Amanda A. Kepley

ALMA RESOLVES 30 DORADUS: SUB-PARSEC MOLECULAR CLOUD STRUCTURE NEAR THE CLOSEST SUPER STAR CLUSTER

We present Atacama Large (sub)Millimeter Array observations of 30 Doradus-the highest resolution view of molecular gas in an extragalactic star formation region to date ({approx}0.4 pc Multiplication-Sign 0.6 pc). The 30Dor-10 cloud north of R136 was mapped in {sup 12}CO 2-1, {sup 13}CO 2-1, C{sup 18}O 2-1, 1.3 mm continuum, the H30{alpha} recombination line, and two H{sub 2}CO 3-2 transitions. Most {sup 12}CO emission is associated with small filaments and clumps ({approx}<1 pc, {approx}10{sup 3} M{sub Sun} at the current resolution). Some clumps are associated with protostars, including pillars of creation photoablated by intense radiation from R136. Emission from molecular clouds is often analyzed by decomposition into approximately beam-sized clumps. Such clumps in 30 Doradus follow similar trends in size, linewidth, and surface density to Milky Way clumps. The 30 Doradus clumps have somewhat larger linewidths for a given size than predicted by Larsons scaling relation, consistent with pressure confinement. They extend to a higher surface density at a given size and linewidth compared to clouds studied at 10 pc resolution. These trends are also true of clumps in Galactic infrared-dark clouds; higher resolution observations of both environments are required. Consistency of clump masses calculated from dust continuum, CO, andmorexa0» the virial theorem reveals that the CO abundance in 30 Doradus clumps is not significantly different from the Large Magellanic Cloud mean, but the dust abundance may be reduced by {approx}2. There are no strong trends in clump properties with distance from R136; dense clumps are not strongly affected by the external radiation field, but there is a modest trend toward lower dense clump filling fraction deeper in the cloud.«xa0less

The EMPIRE survey: systematic variations in the dense gas fraction and star formation efficiency from full-disk mapping of M51

We present the first results from the EMPIRE survey, an IRAM large program that is mapping tracers of high density molecular gas across the disks of nine nearby star-forming galaxies. Here, we present new maps of the 3-mm transitions of HCN, HCO+, and HNC across the whole disk of our pilot target, M51. As expected, dense gas correlates with tracers of recent star formation, filling the luminosity gap between Galactic cores and whole galaxies. In detail, we show that both the fraction of gas that is dense, f_dense traced by HCN/CO, and the rate at which dense gas forms stars, SFE_dense traced by IR/HCN, depend on environment in the galaxy. The sense of the dependence is that high surface density, high molecular gas fraction regions of the galaxy show high dense gas fractions and low dense gas star formation efficiencies. This agrees with recent results for individual pointings by Usero et al. 2015 but using unbiased whole-galaxy maps. It also agrees qualitatively with the behavior observed contrasting our own Solar Neighborhood with the central regions of the Milky Way. The sense of the trends can be explained if the dense gas fraction tracks interstellar pressure but star formation occurs only in regions of high density contrast.

The Green Bank Telescope Maps the Dense, Star-forming Gas in the Nearby Starburst Galaxy M82

Observations of the Milky Way and nearby galaxies show that dense molecular gas correlates with recent star formation, suggesting that the formation of this gas phase may help regulate star formation. A key test of this idea requires wide-area, high-resolution maps of dense molecular gas in galaxies to explore how local physical conditions drive dense gas formation, but these observations have been limited because of the faintness of dense gas tracers like HCN and HCO+. Here we demonstrate the power of the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT)—the largest single-dish millimeter radio telescope—for mapping dense gas in galaxies by presenting the most sensitive maps yet of HCN and HCO+ in the starburst galaxy M82. The HCN and HCO+ in the disk of this galaxy correlates with both recent star formation and more diffuse molecular gas and shows kinematics consistent with a rotating torus. The HCO+ emission extending to the north and south of the disk is coincident with the outflow previously identified in CO and traces the eastern edge of the hot outflowing gas. The central starburst region has a higher ratio of star formation to dense gas than the outer regions, pointing to the starburst as a key driver of this relationship. These results establish that the GBT can efficiently map the dense molecular gas at 90 GHz in nearby galaxies, a capability that will increase further with the 16 element feed array under construction.

CHANG-ES – VI. Probing Supernova energy deposition in spiral galaxies through multiwavelength relationships

How a galaxy regulates its supernovae (SNe) energy into different interstellar/circumgalactic medium components strongly affects galaxy evolution. Based on the JVLA D-configuration C- (6 GHz) and L-band (1.6 GHz) continuum observations, we perform statistical analysis comparing multiwavelength properties of the Continuum Haloes in Nearby Galaxies - an EVLA Survey galaxies. The high-quality JVLA data and edge-on orientation enable us for the first time to include the halo into the energy budget for a complete radio-flux-limited sample. We find tight correlations of Lradio with the mid-IR-based star formation rate (SFR). The normalization of our I1.6 GHz/W Hz-1-SFR relation is ˜2-3times of those obtained for face-on galaxies, probably a result of enhanced IR extinction at high inclination. We also find tight correlations between Lradio and the SNe energy injection rate dot{E}_SN(Ia+CC), indicating the energy loss via synchrotron radio continuum accounts for ˜1 of dot{E}_SN, comparable to the energy contained in cosmic ray electrons. The integrated C-to-L-band spectral index is α ˜ 0.5-1.1 for non-active galactic nucleus galaxies, indicating a dominance by the diffuse synchrotron component. The low-scatter Lradio-SFR/L_radio-dot{E}_{SN (Ia+CC)} relationships have superlinear logarithmic slopes at ˜2σ in L band (1.132 ± 0.067/1.175 ± 0.102) while consistent with linear in C band (1.057 ± 0.075/1.100 ± 0.123). The superlinearity could be naturally reproduced with non-calorimeter models for galaxy discs. Using Chandra halo X-ray measurements, we find sublinear LX-Lradio relations. These results indicate that the observed radio halo of a starburst galaxy is close to electron calorimeter, and a galaxy with higher SFR tends to distribute an increased fraction of SNe energy into radio emission (than X-ray).

A GPU-Based Wide-Band Radio Spectrometer

The Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) has become an integral part of astronomical instrumentation, enabling high-performance online data reduction and accelerated online signal processing. In this paper, we describe a wide-band reconfigurable spectrometer built using an off-the-shelf GPU card. This spectrometer, when configured as a polyphase filter bank (PFB), supports a dual-polarization bandwidth of up to 1.1 GHz (or a single-polarization bandwidth of up to 2.2 GHz) on the latest generation of GPUs. On the other hand, when configured as a direct FFT, the spectrometer supports a dual-polarization bandwidth of up to 1.4 GHz (or a single-polarization bandwidth of up to 2.8 GHz).

Extended HCN and HCO+ Emission in the Starburst Galaxy M82

We mapped 3 mm continuum and line emission from the starburst galaxy M82 using the Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-wave Astronomy. We targeted the HCN, HCO{sup +}, HNC, CS, and HC{sub 3}N lines, but here we focus on the HCN and HCO{sup +} emission. The map covers a field of 1.2 with an ≈5 resolution. The HCN and HCO{sup +} observations are short spacings corrected. The molecular gas in M82 had been previously found to be distributed in a molecular disk, coincident with the central starburst, and a galactic scale outflow which originates in the central starburst. With the new short spacings-corrected maps we derive some of the properties of the dense molecular gas in the base of the outflow. From the HCN and HCO{sup +} J = (1-0) line emission, and under the assumptions of the gas being optically thin and in local thermodynamic equilibrium, we place lower limits on the amount of dense molecular gas in the base of the outflow. The lower limits are 7 × 10{sup 6} M {sub ☉} and 21 × 10{sup 6} M {sub ☉}, or ≳ 2% of the total molecular mass in the outflow. The kinematics and spatial distribution ofmorexa0» the dense gas outside the central starburst suggests that it is being expelled through chimneys. Assuming a constant outflow velocity, the derived outflow rate of dense molecular gas is ≥0.3 M {sub ☉} yr{sup –1}, which would lower the starburst lifetime by ≥5%. The energy required to expel this mass of dense gas is (1-10) × 10{sup 52} erg.«xa0less

Millimeter-wave Line Ratios and Sub-beam Volume Density Distributions

We explore the use of mm-wave emission line ratios to trace molecular gas density when observations integrate over a wide range of volume densities within a single telescope beam. For observations targeting external galaxies, this case is unavoidable. Using a framework similar to that of Krumholz and Thompson (2007), we model emission for a set of common extragalactic lines from lognormal and power law density distributions. We consider the median density of gas producing emission and the ability to predict density variations from observed line ratios. We emphasize line ratio variations, because these do not require knowing the absolute abundance of our tracers. Patterns of line ratio variations have the prospect to illuminate the high-end shape of the density distribution, and to capture changes in the dense gas fraction and median volume density. Our results with and without a high density power law tail differ appreciably; we highlight better knowledge of the PDF shape as an important area. We also show the implications of sub-beam density distributions for isotopologue studies targeting dense gas tracers. Differential excitation often implies a significant correction to the naive case. We provide tabulated versions of many of our results, which can be used to interpret changes in mm-wave line ratios in terms of changes in the underlying density distributions.

The Molecular Clouds Fueling A 1/5 Solar Metallicity Starburst

Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, we have made the first high spatial and spectral resolution observations of the molecular gas and dust in the prototypical blue compact dwarf galaxy II Zw 40. The CO(2-1) and CO(3-2) emission is clumpy and distributed throughout the central star-forming region. Only one of eight molecular clouds has associated star formation. The continuum spectral energy distribution is dominated by free-free and synchrotron: at 870

Detection of an ∼20 kpc coherent magnetic field in the outskirt of merging spirals: the Antennae galaxies

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The versatile GBT astronomical spectrometer (VEGAS): Current status and future plans

, only 50% of the emission is from dust. We derive a CO-to-H