Morphology and Kinematics of Warm Molecular Gas in the Nuclear Region of Arp 220 as Revealed by ALMA

TL;DR

This study uses ALMA observations to analyze the warm molecular gas in Arp 220's nuclei, revealing complex morphology, kinematics, and evidence of shocks, with implications for understanding galaxy mergers and nuclear activity.

Contribution

First high-resolution ALMA CO J=6-5 observations of Arp 220's nuclei revealing detailed gas morphology, kinematics, and absorption features, advancing understanding of nuclear gas dynamics in galaxy mergers.

Findings

Asymmetric CO line profiles between nuclei.

Detection of deep CO self-absorption in both nuclei.

High L_CO/L_FIR ratio indicating additional energy sources.

Abstract

We present Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) Cycle-0 observations of the CO J = 6-5 line in the advanced galaxy merger Arp 220. This line traces warm molecular gas, which dominates the total CO luminosity. The CO emission from the two nuclei is well resolved by the 0.39" x 0.22" beam and the exceptional sensitivity and spatial/spectral resolution reveal new complex features in the morphology and kinematics of the warm gas. The line profiles are asymmetric between the red and blue sides of the nuclear disks and the peak of the line emission is offset from the peak of the continuum emission in both nuclei by about 100 pc in the same direction. CO self-absorption is detected at the centers of both nuclei but it is much deeper in the eastern nucleus. We also clearly detect strong, highly redshifted CO absorption located near the southwest side of each nucleus. For the eastern nucleus, we reproduce the major line profile features with a simple kinematic model of a highly turbulent, rotating disk with a substantial line center optical depth and a large gradient in the excitation temperature. The red/blue asymmetries and line-to-continuum offset are likely produced by absorption of the blue (SW) sides of the two nuclei by blue-shifted, foreground molecular gas; the mass of the absorber is comparable to the nuclear warm gas mass (10^8 M_solar). We measure an unusually high L_CO/L_FIR ratio in the eastern nucleus, suggesting there is an additional energy source, such as mechanical energy from shocks, present in this nucleus.