevated H$_{2}$O emission is found in two so…
We use new HCN(1-0) data from the ALMOND (ACA Large-sample Mapping Of Nearby galaxies in Dense gas) survey to trace the kpc-scale molecular gas density structure and CO(2-1) data from PHANGS-ALMA to trace the bulk molecular gas across 25 nearby, star-forming galaxies. At 2.1 kpc scale, we measure the density-sensitive HCN/CO line ratio and the SFR/HCN ratio to trace the star formation efficiency in the denser molecular medium. At 150 pc scale, we measure structural and dynamical properties of the molecular gas via CO(2-1) line emission, which is linked to the lower resolution data using an int…
ALMA observations towards M83 reveal N2H+ tracing dense gas
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan（日本国立天文台）；Graduate Institute for Advanced Studies, SOKENDAI（日本综合研究大学院大学）；Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences, University of Tsukuba（筑波大学理工学群）；Institute of Astronomy, The University of Tokyo（东京大学天体物理研究所）；Faculty of Global Interdisciplinary Science and Innovation, Shizuoka University（静冈大学全球跨学科科学与创新学部）；Observatorio Astronómico Nacional (IGN)（国家天文台（西班牙国家地理研究所））；Stony Brook University（石溪大学）；The Institute for Advanced Study, Kyushu University（九州大学高等研究院）；Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Faculty of Science, Kyushu University（九州大学理学部地球惑星科学科）
We present the results of our ALMA HCN J=3-2 and HCO+ J=3-2 line observations of a uniformly selected sample (>25) of nearby ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs) at z < 0.15. The emission of these dense molecular gas tracers and continuum are spatially resolved in the majority of observed ULIRGs for the first time with achieved synthesized beam sizes of ~0.2 arcsec or ~500 pc. In most ULIRGs, the HCN-to-HCO+ J=3-2 flux ratios in the nuclear regions within the beam size are systematically higher than those in the spatially extended regions. The elevated nuclear HCN J=3-2 emission could be r…
ALMA 0.5 kpc Resolution Spatially Resolved Investigations of Nuclear Dense Molecular Gas Properties in Nearby Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies Based on HCN and HCO$^{+}$ Three Transition Line Data
We present 1" (<100 pc) resolution maps of millimeter emission from five molecules-CN, HCN, HCO+, CH3OH, and HNCO-obtained towards NGC 4038, which is the northern galaxy of the mid-stage merger, Antennae galaxies, with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array. Three molecules (CN, CH3OH, and HNCO) were detected for the first time in the nuclear region of NGC 4038. High-resolution mapping reveals a systematic difference in distributions of different molecular species and continuum emission. Active star forming regions identified by the 3 mm and 850 um continuum emission are offset from …
We report ~2" resolution Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array observations of the HCN(1-0), HCO+(1-0), CO(1-0), CO(2-1), and CO(3-2) lines towards the nearby merging double-nucleus galaxy NGC 3256. We find that the high density gas outflow traced in HCN(1-0) and HCO+(1-0) emission is co-located with the diffuse molecular outflow emanating from the southern nucleus, where a low-luminosity active galactic nucleus (AGN) is believed to be the dominant source of the far-infrared luminosity. On the other hand, the same lines were undetected in the outflow region associated with the northern …
UV photochemistry in the surface layers of protoplanetary disks dramatically alters their composition relative to previous stages of star formation. The abundance ratio CN/HCN has long been proposed to trace the UV field in various astrophysical objects, however to date the relationship between CN, HCN, and the UV field in disks remains ambiguous. As part of the ALMA Large Program MAPS (Molecules with ALMA at Planet-forming Scales), we present observations of CN N=1-0 transitions at 0.3'' resolution towards five disk systems. All disks show bright CN emission within $\sim$50-150 au, along with…
CH$_3$OH and HCN in Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Mapped with the ALMA Atacama Compact Array: Distinct Outgassing Behaviors and a Remarkably High CH$_3$OH/HCN Production Rate Ratio
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center（美国宇航局戈达德太空飞行中心）；American University（美国大学）；The Catholic University of America（美利坚天主教大学）；LIRA, Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Université Paris Cité（巴黎天文台，PSL大学，法国国家科学研究中心，索邦大学，巴黎西岱大学）
We present the results of our ALMA Cycle 4 high-spatial-resolution (0.04-0.07") observations, at HCN J=3-2 and HCO+ J=3-2 lines, of the nucleus of NGC 1068, the nearby prototypical type 2 active galactic nucleus (AGN). Our previous ALMA observations identified the compact emission of these lines at the putative location of the torus around a mass-accreting supermassive black hole. We now report that we have detected the rotation of this compact emission, with the eastern and western sides being redshifted and blueshifted, respectively. Unlike the previously reported CO J=6-5 emission, both the…
PRUSSIC III -- ALMA and NOEMA survey of dense gas in high-redshift star-forming galaxies
Leiden University（莱顿大学）；Delft University of Technology（代尔夫特理工大学）；SRON - Netherlands Institute for Space Research（荷兰空间研究所）；Universität zu Köln（科隆大学）；European Southern Observatory (ESO)（欧洲南方天文台）；Cosmic Dawn Center (DAWN)（宇宙黎明中心）；Technical University of Denmark（丹麦技术大学）；University College London（伦敦大学学院）
We present the results of our ALMA Cycle 2 high angular resolution (0.1-0.2 arcsec) observations of the nuclear region of the nearby well-studied type-2 active galactic nucleus (AGN), NGC 1068, at HCN J=3-2 and HCO+ J=3-2 emission lines. For the first time, due to a higher angular resolution than previous studies, we clearly detected dense molecular gas emission at the putative AGN location, identified as a ~1.1 mm (~266 GHz) continuum emission peak, by separating this emission from brighter emission located at 0.5-2.0 arcsec on the eastern and western sides of the AGN. The estimated intrinsic…
Molecular Abundance of the Circumnuclear Region Surrounding an Active Galactic Nucleus in NGC 1068 based on Imaging Line Survey in the 3-mm Band with ALMA
We report ALMA observations of molecular gas and continuum emission in the 90 and 350 GHz bands toward a nearby Seyfert galaxy NGC 613. Radio continuum emissions were detected at 95 and 350 GHz from both the circum-nuclear disk (CND) ($r\leq90$ pc) and a star-forming ring (250 pc $\leq r\leq 340$ pc), and the 95 GHz continuum was observed to extend from the center at a position angle of $20^{\circ} \pm 8^{\circ}$. The archival 4.9 GHz data and our 95 GHz data show spectral indices of $α\leq -0.6$ and $-0.2$ along the jets and in the star-forming ring; these can be produced by synchrotron emiss…
We report a study of X-ray-irradiated gas in the central ~100 pc of the Circinus galaxy, hosting a Compton-thick active galactic nucleus (AGN), at 10-pc resolution using Chandra and ALMA. Based on ~200 ksec Chandra/ACIS-S data, we created an image of the Fe Kalpha line at 6.4 keV, tracing X-ray-irradiated dense gas. The ALMA data in Bands 6 (~270 GHz) and 7 (~350 GHz) cover five molecular lines: CO(J=3--2), HCN(J=3--2), HCN(J=4--3), HCO^+(J=3--2), and HCO^+(J=4--3). The detailed spatial distribution of dense molecular gas was revealed, and compared to the iron line image. The molecular gas emi…
Centaurus A, with its gas-rich elliptical host galaxy, NGC 5128, is the nearest radio galaxy at a distance of 3.8 Mpc. Its proximity allows us to study the interaction between an active galactic nucleus, radio jets, and molecular gas in great detail. We present ALMA observations of low J transitions of three CO isotopologues, HCN, HCO$^{+}$, HNC, CN, and CCH toward the inner projected 500 pc of NGC 5128. Our observations resolve physical sizes down to 40 pc. By observing multiple chemical probes, we determine the physical and chemical conditions of the nuclear interstellar medium of NGC 5128. …
We investigate the relationship between CN N = 1 - 0 and HCN J = 1 - 0 emission on scales from 30 pc to 400 pc using ALMA archival data, for which CN is often observed simultaneously with the CO J = 1 - 0 line. In a sample of 9 nearby galaxies ranging from ultra-luminous infrared galaxies to normal spiral galaxies, we measure a remarkably constant CN/HCN line intensity ratio of 0.86 $\pm$ 0.07 (standard deviation of 0.20). This relatively constant CN/HCN line ratio is rather unexpected, as models of photon dominated regions have suggested that HCN emission traces shielded regions with high col…
Context. We present our findings for the HCN/H13CN 1-0 line ratio in the molecular outflow of Arp 220 west based on high-resolution ALMA data. Aims. Molecular gas masses in the outflowing gas of galaxies driven by active galactic nuclei (AGNs) or starbursts are important parameters for understanding the feedback of these latter two phenomena and star-formation quenching. The conversion factor of line luminosities to masses is related to the optical depth of the molecular lines. Methods. Using H13CN 1-0, the isotopic line of HCN 1-0, to obtain the line ratio of HCN/H13CN 1-0 is an ideal way to …
We aim to shed light on the physical properties and kinematics of the molecular material in the nucleus of one of the closest type 2 active galaxies. To this end, we obtained high angular resolution ALMA observations of the nucleus of the Circinus galaxy. The observations map the emission at 350GHz and 690GHz with spatial resolutions of ~3.8pc and ~2.2pc, respectively. The continuum emission traces cold ($T\lesssim100$K) dust in a circumnuclear disk with spiral arms on scales of 25pc, plus a marginally resolved nuclear emission peak. The latter is not extended in polar direction as claimed bas…
ALMA Resolves 30 Doradus: Sub-parsec Molecular Cloud Structure Near the Closest Super-Star Cluster
我们提出了ALMA观测30剑鱼座-迄今为止在河外恒星形成区分子气体的最高分辨率视图（~0.4pc x 0.6pc）。R136以北的30 Dor-10云被绘制成12 CO2 -1、13 CO2 -1、C18 O2 -1、1.3mm连续谱、H30 α复合线和两个H2 CO 3-2跃迁。大多数12 CO排放与小的细丝和团块有关（<1 pc，在当前分辨率下约为1000 Msun）。一些团块与原恒星有关，包括被R136强烈辐射光烧蚀的“创造之柱”。分子云的辐射通常通过分解成近似光束大小的团块来分析。剑鱼座30星系中的这种团块在大小、线宽和表面密度上与银河系团块有相似的趋势。30个剑鱼座团块在给定尺寸下的线宽比拉森的比例关系所预测的要大，这与压力限制一致。与10 pc分辨率下研究的云相比，它们在给定的尺寸和线宽下延伸到更高的表面密度。这些趋势也适用于银河系红外暗云中的团块;需要对这两种环境进行更高分辨率的观测。从尘埃连续体，CO和维里定理计算的团块质量的一致性表明，CO丰度在30剑鱼团块是没有显着不同的LMC平均值，但尘埃丰度可能会减少~2。有没有强烈的趋势，从R136的距离的团块属性，致密的团块不强烈的影响，外部辐射场，但有一个温和的趋势，降低致密的团块填充分数更深的云。
We study the relationship between dense gas and star formation in the Antennae galaxies by comparing ALMA observations of dense gas tracers (HCN, HCO$^+$, and HNC $\mathrm{J}=1-0$) to the total infrared luminosity ($\mathrm{L_{TIR}}$) calculated using data from the \textit{Herschel} Space Observatory and the \textit{Spitzer} Space Telescope. We compare the luminosities of our SFR and gas tracers using aperture photometry and employing two methods for defining apertures. We taper the ALMA dataset to match the resolution of our $\mathrm{L_{TIR}}$ maps and present new detections of dense gas emis…
We use archival ALMA observations of the HCN and CO $J=1-0$ transitions, in addition to the radio continuum at 93 GHz, to assess the relationship between dense gas, star formation, and gas dynamics in ten, nearby (U)LIRGs and late-type galaxy centers. We frame our results in the context of turbulent and gravoturbulent models of star formation to assess if the HCN/CO ratio tracks the gravitationally-bound, star-forming gas in molecular clouds ($f_\mathrm{grav}$) at sub-kpc scales in nearby galaxies. We confirm that the HCN/CO ratio is a tracer of gas above $n_\mathrm{SF}\approx10^{4.5}$ cm$^{-3…
We use both new and archival ALMA data of three energy lines each of CN and HCN to explore intensity ratios in dense gas in NGC 3256, NGC 7469, and IRAS 13120-5453. The HCN (3-2)/HCN (1-0) intensity ratio varies in NGC 3256 and NGC 7469, with superlinear trends of 1.53$\pm$0.07 and 1.55$\pm$0.05, respectively. We find an offset to higher HCN (3-2)/HCN (1-0) intensity ratios (~0.8) in IRAS 13120-5453 compared to NGC 3256 (~0.3-0.4) and NGC 7469 (~0.3-0.5). The HCN (4-3)/HCN (3-2) intensity ratio in NGC 7469 has a slope of 1.34$\pm$0.05. We attribute the variation within NGC 3256 to excitation a…
A large effort has been made to detect warm gas in the planet formation zone of circumstellar discs using space and ground-based near infrared facilities. GV Tau N, the most obscured component of the GV Tau system, is an outstanding source, being one of the first targets detected in HCN and the only one detected in CH$_4$ so far. Although near infrared observations have shed light on its chemical content, the physical structure and kinematics of the circumstellar matter remained unknown. We use interferometric images of the HCN 3-2 and $^{13}$CO 3-2 lines, and far-IR observations of $^{13}$CO,…
M-stars are the most common hosts of planetary systems in the Galaxy. Protoplanetary disks around M-stars thus offer a prime opportunity to study the chemistry of planet-forming environments. We present an ALMA survey of molecular line emission toward a sample of five protoplanetary disks around M4-M5 stars (FP Tau, J0432+1827, J1100-7619, J1545-3417, and Sz 69). These observations can resolve chemical structures down to tens of AU. Molecular lines of $^{12}$CO, $^{13}$CO, C$^{18}$O, C$_2$H, and HCN are detected toward all five disks. Lines of H$_2$CO and DCN are detected toward 2/5 and 1/5 di…
Spectrally and spatially resolved (sub)millimeter HCN-to-HCO$^{+}$ flux ratios in nearby ultraluminous infrared galaxies
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, National Institutes of Natural Sciences (NINS)（日本国立天文台，国立自然科学研究院）；Department of Astronomy, School of Science, Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI)（高级研究大学院大学（SOKENDAI）理学部天文学科）；Toyo University（东洋大学）；Institute of Pure and Applied Sciences, University of Tsukuba（筑波大学纯应用科学研究所）；Tomonaga Center for the History of the Universe, University of Tsukuba（筑波大学丰顺伽宇宙历史中心）；Tsukuba Institute for Advanced Research (TIAR), University of Tsukuba（筑波大学筑波高等研究院 (TIAR)）；Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency（日本宇宙航空研究开发机构宇宙科学研究所）
We analyze HCN and HNC emission in the nearby starburst galaxy NGC 253 to investigate its effectiveness in tracing heating processes associated with star formation. This study uses multiple HCN and HNC rotational transitions observed using ALMA via the ALCHEMI Large Program. To understand the conditions and associated heating mechanisms within NGC 253's dense gas, we employ Bayesian nested sampling techniques applied to chemical and radiative transfer models which are constrained using our HCN and HNC measurements. We find that the volume density $n_{\text{H}_{2}}$ and cosmic ray ionization ra…
We have complemented existing observations of HI absorption with new observations of HCO$^+$, C$_2$H, HCN, and HNC absorption from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and the Northern Extended Millimeter Array (NOEMA) in the direction of 20 background radio continuum sources with $4^\circ \leq |b| \leq 81^\circ$ to constrain the atomic gas conditions that are suitable for the formation of diffuse molecular gas. We find that these molecular species form along sightlines where $A_V \gtrsim 0.25$, consistent with the threshold for the HI-to-H$_2$ transition at solar metallicit…
We present ALMA Band 6 observations of the CO(2-1), HCN(3-2), and HCO$^{+}$(3-2) lines in the nearby radio galaxy / brightest cluster galaxy (BCG) of NGC 1275 with the spatial resolution of $\sim20$ pc. In the previous observations, CO(2-1) emission was detected as radial filaments lying in the east-west direction. We resolved the inner filament and found that the filament cannot be represented by a simple infalling stream both morphologically and kinematically. The observed complex nature of the filament resembles the cold gas structure predicted by recent numerical simulations of cold chaoti…
