[en] We present the detection of molecular gas from galaxies located in nearby voids using the CO(1–0) line emission as a tracer. The observations were performed using the 45 m single dish radio telescope of the Nobeyama Radio Observatory. Void galaxies lie in the most underdense parts of our universe and a significant fraction of them are gas rich, late-type spiral galaxies. Although isolated, they have ongoing star formation but appear to be slowly evolving compared to galaxies in denser environments. Not much is known about their star formation properties or cold gas content. In this study, we searched for molecular gas in five void galaxies. The galaxies were selected based on their relatively high IRAS fluxes or Hα line luminosities, both of which signify ongoing star formation. All five galaxies appear to be isolated and two lie within the Bootes void. We detected CO(1–0) emission from four of the five galaxies in our sample and their molecular gas masses lie between 10"8 and 10"9 M_⊙. We conducted follow-up Hα imaging observations of three detected galaxies using the Himalayan Chandra Telescope and determined their star formation rates (SFRs) from their Hα fluxes. The SFR varies from 0.2 to 1 M_⊙ yr"−"1; which is similar to that observed in local galaxies. Our study indicates that although void galaxies reside in underdense regions, their disks contain molecular gas and have SFRs similar to galaxies in denser environments. We discuss the implications of our results

[en] The properties of tidally induced arms provide a means to study molecular cloud formation and the subsequent star formation under environmental conditions which, in principle, are different from quasi-stationary spiral arms. We report the properties of a newly discovered molecular gas arm of likely tidal origin at the south of NGC 4039 and the overlap region in the Antennae galaxies, with a resolution of 1.''68 × 0.''85, using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array science verification CO(2-1) data. The arm extends 3.4 kpc (34'') and is characterized by widths of ∼<200 pc (2'') and velocity widths of typically ΔV ≅ 10-20 km s^–1. About 10 clumps are strung out along this structure, most of them unresolved, with average surface densities of Σ_gas ≅ 10-100 M_☉ pc^–2, and masses of (1-8)×10⁶ M_☉. These structures resemble the morphology of beads on a string, with an almost equidistant separation between the beads of about 350 pc, which may represent a characteristic separation scale for giant molecular associations. We find that the star formation efficiency at a resolution of 6''(600 pc) is in general a factor of 10 higher than in disk galaxies and other tidal arms and bridges. This arm is linked, based on the distribution and kinematics, to the base of the western spiral arm of NGC 4039, but its morphology is different to that predicted by high-resolution simulations of the Antennae galaxies.

[en] In order to test a recent hypothesis that the dispersion in the Schmidt-Kennicutt law arises from variations in the evolutionary stage of star-forming molecular clouds, we compared molecular gas and recent star formation in an early-phase merger galaxy pair, Taffy I (UGC 12915/UGC 12914, VV 254) which went through a direct collision 20 Myr ago and whose star-forming regions are expected to have similar ages. Narrowband Paα image is obtained using the ANIR near-infrared camera on the mini-TAO 1 m telescope. The image enables us to derive accurate star formation rates within the galaxy directly. The total star formation rate, 22.2 M_☉ yr^–1, was found to be much higher than previous estimates. Ages of individual star-forming blobs estimated from equivalent widths indicate that most star-forming regions are ∼7 Myr old, except for a giant H II region at the bridge which is much younger. Comparison between star formation rates and molecular gas masses for the regions with the same age exhibits a surprisingly tight correlation, a slope of unity, and star formation efficiencies comparable to those of starburst galaxies. These results suggest that Taffy I has just evolved into a starburst system after the collision, and the star-forming sites are at a similar stage in their evolution from natal molecular clouds except for the bridge region. The tight Schmidt-Kennicutt law supports the scenario that dispersion in the star formation law is in large part due to differences in evolutionary stage of star-forming regions.

[en] We present high-resolution images of the ¹²CO(2-1) emission in the central 1' (1 kpc) of NGC 5128 (Centaurus A), observed using the Submillimeter Array. We elucidate for the first time the distribution and kinematics of the molecular gas in this region with a resolution of 6.''0 x 2.''4 (100 pc x 40 pc). We spatially resolve the circumnuclear molecular gas in the inner 24''x 12'' (400 pc x 200 pc), which is elongated along a position angle of P.A. ≅155 deg. and perpendicular to the radio/X-ray jet. The southeast (SE) and northwest (NW) components of the circumnuclear gas are connected to molecular gas found at larger radii. This gas appears as two parallel filaments at P.A. = 120 deg., which are coextensive with the long sides of the 3 kpc parallelogram shape of the previously observed dust continuum, as well as ionized and pure rotational H₂ lines. Spatial and kinematical asymmetries are apparent in both the circumnuclear and outer gas, suggesting noncoplanar and/or noncircular motions. We extend to inner radii (r< 200 pc) previously studied warped disk models built to reproduce the central parallelogram-shaped structure. Adopting the warped disk model we would confirm a gap in emission between the radii r = 200-800 pc (12''-50''), as has been suggested previously. Although this model explains this prominent feature; however, our ¹²CO(2 - 1) observations show relevant deviations from this model: namely, the physical connection between the circumnuclear gas and that at larger radii, brighter SE and NW sides on the parallelogram-shaped feature, and an outer curvature of its long sides. Overall, it resembles more closely an S-shaped morphology, a trend that is also found in other molecular species. Hence, we qualitatively explore the possible contribution of a weak bi-symmetric potential which would naturally explain these peculiarities.

[en] We present Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observations of the [C II] 157.7 μm fine structure line and thermal dust continuum emission from a pair of gas-rich galaxies at z = 4.7, BR1202-0725. This system consists of a luminous quasar host galaxy and a bright submillimeter galaxy (SMG), while a fainter star-forming galaxy is also spatially coincident within a 4'' (25 kpc) region. All three galaxies are detected in the submillimeter continuum, indicating FIR luminosities in excess of 10¹³ L_☉ for the two most luminous objects. The SMG and the quasar host galaxy are both detected in [C II] line emission with luminosities L_[CII] = (10.0 ± 1.5) × 10⁹ L_☉ and L_[CII] = (6.5 ± 1.0) × 10⁹ L_☉, respectively. We estimate a luminosity ratio L_[CII]/L_FIR = (8.3 ± 1.2) × 10^–4 for the starburst SMG to the north and L_[CII]/L_FIR = (2.5 ± 0.4) × 10^–4 for the quasar host galaxy, in agreement with previous high-redshift studies that suggest lower [C II]-to-FIR luminosity ratios in quasars than in starburst galaxies. The third fainter object with a flux density S_340GHz = 1.9 ± 0.3 mJy is coincident with a Lyα emitter and is detected in HST ACS F775W and F814W images but has no clear counterpart in the H band. Even if this third companion does not lie at a redshift similar to BR1202-0725, the quasar and the SMG represent an overdensity of massive, infrared luminous star-forming galaxies within 1.3 Gyr of the big bang.

[en] We report on atomic gas (H I) and molecular gas (as traced by CO(2-1)) redshifted absorption features toward the nuclear regions of the closest powerful radio galaxy, Centaurus A (NGC 5128). Our H I observations using the Very Long Baseline Array allow us to discern with unprecedented sub-parsec resolution H I absorption profiles toward different positions along the 21 cm continuum jet in the inner 0.''3 (or 5.4 pc). In addition, our CO(2-1) data obtained with the Submillimeter Array probe the bulk of the absorbing molecular gas with little contamination by emission, which was not possible with previous CO single-dish observations. We shed light on the physical properties of the gas in the line of sight with these data, emphasizing the still open debate about the nature of the gas that produces the broad absorption line (∼55 km s^-1). First, the broad H I line is more prominent toward the central and brightest 21 cm continuum component than toward a region along the jet at a distance ∼20 mas (or 0.4 pc) further from the nucleus. This indicates that the broad absorption line arises from gas located close to the nucleus, rather than from diffuse and more distant gas. Second, the different velocity components detected in the CO(2-1) absorption spectrum match well with other molecular lines, such as those of HCO⁺(1-0), except the broad absorption line that is detected in HCO⁺(1-0) (and most likely related to that of the H I). Dissociation of molecular hydrogen due to the active galactic nucleus seems to be efficient at distances r ∼< 10 pc, which might contribute to the depth of the broad H I and molecular lines.

[en] We present results from Submillimeter Array (SMA) 860 μm subarcsecond astrometry and multiwavelength observations of the brightest millimeter (S_1.1mm = 8.4 mJy) source, SSA22-AzTEC1, found near the core of the SSA22 protocluster that is traced by Lyα-emitting galaxies at z = 3.09. We identify a 860 μm counterpart with a flux density of S_860μm = 12.2 ± 2.3 mJy and absolute positional accuracy that is better than 0.''3. At the SMA position, we find radio-to-mid-infrared counterparts, whilst no object is found in Subaru optical and near-infrared deep images at wavelengths ≤1 μm (J > 25.4 in AB, 2σ). The photometric redshift estimate, using flux densities at ≥24 μm, indicates z_phot = 3.19^+0.26_-0.35, consistent with the protocluster redshift. We then model the near-to-mid-infrared spectral energy distribution (SED) of SSA22-AzTEC1, and find that the SED modeling requires a large extinction (A_V ∼ 3.4 mag) of starlight from a stellar component with M_star ∼ 10^10.9 M_sun, assuming z = 3.1. Additionally, we find a significant X-ray counterpart with a very hard spectrum (Γ_eff = -0.34^+0.57_-0.61), strongly suggesting that SSA22-AzTEC1 harbors a luminous active galactic nuclei (AGNs; L_X ∼ 3 x 10⁴⁴ erg s^-1) behind a large hydrogen column (N_H ∼ 10²⁴ cm^-2). The AGN, however, is responsible for only ∼10% of the bolometric luminosity of the host galaxy, and therefore the star formation activity likely dominates the submillimeter emission. It is possible that SSA22-AzTEC1 is the first example of a protoquasar growing at the bottom of the gravitational potential underlying the SSA22 protocluster.

[en] We present the distribution and kinematics of the molecular gas in the circumnuclear disk (CND; 400 pc × 200 pc) of Centaurus A with resolutions of ∼5 pc (0.″3) and shed light onto the mechanism feeding the active galactic nucleus (AGN) using CO(3–2), HCO⁺(4–3), HCN(4–3), and CO(6–5) observations obtained with ALMA. Multiple filaments or streamers of tens to a hundred parsec scale exist within the CND, which form a ring-like structure with an unprojected diameter of 9″ × 6″ (162 pc × 108 pc) and a position angle P.A. ≃ 155°. Inside the nuclear ring, there are two leading and straight filamentary structures with lengths of about 30–60 pc at P.A. ≃ 120° on opposite sides of the AGN, with a rotational symmetry of 180° and steeper position–velocity diagrams, which are interpreted as nuclear shocks due to non-circular motions. Along the filaments, and unlike other nearby AGNs, several dense molecular clumps present low HCN/HCO⁺(4–3) ratios (≲0.5). The filaments abruptly end in the probed transitions at r ≃ 20 pc from the AGN, but previous near-IR H₂( J = 1–0)S(1) maps show that they continue in an even warmer gas phase ( T ∼ 1000 K), winding up in the form of nuclear spirals, and forming an inner ring structure with another set of symmetric filaments along the N–S direction and within r ≃ 10 pc. The molecular gas is governed primarily by non-circular motions, being the successive shock fronts at different scales where loss of angular momentum occurs, a mechanism that may feed efficiently powerful radio galaxies down to parsec scales.

[en] We present an 880 μm Submillimeter Array (SMA) detection of the submillimeter galaxy SXDF 850.6. SXDF 850.6 is a bright source (S_850μm = 8 mJy) detected in the SCUBA Half Degree Extragalactic Survey and has multiple possible radio counterparts in its deep radio image obtained at the VLA. Our new SMA detection finds that the submillimeter emission coincides with the brightest radio emission that is found ∼8'' north of the coordinates determined from SCUBA. Despite the lack of detectable counterparts in deep UV/optical images, we find a source at the SMA position in near-infrared and longer wavelength images. We perform spectral energy distribution (SED) model fits to UV-optical-IR photometry (u, B, V, R, i', z', J, H, K, 3.6 μm, 4.5 μm, 5.8 μm, and 8.0 μm) and to submillimeter-radio photometry (850 μm, 880 μm, 1100 μm, and 21 cm) independently, and we find both are well described by starburst templates at a redshift of z ≅ 2.2 ± 0.3. The best-fit parameters from the UV-optical-IR SED fit are a redshift of z = 1.87^+0.15_-0.07, a stellar mass of M_* = 2.5^+2.2_-0.3 x 10¹¹ M_sun, an extinction of A_V = 3.0^+0.3_-1.0 mag, and an age of 720⁺¹⁸⁸⁰_-210 Myr. The submillimeter-radio SED fit provides a consistent redshift of z ∼ 1.8-2.5, an IR luminosity of L_IR = (7-26) x10¹² L_sun, and a star formation rate of 1300-4500 M_sun yr^-1. These results suggest that SXDF 850.6 is a mature system already having a massive amount of old stellar population constructed before its submillimeter bright phase and is experiencing a dusty starburst, possibly induced by major mergers.

[en] We report the discovery of a 10 comoving megaparsec (cMpc)-scale structure traced by massive submillimeter galaxies (SMGs) at z ∼ 4.6. These galaxies are selected from an emission line search of ALMA Band 7 observations targeting 184 luminous submillimeter sources (S _850μm ≥ 6.2 mJy) across 1.6 degrees² in the COSMOS field. We identify four [C ii] emitting SMGs and two probable [C ii] emitting SMG candidates at z = 4.60–4.64 with velocity-integrated signal-to-noise ratio of S/N > 8. Four of the six emitters are near-infrared blank SMGs. After excluding one SMG whose emission line is falling at the edge of the spectral window, all galaxies show clear velocity gradients along the major axes that are consistent with rotating gas disks. The estimated rotation velocities of the disks are 330–550 km s⁻¹ and the inferred host dark-matter halo masses are ∼2–8 × 10¹² M _⊙. From their estimated halo masses and [C ii] luminosity function, we suggest that these galaxies have a high (50%–100%) duty cycle and high (∼0.1) baryon conversion efficiency (SFR relative to baryon accretion rate), and that they contribute ≃2% to the total star formation rate density at z = 4.6. These SMGs are concentrated within just 0.3% of the full survey volume, suggesting they are strongly clustered. The extent of this structure and the individual halo masses suggest that these SMGs will likely evolve into members of a ∼10¹⁵ M _⊙ cluster at z = 0. This survey reveals a synchronized dusty starburst in massive halos at z > 4, which could be driven by mergers or fed by smooth gas accretion.