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1. PHANGS–JWST First Results: Stellar-feedback-driven Excitation and Dissociation of Molecular Gas in the Starburst Ring of NGC 1365?

   https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/aca973  

   Liu, Daizhong ; Schinnerer, Eva ; Cao, Yixian ; Leroy, Adam ; Usero, Antonio ; Rosolowsky, Erik ; Kruijssen, J. M. Diederik ; Chevance, Mélanie ; Glover, Simon C. O. ; Sormani, Mattia C. ; et al ( February 2023 , The Astrophysical Journal Letters)

   We compare embedded young massive star clusters (YMCs) to (sub-)millimeter line observations tracing the excitation and dissociation of molecular gas in the starburst ring of NGC 1365. This galaxy hosts one of the strongest nuclear starbursts and richest populations of YMCs within 20 Mpc. Here we combine near-/mid-IR PHANGS–JWST imaging with new Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array multi-JCO (1–0, 2–1 and 4–3) and [Ci] (1–0) mapping, which we use to trace CO excitation viaR₄₂=I_CO(4−3)/I_CO(2−1)andR₂₁=I_CO(2−1)/I_CO(1−0)and dissociation viaR_CICO=I_[CI](1−0)/I_CO(2−1)at 330 pc resolution. We find that the gas flowing into the starburst ring from northeast to southwest appears strongly affected by stellar feedback, showing decreased excitation (lowerR₄₂) and increased signatures of dissociation (higherR_CICO) in the downstream regions. There, radiative-transfer modeling suggests that the molecular gas density decreases and temperature and [CI/CO] abundance ratio increase. We compareR₄₂andR_CICOwith local conditions across the regions and find that both correlate with near-IR 2μm emission tracing the YMCs and with both polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (11.3μm) and dust continuum (21μm) emission. In general,R_CICOexhibits ∼0.1 dex tighter correlations thanR₄₂, suggestingCito be a more sensitive tracer of changing physical conditions in the NGC 1365 starburst than CO (4–3). Our results are consistent with a scenario where gas flows into the two armmore »regions along the bar, becomes condensed/shocked, forms YMCs, and then these YMCs heat and dissociate the gas.

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2. Jansky Very Large Array Detections of CO(1–0) Emission in H i-absorption-selected Galaxies at z ≳ 2

   https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ac7bdd  

   Kaur, B. ; Kanekar, N. ; Rafelski, M. ; Neeleman, M. ; Prochaska, J. X. ; Revalski, M. ( July 2022 , The Astrophysical Journal Letters)

   We report a Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array search for redshifted CO(1–0) emission from three Hi-absorption-selected galaxies atz≈ 2, identified earlier in their CO(3–2) or CO(4–3) emission. We detect CO(1–0) emission from DLA B1228-113 atz≈ 2.1933 and DLA J0918+1636 atz≈ 2.5848; these are the first detections of CO(1–0) emission in high-zHi-selected galaxies. We obtain high molecular gas masses,M_mol≈ 10¹¹× (α_CO/4.36)M_⊙, for the two objects with CO(1–0) detections, which are a factor of ≈1.5–2 lower than earlier estimates. We determine the excitation of the mid-JCO rotational levels relative to theJ= 1 level,r_J1, in Hi-selected galaxies for the first time, obtainingr₃₁= 1.00 ± 0.20 andr₄₁= 1.03 ± 0.23 for DLA J0918+1636, andr₃₁= 0.86 ± 0.21 for DLA B1228-113. These values are consistent with thermal excitation of theJ= 3 andJ= 4 levels. The excitation of theJ= 3 level in the Hi-selected galaxies is similar to that seen in massive main-sequence and submillimeter galaxies atz≳2, but higher than that in main-sequence galaxies atz≈ 1.5; the higher excitation of the galaxies atz≳ 2 is likely to be due to their higher star formation rate (SFR) surface density. We use Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Camera 3 imaging to detect the rest-frame near-ultraviolet (NUV)more »emission of DLA B1228-113, obtaining an NUV SFR of 4.44 ± 0.47M_⊙yr⁻¹, significantly lower than that obtained from the total infrared luminosity, indicating significant dust extinction in thez≈ 2.1933 galaxy.

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3. VERTICO. IV. Environmental Effects on the Gas Distribution and Star Formation Efficiency of Virgo Cluster Spirals

   https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ac9d3c  

   Villanueva, Vicente ; Bolatto, Alberto D. ; Vogel, Stuart ; Brown, Tobias ; Wilson, Christine D. ; Zabel, Nikki ; Ellison, Sara ; Stevens, Adam R. H. ; Jiménez Donaire, María Jesús ; Spekkens, Kristine ; et al ( December 2022 , The Astrophysical Journal)

   We measure the molecular-to-atomic gas ratio,R_mol, and the star formation rate (SFR) per unit molecular gas mass, SFE_mol, in 38 nearby galaxies selected from the Virgo Environment Traced in CO (VERTICO) survey. We stack ALMA¹²CO (J= 2−1) spectra coherently using Hivelocities from the VIVA survey to detect faint CO emission out to galactocentric radiir_gal∼ 1.2r₂₅. We determine the scale lengths for the molecular and stellar components, finding a ∼3:5 relation compared to ∼1:1 in field galaxies, indicating that the CO emission is more centrally concentrated than the stars. We computeR_molas a function of different physical quantities. While the spatially resolvedR_molon average decreases with increasing radius, we find that the mean molecular-to-atomic gas ratio within the stellar effective radiusR_e,R_mol(r<R_e), shows a systematic increase with the level of Hi, truncation and/or asymmetry (H_Iperturbation). Analysis of the molecular- and the atomic-to-stellar mass ratios withinR_e,$R_{\star }^{\mathrm{mol}}(r<R_e)$and$R_{\star }^{\mathrm{atom}}(r<R_e)$, shows that VERTICO galaxies have increasingly lower$R_{\star }^{\mathrm{atom}}(r<R_e)$for larger levels of H_Iperturbation (compared to field galaxies matched in stellar mass), but no significant change in$R_{\star }^{\mathrm{m}\mathrm{o}\mathrm{l}}(r<R_e)$. We also measure a clear systematic decrease of the SFE_molwithinR_e, SFE_mol(r<R_e),more »with increasingly perturbed Hi. Therefore, compared to field galaxies from the field, VERTICO galaxies are more compact in CO emission in relation to their stellar distribution, but increasingly perturbed atomic gas increases theirR_moland decreases the efficiency with which their molecular gas forms stars.

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4. The Kiloparsec-scale Neutral Atomic Carbon Outflow in the Nearby Type 2 Seyfert Galaxy NGC 1068: Evidence for Negative AGN Feedback

   https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ac59ae  

   Saito, Toshiki ; Takano, Shuro ; Harada, Nanase ; Nakajima, Taku ; Schinnerer, Eva ; Liu, Daizhong ; Taniguchi, Akio ; Izumi, Takuma ; Watanabe, Yumi ; Bamba, Kazuharu ; et al ( March 2022 , The Astrophysical Journal Letters)

   Active galactic nucleus (AGN) feedback is postulated as a key mechanism for regulating star formation within galaxies. Studying the physical properties of the outflowing gas from AGNs is thus crucial for understanding the coevolution of galaxies and supermassive black holes. Here we report 55 pc resolution ALMA neutral atomic carbon [Ci]³P₁−³P₀observations toward the central 1 kpc of the nearby Type 2 Seyfert galaxy NGC 1068, supplemented by 55 pc resolution CO(J= 1−0) observations. We find that [Ci] emission within the central kiloparsec is strongly enhanced by a factor of >5 compared to the typical [Ci]/CO intensity ratio of ∼0.2 for nearby starburst galaxies (in units of brightness temperature). The most [Ci]-enhanced gas (ratio > 1) exhibits a kiloparsec-scale elongated structure centered at the AGN that matches the known biconical ionized gas outflow entraining molecular gas in the disk. A truncated, decelerating bicone model explains well the kinematics of the elongated structure, indicating that the [Ci] enhancement is predominantly driven by the interaction between the ISM in the disk and the highly inclined ionized gas outflow (which is likely driven by the radio jet). Our results strongly favor the “CO dissociation scenario” rather than the “in situ C formation” one,more »which prefers a perfect bicone geometry. We suggest that the high-[Ci]/CO intensity ratio gas in NGC 1068 directly traces ISM in the disk that is currently dissociated and entrained by the jet and the outflow, i.e., the “negative” effect of the AGN feedback.

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5. Heteroleptic samarium( iii ) halide complexes probed by fluorescence-detected L ₃ -edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy

   https://doi.org/10.1039/C8DT01452C  

   Goodwin, Conrad A. ; Réant, Benjamin L. ; Kragskow, Jon G. ; DiMucci, Ida M. ; Lancaster, Kyle M. ; Mills, David P. ; Sproules, Stephen ( January 2018 , Dalton Transactions)

   The novel series of heteroleptic Sm(iii) halide complexes provides the backdrop for a fluorescence-detected Lα₁X-ray absorption spectroscopic study.