Related papers: Hunt for cold H2 molecules
New observations of 11 compact galaxies in the 12CO J=2-1 and J=3-2 transitions and literature data have been used to construct accurate line ratios in matched beams allowing LVG modelling of physical parameters. Fitting a single gas…
We present observations of CO, 13CO and of H2O in the middle and far-infrared taken with the ISO-SWS and ISO-LWS spectrometers toward two positions in the Galactic Center region (Sgr A* and GCS-3). Both ice and gas phase molecules are…
Dense environments have an impact on the star formation rate of galaxies. As stars form from molecular gas, looking at the cold molecular gas content of a galaxy gives useful insights on its efficiency in forming stars. However, most…
We present ISO observations of several H2 pure-rotational lines (from S(0) to S(5)) towards a sample of 16 molecular clouds distributed along the central ~ 500 pc of the Galaxy. We also present C18O and 13CO J=1->0 and J=2->1 observations…
We present a large sample of H- and K-band spectra of 32 optically line luminous central cluster galaxies. We find significant rovibrational H_2 emission in 23 of these galaxies as well as H recombination and/or [FeII] emission in another…
Hot core molecules should be detectable in external active galaxies out to high redshift. We present here a detailed study of the chemistry of star-forming regions under physical conditions that differ significantly from those likely to be…
Based on dynamical constraints about the Hubble sequence evolution, observational data and a number of "conspiracies", we propose that the dark matter around spiral galaxies is in the form of cold gas, essentially in molecular form and…
Evidence for the accretion of cold gas in galaxies has been rapidly accumulating in the past years. HI observations of galaxies and their environment have brought to light new facts and phenomena which are evidence of ongoing or recent…
Spitzer space telescope spectroscopy reveal a new class of H2-luminous galaxies with enhanced H2 line emission, but where star formation is strongly suppressed. This is in sharp contrast with what is observed in standard star forming…
We explore the evolution of the cold gas (molecular and neutral hydrogen) of elliptical galaxies and merger remnants ordered into a time sequence on the basis of spectroscopic age estimates. We find that the fraction of cold gas in early…
The study of primordial chemistry of molecules adresses a number of interesting questions pertaining to the thermal balance of collapsing molecular protoclouds. In numerous astrophysical cases molecular cooling and heating influence…
The optical filaments found in many cooling flows in galaxy clusters consist of low density ($\sim 10^3 \pcc$) cool ($\sim 10^3$ K) gas surrounded by significant amounts of cosmic-ray and magnetic-field energy. Their spectra show…
Molecular hydrogen is the most abundant molecular species in the Universe. While no doubts exist that it is mainly formed on the interstellar dust grain surfaces, many details of this process remain poorly known. In this work, we focus on…
We investigate the temperature distribution of CO-dark molecular hydrogen (H2) in a series of disk galaxies simulated using the AREPO moving-mesh code. In conditions similar to those in the Milky Way, we find that H2 has a flat temperature…
[Abridged...] We investigate the process of galaxy formation as can be observed in the only currently forming galaxies -- the so-called Tidal Dwarf Galaxies, hereafter TDGs -- through observations of the molecular gas detected via its CO…
The most usual tracer of molecular gas is line emission from CO. However, the reliability of that tracer has long been questioned in environments different from the Milky Way. We study the relationship between H2 and CO abundances using a…
Icy grain mantles are commonly observed through infrared spectroscopy toward dense clouds, cloud cores, protostellar envelopes and protoplanetary disks. Up to 80% of the available oxygen, carbon and nitrogen are found in such ices; the most…
In many clusters of galaxies there is evidence for cooling flow in the central regions. A possibility is that a fraction of the gas forms cold molecular clouds. We investigate the minimum temperature which can be reached by clouds in…
Molecular oxygen has been confirmed as the fourth most abundant molecule in cometary material O$_2$/H$_2$O $\sim 4$ %) and is thought to have a primordial nature, i.e., coming from the interstellar cloud from which our solar system was…
The majority of hydrogen in the interstellar medium (ISM) is in atomic form. The transition from atoms to molecules and, in particular, the formation of the H$_2$ molecule, is a key step in cosmic structure formation en route to stars.…