Martin Bureau

Abstract:

We compare the CO(1-0) and Hα kinematics in 34 nearby galaxies, selected from the ALMaQUEST and EDGE-CALIFA surveys. We use 3D-Barolo, a 3D tilted-ring model, to derive the CO and Hα rotation curves. Before comparing rotation curves in the 34 nearby galaxies, we found systematics between the MaNGA and CALIFA data using eight MaNGA-CALIFA overlapping galaxies. We assume the rotation curves based on the MaNGA data are accurate and made the corresponding correction to the CALIFA data. Our result shows that ∼56% (19/34) of our galaxies present slower Hα rotation curves compared to the CO rotation curves, with a median value of 6.5 km s−1. The remaining galaxies (15/34) show consistent CO-Hα rotation velocity within uncertainties. As a result, the Hα rotation may underestimate the total dynamical mass by 6% for a circular velocity of 200 km s−1 (the median value in our sample). Furthermore, the difference in the velocity between the CO and Hα rotational velocity is found to correlate with the difference in velocity dispersion between CO and Hα, suggesting that gas pressure plays a role in the discrepancy in velocity. After incorporating the effect of pressure support due to the turbulent gas motion into our sample, the median value of the difference in the velocities decreases to 1.9 km s−1, which in turn reduces the underestimation of the dynamical mass to ∼2%. Finally, we also investigate the role that the extraplanar diffuse ionized gas plays in the discrepancy in the velocity of CO-Hα.

Abstract:

The star formation efficiency (SFE) has been shown to vary across different environments, particularly within galactic starbursts and deep within the bulges of galaxies. Various quenching mechanisms may be responsible, ranging from galactic dynamics to feedback from active galactic nuclei (AGNs). Here, we use spatially resolved observations of warm ionized gas emission lines (Hβ, [O iii] λλ4959,5007, [N ii] λλ6548,6583, Hα and [S ii] λλ6716,6731) from the imaging Fourier transform spectrograph SITELLE at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) and cold molecular gas (12CO(2-1)) from the Atacama Large Millimeter/sub-millimeter Array (ALMA) to study the SFE in the bulge of the AGN-host galaxy NGC 3169. After distinguishing star-forming regions from AGN-ionized regions using emission-line ratio diagnostics, we measure spatially resolved molecular gas depletion times (τdep 1/SFE) with a spatial resolution of ≈100 pc within a galactocentric radius of 1.8 kpc. We identify a star-forming ring located at radii 1.25 ± 0.6 kpc with an average τdep of 0.3 Gyr. At radii <0.9 kpc, however, the molecular gas surface densities and depletion times increase with decreasing radius, the latter reaching approximately 2.3 Gyr at a radius ≈500 pc. Based on analyses of the gas kinematics and comparisons with simulations, we identify AGN feedback, bulge morphology and dynamics as the possible causes of the radial profile of SFE observed in the central region of NGC 3169.