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Atomic carbon abundance at the centers of NGC 4945 and circinus

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 October 2008

M. Hitschfeld
Affiliation:
KOSMA, I. Physikalisches Institut, Universität zu Köln, Zülpicher Straße 77, 50937 Köln, Germany
M. Aravena
Affiliation:
Argelander-Institut für Astronomie, Auf dem Hügel 71, 53121 Bonn, Germany
C. Kramer
Affiliation:
KOSMA, I. Physikalisches Institut, Universität zu Köln, Zülpicher Straße 77, 50937 Köln, Germany
F. Bertoldi
Affiliation:
Argelander-Institut für Astronomie, Auf dem Hügel 71, 53121 Bonn, Germany
J. Stutzki
Affiliation:
KOSMA, I. Physikalisches Institut, Universität zu Köln, Zülpicher Straße 77, 50937 Köln, Germany
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Abstract

Studying molecular gas in the central regions of the star burst galaxies NGC 4945 and Circinus enables us to characterize the physical conditions in these starbursts and compare them with previous studies of local and high-z galaxies. Using the new NANTEN2 4 m sub-millimeter telescope on Pampa La Bola, Chile, we observed for the first time CO 4–3 and [CI] 1–0 at the centers of both galaxies at linear scales of about 700 pc. We find that the centers of NGC 4945 and Circinus are very [CI] bright objects, exhibiting [CI] 1–0 luminosities of 91 and 67 K km s-1 kpc2, respectively. The [CI] 1–0/CO 4–3 integrated intensity rations show high values of about 1.2 in NGC 4945 and 2.8 in Circinus. In both galaxies, the estimated total [CI] cooling intensity of both fine structure transitions is stronger by factors of ~1–3 compared to the total CO cooling intensity. The CO/C abundance ratios are 0.2–2. Similarly low values are found in Galactic translucent clouds (Mookerjea et al. 2006).

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© EAS, EDP Sciences, 2008

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References

Hitschfeld, M., Aravena, M., Kramer, C., Bertoldi, F., Stutzki, J., et al., 2008, A&A, 479, 75
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