Related papers: Molecular gas and the dynamics of galaxies
Knowledge of the molecular component of the ISM is fundamental to understand star formation. The H2 component appears to dominate the gas mass in the inner parts of galaxies, while the HI component dominates in the outer parts. Observation…
The main achievements, current developments and prospects of molecular studies in external galaxies are reviewed. They are put in the context of the results of several decades of studies of molecules in local interstellar medium, their…
While the best tracer of the molecular component and its dynamics in galaxies is the CO molecule, which excitation is revealed by its isotopic and (2-1)/(1-0) ratios, the denser gas is revealed by molecules such as HCN, HNC, HCO+ or CN,…
I review some recent results about the molecular content of galaxies, obtained essentially from the CO lines, but also dense tracers, or the dust continuum emission. New results have been obtained on molecular cloud physics, and their…
Over the last decade, observations of the cool interstellar medium in distant galaxies via molecular and atomic fine structure line emission has gone from a curious look into a few extreme, rare objects, to a mainstream tool to study galaxy…
The study of molecular gas is crucial for understanding star formation, feedback, and the broader ecosystem of a galaxy as a whole. However, we have limited understanding of its physics and distribution in all but the nearest galaxies. We…
The molecular gas in galaxies traces both the fuel for star formation and the processes that can enhance or suppress star formation. Observations of the molecular gas state can thus point to when and why galaxies stop forming stars. In this…
We review recent observations of molecular gas in nearby galaxies and their implications for the star formation law on large (>1 kpc) scales. High-resolution data provided by millimetre interferometers are now adding to the basic…
We review the evolution of the cosmic average molecular gas density to large look-back times, using observations of rotational transitions of CO. Molecular gas is the fuel for star formation in galaxies. Deep searches for CO emission from…
We present CO velocity fields and rotation curves for a sample of nearby galaxies, based on data from the HERACLES survey. We combine our data with literature THINGS, SINGS and KINGFISH results to provide a comprehensive sample of mass…
Over the past decade increasingly robust estimates of the dense molecular gas content in galaxy populations between redshift 0 and the peak of cosmic galaxy/star formation from redshift 1-3 have become available. This rapid progress has…
Galaxy interactions can disturb gas in galactic discs, compress it, excite it, and enhance star formation. An intriguing system likely consisting of two interacting galaxies overlapping on the line-of-sight was previously studied through…
Constraints on the molecular gas content of galaxies at high redshift are crucial to further our understanding of star formation and galaxy evolution through cosmic times, as molecular gas is the fuel for star formation. Since its initial…
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 (Carbon…
Recent observations with the IRAM instruments have allowed to explore the star formation efficiency in galaxies as a function of redshift, in detecting and mapping their molecular gas. Some galaxies stand on what is called the "main…
Following the first pioneering efforts in the 1990s that have focused on the detection of the molecular interstellar medium in high redshift galaxies, recent years have brought great advances in our understanding of the actual physical…
The outskirts of galaxies offer extreme environments where we can test our understanding of the formation, evolution, and destruction of molecules and their relationship with star formation and galaxy evolution. We review the basic…
We have performed a multi-transition CO study of the centers of seven double-barred galaxies that exhibit a variety of molecular gas morphologies to determine if the molecular gas properties are correlated with the nuclear morphology and…
Using the IRAM 30m telescope, we have surveyed an unbiased sample of 47 nearby spiral galaxies of very late (Scd-Sm) Hubble-type for emission in the CO(1-0) and CO(2-1) lines. The sensitivity of our data (a few mK) allows detection of about…
In order to understand galaxy evolution through cosmic times it is critical to derive the properties of the molecular gas content of galaxies, i.e. the material out of which stars ultimately form. The last decade has seen rapid progress in…