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CO and [CI] in Nearby Galaxies: Probing Physical and Chemical Conditions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 March 2006

Christine D. Wilson
Christine D. Wilson
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4M1 Canada email: wilson@physics.mcmaster.ca Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
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Abstract

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Observations of CO can provide constraints on the density and temperature of the dense star-forming gas in galaxies, while observations of [CI] trace photon-dominated regions and provide information on the amount of atomic carbon in molecular clouds. In this paper, I review CO and [CI] observations of nearby galaxies, with an emphasis on galaxies for which high-resolution observations of multiple transitions and isotopologues are available. I also briefly discuss upper limits on water emission from nearby starburst galaxies and on O2 emission in the SMC obtained with the Odin satellite.

Keywords

galaxies — millimeter interferometry — molecular abundances