Journal article
The evolution of NGC 7465 as revealed by its molecular gas properties
- Abstract:
- We present ALMA observations of CO isotopologues and high-density molecular tracers (HCN, HCO+, CN, etc.) in NGC 7465, an unusually gas-rich early-type galaxy that acquired its cold gas recently. In the inner 300 pc, the molecular gas kinematics are misaligned with respect to all other galaxy components; as the gas works its way inward it is torqued into polar orbits about the stellar kinematically-decoupled core (KDC), indicating that the stellar KDC is not related to the current gas accretion event. The galaxy also exhibits unusually high 12CO/13CO line ratios in its nucleus but typical 13CO/C18O ratios. Our calculations show that this result does not necessarily indicate an unusual [12CO/13CO] abundance ratio but rather that 12CO (1-0) is optically thin due to high temperatures and/or large linewidths associated with the inner decoupled, misaligned molecular structure. Line ratios of the higher-density tracers suggest that the densest phase of molecular gas in NGC 7465 has a lower density than is typical for nearby galaxies, possibly as a result of the recent gas accretion. All of the observed molecular properties of NGC 7465 are consistent with it having acquired its molecular (and atomic) gas from a spiral galaxy. Further detailed studies of the CO isotopologues in other early-type galaxies would be valuable for investigating the histories of those that may have acquired their gas from dwarfs. Finally, these ALMA data also show an unidentified line source that is probably a background galaxy similar to those found at z=1-3 in blind CO surveys.
- Publication status:
- Published
- Peer review status:
- Peer reviewed
Actions
Access Document
- Files:
-
-
(Preview, Other, pdf, 177.3KB, Terms of use)
-
(Preview, Accepted manuscript, pdf, 4.2MB, Terms of use)
-
- Publisher copy:
- 10.3847/1538-4357/abe126
Authors
- Publisher:
- IOP Science
- Journal:
- Astrophysical Journal More from this journal
- Volume:
- 909
- Issue:
- 2
- Article number:
- 98
- Publication date:
- 2021-03-10
- Acceptance date:
- 2021-01-27
- DOI:
- EISSN:
-
1538-4357
- ISSN:
-
0004-637X
- Language:
-
English
- Keywords:
- Pubs id:
-
1159165
- Local pid:
-
pubs:1159165
- Deposit date:
-
2021-04-27
Terms of use
- Copyright holder:
- American Astronomical Society
- Copyright date:
- 2021
- Rights statement:
- © 2021. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.
- Notes:
-
This is the accepted manuscript version of the article. The final version is available online from IOP Science at: https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/abe126
An erratum for this article was published on 26 September 2022 at: https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ac912e
- Licence:
- CC Attribution (CC BY)
If you are the owner of this record, you can report an update to it here: Report update to this record