Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-mp689 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-18T19:26:01.868Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Astrochemistry in external galaxies: how to use molecules as probes of their physical conditions

Part of: IAU Issue 315 - From Interstellar Clouds...

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 September 2016

Serena Viti
Serena Viti*
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, Gower St., London, WC1E 6BT, UK email: serena.viti@ucl.ac.uk
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

It is now well established that chemistry in external galaxies is rich and complex. In this review I will explore whether one can use molecular emissions to determine their physical conditions. There are several considerations to bear in mind when using molecular emission, and in particular molecular ratios, to determine the densities, temperatures and energetics of a galaxy, which I will briefly summarise here. I will then present an example of a study that uses multiple chemical and radiative transfer analyses in order to tackle the too often neglected ‘degeneracies’ implicit in the interpretation of molecular ratios and show that only via such analyses combined with multi-species and multi-lines high spatial resolution data one can truly make molecules into powerful diagnostics of the evolution and distribution of molecular gas.

Keywords

astrochemistrygalaxies: ISMgalaxies: nucleigalaxies: individual (NGC 1068)
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 11 , Symposium S315: From Interstellar Clouds to Star-Forming Galaxies: Universal Processes? , August 2015 , pp. 17 - 25
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2016 

References

Aladro, R., Martín, S., Martín-Pintado, J., et al. 2011, A&A, 535, A84 Google Scholar
Aladro, R., Viti, S., Bayet, E., et al. 2013, A&A, 549, 39 Google Scholar
Bolatto, A., Wolfire, M., & Leroy, A. K. 2013, ARA&A, 51, 207 Google Scholar
Bell, T. A., Roueff, E., Viti, S., & Williams, D. A. 2006, MNRAS, 371, 1865 Google Scholar
Bisbas, T. G., Bell, T. A., Viti, S., Yates, J., & Barlow, M. J. 2012, MNRAS, 427, 2100 Google Scholar
Costagliola, F., Sakamoto, K., Muller, S., et al. 2015, A&A, accepted (arXiv:1506.09027)Google Scholar
García-Burillo, S., Combes, F., Usero, A., et al. 2014, A&A, 567, 125 Google Scholar
Hailey-Dunsheath, S., Sturm, E., & Fischer, J. 2012, ApJ, 755, 57 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Israel, F. P. 2009, A&A, 493, 525 Google Scholar
Kamenetzky, J., Glenn, J., & Maloney, P. R. 2011, ApJ, 731, 83 Google Scholar
Kelly, G., Viti, S., Bayet, E., Aladro, R., & Yates, J. 2015, A&A, 578, 70 Google Scholar
Krips, M., Martín, S., Eckart, A., et al. 2011, ApJ, 736, 37 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martín, S., Mauersberger, R., Martín-Pintado, J., Henkel, C., & García-Burillo, S. 2006, ApJS, 164, 450 Google Scholar
Usero, A., García-Burillo, S., Fuente, A., Martín-Pintado, J., & Rodríguez-Fernández, N. J. 2004, A&A, 419, 897 Google Scholar
Van der Tak, F. F. S., Black, J. H., Schöier, F. L., Jansen, D. J., & van Dishoeck, E. F. 2007, A&A, 468, 627 Google Scholar
Viti, S., Collings, M. P., Dever, J. W., McCoustra, M. R. S., & Williams, D. A. 2004, MNRAS, 354, 1141 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Viti, S., Jimenez-Serra, I., Yates, J. A., et al. 2011, ApJ, 740, 3L CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Viti, S., García-Burillo, S., Fuente, A., et al. 2014, A&A, 570, 28 Google Scholar
Williams, D. A. & Viti, S. 2013, Cambridge University Press Google Scholar