A Molecular Gas Ring Hidden in the Sombrero Galaxy

TL;DR

This study uses Herschel, ALMA, and MUSE data to analyze the molecular gas and dust in the Sombrero galaxy's ring, revealing limited star formation and properties akin to early-type galaxies.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed analysis of the molecular gas and dust distribution in M104's ring, highlighting its similarity to early-type galaxies and limited star formation activity.

Findings

Molecular hydrogen mass estimated at 0.9×10^9 M☉.

[CII]/FIR ratio resembles early-type galaxies.

Limited active star formation along the ring.

Abstract

We present Herschel, ALMA, and MUSE observations of the molecular ring of Messier 104, also known as the Sombrero galaxy. These previously unpublished archival data shed new light on the content of the interstellar medium of M104. In particular, molecular hydrogen measured by CO emission and dust measured by far-infrared light are uniformly distributed along the ring. The ionized gas revealed by H$\alpha$ and [CII] emission is distributed in knots along the ring. Despite being classified as an SAa galaxy, M104 displays features typical of early-type galaxies. We therefore compared its [CII] and dust emission to a sample of early-type galaxies observed with Herschel and SOFIA. The [CII]/FIR ratio of M104 is much lower than that of typical star-forming galaxies and is instead much more similar to that of early-type galaxies. By classifying regions using optical emission line diagnostics we also find that regions classified as HII lie closer to star-forming galaxies in the [CII]/FIR diagram than those classified as low-ionization emission regions. The good match between [CII] and H$\alpha$ emission in conjunction with the lack of correlation between CO emission and star formation suggest that there is very limited active star formation along the ring and that most of the [CII] emission is from ionized and neutral atomic gas rather than molecular gas. From the total intensity of the CO line we estimate a molecular hydrogen mass of 0.9$\times10^9$M$_{\odot}$, a value intermediate between those of early type galaxies and the content of the molecular ring of our galaxy.