CHARACTERIZING THE LOW-MASS MOLECULAR COMPONENT IN THE NORTHERN SMALL MAGELLANIC CLOUD

Journal Article · Thu Apr 01 04:00:00 EDT 2010 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/712/2/1248· OSTI ID:21394179

Muller, E; Mizuno, N; Kawamura, A; Mizuno, Y; Fukui, Y; Onishi, T ^[1]; Ott, J ^[2]; Hughes, A; Wong, T ^[3]; Pineda, J L ^[4]; Rubio, M ^[5]

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1. Department of Astrophysics, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8602 (Japan)
2. National Radio Astronomy Observatory, P.O. Box O, 1003 Lopezville Road, Socorro, NM 87801 (United States)
3. Australia Telescope National Facility, CSIRO, P.O. Box 76, Epping, NSW 1710 (Australia)
4. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109 (United States)
5. Departamento de Astronomia, Universidad de Chile, Casilla 36-D, Santiago (Chile)

We present here the first results from a high-resolution survey of the {sup 12}CO(J = 1-0) emission across the northern part of the poorly enriched Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), made with the ATNF Mopra telescope. Three molecular complexes detected in the lower resolution NANTEN survey are mapped with a beam FWHM of {approx}42'', to sensitivities of approximately 210 mK per 0.9 km s{sup -1} channel, resolving each complex into 4-7 small clouds of masses in the range of M{sub vir} {approx} 10{sup 3}-10{sup 4} M{sub sun} and with radii no larger than 16 pc. The northern SMC CO clouds follow similar empirical relationships to the southern SMC population, yet they appear relatively under-luminous for their size, suggesting that the star-forming environment in the SMC is not homogeneous. Our data also suggests that the CO cloud population has little or no extended CO envelope on scales {approx}>30 pc, further evidence that the weak CO component in the north SMC is being disassociated by penetrating UV radiation. The new high-resolution data provide evidence for a variable correlation of the CO integrated brightness with integrated H I and 160 {mu}m emission; in particular CO is often, but not always, found coincident with peaks of 160 {mu}m emission, verifying the need for matching-resolution 160 {mu}m and H I data for a complete assessment of the SMC H{sub 2} mass.

• OSTI ID: 21394179
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 712; ISSN ASJOAB; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
BRIGHTNESS
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBON MONOXIDE
CARBON OXIDES
CHALCOGENIDES
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ELEMENTS
EMISSION
EVOLUTION
GALAXIES
HYDROGEN
MAGELLANIC CLOUDS
MASS
NONMETALS
OPTICAL PROPERTIES
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
RADIATIONS
STAR EVOLUTION
STARS
TELESCOPES
ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION