The gas distribution in the central region of the Galaxy. II - Carbon monoxide

Abstract

view Abstract Citations (138) References (26) Co-Reads Similar Papers Volume Content Graphics Metrics Export Citation NASA/ADS The gas distribution in the central region of the Galaxy. II. Carbon monoxide. Liszt, H. S. ; Burton, W. B. Abstract Observations of 2.6-mm CO emission in the inner Galaxy are presented, together with an interpretation of the expanding molecular features and of the more general distribution and kinematics of CO emission in approximately the inner 3 kpc of the Galaxy. The observations are interpreted in terms of the tilted-disk model of the inner Galaxy described by Burton and Liszt (1978). The results show that: (1) the same model that accounts for H I emission reproduces the molecular ring and other features of the CO observations as artifacts of the transformation of the emission from smoothly distributed molecular gas in the tilted disk into the observed coordinates and intensities; (2) the kinematics and distribution of H I and CO in the inner Galaxy are essentially identical; (3) the kinematics of the molecular gas in the inner Galaxy is extremely regular on large and small angular scales and exhibits the predictions of the tilted-disk model; and (4) molecular gas is overabundant in the inner Galaxy, relative to either the H I there or the molecular density in the rest of the Galaxy. Publication: The Astrophysical Journal Pub Date: December 1978 DOI: 10.1086/156660 Bibcode: 1978ApJ...226..790L Keywords: Carbon Monoxide; Galactic Nuclei; Interstellar Gas; Milky Way Galaxy; Galactic Structure; Gas Density; Hydrogen Ions; Molecular Gases; Spatial Distribution; Astrophysics; Carbon Monoxide:Galactic Center; Galactic Center:Gas Distribution; Galactic Center:Interstellar Matter full text sources ADS |