In order to trace observationally the conditions in the interstellar medium (ISM) that lead to starbursts, we have used the newly expanded Berkeley-Illinois-Maryland Association (BIMA) millimeter-wave array to map the molecular ISM in a sample of LIGs chosen to represent different phases of the interacting/merging process. CO images of 6 galaxy mergers at the early/intermediate stage are shown here and preliminary results are summarized.
@article{arxiv.astro-ph/9812459,
title = {Luminous IR Galaxies in a Merger Sequence: BIMA CO Imaging},
author = {Yu Gao and R. A. Gruendl and C. -Y. Hwang and K. Y. Lo},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:astro-ph/9812459},
year = {2007}
}
Comments
4 pages including a postscript figure; talk presentation at IAU Symp. 186 "Galaxy Interactions at Low and High Redshift", J. Barnes & D. Sanders (eds.) in press