A Molecular Ring in the Liner Ngc 5218

Author: Olsson E.   Aalto S.   HÜttemeister S.  

Publisher: Springer Publishing Company

ISSN: 0004-640X

Source: Astrophysics and Space Science, Vol.295, Iss.1-2, 2005-01, pp. : 155-160

Disclaimer: Any content in publications that violate the sovereignty, the constitution or regulations of the PRC is not accepted or approved by CNPIEC.

Previous Menu Next

Abstract

High resolution OVRO CO 1–0 observations of the inner 30″ in the LINER galaxy NGC 5218 reveal the presence of a double centrally peaked molecular concentration with extensions out to a radius of 12″. The molecular mass detected is 2.4 × 109 M and the gas surface density is high, ∼3000 M pc square in the inner 500 pc. The SFR is 2–3 M yr−1 and the SFE is ∼13, which are low or moderate values for that gas surface density. We interpret the inner feature as a rotating molecular ring with a radius of ∼ 200 pc. We furthermore suggest that the LINER activity in NGC 5218 is not caused by an aging starburst, but by a buried AGN.