Warped molecular gas disk in NGC 3718

Pott, Jörg-Uwe; Hartwich, Matthias; Eckart, A.; Léon, S.; Krips, M.; Straubmeier, C.

doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20031592

Cited by 15 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 50 publications

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“…At a radius of about 1.5 from the center, the dust lane bends by almost 90 degrees towards the north and south. This warp signature is also observed in the cold gas distribution, with the H I line emission tracing it out to a radius of more than 6 (24 kpc) and CO line emission tracing it towards the center (∼20 : Pott et al 2004). The outer parts of the warp were kinematically modeled by Schwarz (1985), while the inner parts down to ∼20 were modelled by Pott et al (2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 69%

“…The IRAM 30 m observations are already described in detail by Pott et al (2004) and will thus here only be discussed in the context of the short-spacing correction and resolution effects. The IRAM PdBI observations were carried out in two different modes: central pointing (one single field on the center) and mosaic (seven fields along the dust lane).…”

Section: Observationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1), a peculiar, elliptical galaxy at a distance of 13 Mpc (Pott et al 2004;Schwarz 1985). Together with its companion NGC 3729 it belongs to the Ursa Major group.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Molecular gas in NUclei of GAlaxies (NUGA)

Krips

Eckart

Neri³

et al. 2005

A&A

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We present the first interferometric observations of CO(1-0) and CO(2-1) line emission from the warped LINER NGC 3718, obtained with the IRAM Plateau de Bure Interferometer (PdBI). This L1.9 galaxy has a prominent dust lane and on kiloparsec scales, a strongly warped atomic and molecular gas disk. The molecular gas is closely associated with the dust lane across the nucleus and its kinematic center is consistent with the millimeter continuum AGN. A comparison of our interferometric mosaic data, which fully cover the ∼9 kpc warped disk, with a previously obtained IRAM 30 m single dish CO(1-0) map shows that the molecular gas distribution in the disk is heavily resolved by the PdBI map. On the nucleus the interferometric maps alone contain less than one half of the single dish line flux, and the overall mosaic accounts for about a tenth of the total molecular gas mass of ∼2.4 × 10 8 M . After applying a short-spacing correction with the IRAM 30 m data to recover the missing extended flux, we find in total six main source components within the dust lane: one associated with the nucleus, four symmetrically positioned on either side at galactocentric distances of about 1.3 kpc and 4.0 kpc from the center, and a sixth on the western side at ∼3 kpc with only a very weak eastern counterpart. In the framework of a kinematic model using tilted rings, we interpret the five symmetric source components as locations of strong orbital crowding. We further find indications that the warp appears not only on kpc scales, but continues down to ∼250 pc. Besides the sixth feature on the western side, the lower flux (a factor of ∼2) of the eastern components compared to the western ones indicates an intrinsic large scale asymmetry in NGC 3718 that cannot be explained by the warp. Indications for a small scale asymmetry are also seen in the central 600 pc. These asymmetries might be evidence for a tidal interaction with a companion galaxy (large scales) and gas accretion onto the nucleus (small scales). Our study of NGC 3718 is part of the NUclei of GAlaxies (NUGA) project that aims at investigating the different processes of gas accretion onto Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN).

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 69%

Section: Observationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Molecular gas in NUclei of GAlaxies (NUGA)

Krips

Eckart

Neri³

et al. 2005

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“…In their morphology, NGC 3718 and NGC 4441 are very similar to NGC 4194; they have tidal tails and minor axis dust lanes crossing the galaxies. Closely associated with these features are molecular gas reservoirs extended out to large scales (e.g., Pott et al 2004;Krips et al 2005;Jütte et al 2010) as in NGC 4194. Like NGC 4194, NGC 3718 hosts a large number of star clusters (Trinh et al 2006).…”

Section: Comparison To Other Minor Axis Dust Lane Minor Mergersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Like NGC 4194, NGC 3718 hosts a large number of star clusters (Trinh et al 2006). Both mergers also harbor molecular disks/ring-like structures at their centers (Schwarz 1985;Pott et al 2004;Krips et al 2005;Sparke et al 2009;Jütte et al 2010).…”

Section: Comparison To Other Minor Axis Dust Lane Minor Mergersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Molecular tendrils feeding star formation in the Eye of the Medusa

König

Aalto

Lindroos

et al. 2014

A&A

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Studying molecular gas properties in merging galaxies gives us important clues to the onset and evolution of interaction-triggered starbursts. NGC 4194 (the Medusa merger) is particularly interesting to study, since its FIR-to-CO luminosity ratio rivals that of ultraluminous galaxies (ULIRGs), despite its lower luminosity compared to ULIRGs, which indicates a high star formation efficiency (SFE) that is relative to even most spirals and ULIRGs. We study the molecular medium at an angular resolution of 0.65 × 0.52 (∼120 × 98 pc) through our observations of 12 CO 2−1 emission using the Submillimeter Array (SMA). We compare our 12 CO 2−1 maps with the optical Hubble Space Telescope and high angular resolution radio continuum images to study the relationship between molecular gas and the other components of the starburst region. The molecular gas is tracing the complicated dust lane structure of NGC 4194 with the brightest emission being located in an off-nuclear ring-like structure with ∼320 pc radius, the Eye of the Medusa. The bulk CO emission of the ring is found south of the kinematical center of NGC 4194. The northern tip of the ring is associated with the galaxy nucleus, where the radio continuum has its peak. Large velocity widths associated with the radio nucleus support the notion of NGC 4194 hosting an active galactic nucleus. A prominent, secondary emission maximum in the radio continuum is located inside the molecular ring. This suggests that the morphology of the ring is partially influenced by massive supernova explosions. From the combined evidence, we propose that the Eye of the Medusa contains a shell of swept up material where we identify a number of giant molecular associations. We propose that the Eye may be the site of an efficient starburst of 5−7 M yr −1 , but it would still constitute only a fraction of the 30−50 M yr −1 star formation rate of the Medusa. Furthermore, we find that ∼50% of the molecular mass of NGC 4194 is found in extended filamentary-like structures tracing the minor and major axis dust lanes. We suggest that molecular gas is transported along these lanes, providing the central starburst region with fuel. Interestingly, a comparison with locations of super star clusters (SSCs) reveal that the molecular gas and the SSCs are not co-spatial.

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