Bibcode
Wilson, C. D.; Warren, B. E.; Israel, F. P.; Serjeant, S.; Attewell, D.; Bendo, G. J.; Butner, H. M.; Chanial, P.; Clements, D. L.; Golding, J.; Heesen, V.; Irwin, J.; Leech, J.; Matthews, H. E.; Mühle, S.; Mortier, A. M. J.; Petitpas, G.; Sánchez-Gallego, J. R.; Sinukoff, E.; Shorten, K.; Tan, B. K.; Tilanus, R. P. J.; Usero, A.; Vaccari, M.; Wiegert, T.; Zhu, M.; Alexander, D. M.; Alexander, P.; Azimlu, M.; Barmby, P.; Brar, R.; Bridge, C.; Brinks, E.; Brooks, S.; Coppin, K.; Côté, S.; Côté, P.; Courteau, S.; Davies, J.; Eales, S.; Fich, M.; Hudson, M.; Hughes, D. H.; Ivison, R. J.; Knapen, J. H.; Page, M.; Parkin, T. J.; Rigopoulou, D.; Rosolowsky, E.; Seaquist, E. R.; Spekkens, K.; Tanvir, N.; van der Hulst, J. M.; van der Werf, P.; Vlahakis, C.; Webb, T. M.; Weferling, B.; White, G. J.
Bibliographical reference
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 424, Issue 4, pp. 3050-3080.
Advertised on:
8
2012
Citations
73
Refereed citations
69
Description
The James Clerk Maxwell Telescope Nearby Galaxies Legacy Survey (NGLS)
comprises an H I-selected sample of 155 galaxies spanning all
morphological types with distances less than 25 Mpc. We describe the
scientific goals of the survey, the sample selection and the observing
strategy. We also present an atlas and analysis of the CO J=3 - 2 maps
for the 47 galaxies in the NGLS which are also part of the Spitzer
Infrared Nearby Galaxies Survey. We find a wide range of molecular gas
mass fractions in the galaxies in this sample and explore the
correlation of the far-infrared luminosity, which traces star formation,
with the CO luminosity, which traces the molecular gas mass. By
comparing the NGLS data with merging galaxies at low and high redshift,
which have also been observed in the CO J=3 - 2 line, we show that the
correlation of far-infrared and CO luminosity shows a significant trend
with luminosity. This trend is consistent with a molecular gas depletion
time which is more than an order of magnitude faster in the merger
galaxies than in nearby normal galaxies. We also find a strong
correlation of the LFIR/LCO(3-2) ratio with the
atomic-to-molecular gas mass ratio. This correlation suggests that some
of the far-infrared emission originates from dust associated with atomic
gas and that its contribution is particularly important in galaxies
where most of the gas is in the atomic phase.
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