Multi-scale Gas Structure and Dynamics in an Extragalactic Central Molecular Zone

TL;DR

This study uses high-resolution ALMA CO observations to analyze the hierarchical structure and dynamics of molecular gas in a galaxy's central region, revealing scale-dependent motions and their implications for gas evolution.

Contribution

It provides a detailed, multi-scale analysis of molecular gas structures and motions in a galaxy's central molecular zone, highlighting the varying roles of ordered and random motions.

Findings

Size-linewidth relation with a slope of 0.58 suggests significant ordered motion.

Ordered motions dominate at scales >30 pc, while random motions are more important below 30 pc.

Gravitational free-fall time is comparable to crossing time of ordered motions across scales.

Abstract

The structures and dynamics of the interstellar medium are governed by a combination of self-gravity, external gravity, and various sources of ordered and random motions on different spatial scales. This paper uses ALMA CO (3-2) observations at 0.1" $\approx$ 5 pc resolution to examine the scale dependence of molecular gas structure and dynamics in the central molecular zone (CMZ) of a nearby galaxy, NGC 3351. We use the dendrogram technique to characterize hierarchical molecular gas structures spanning two decades in spatial scales and measure their size, gas mass, and velocity dispersion. Their size-linewidth relation shows a power-law slope of 0.58, comparable to measurements for CMZs in other galaxies and suggestive of significant contribution from ordered motion on large scales. We further decompose the observed velocity dispersion in each gas structure into ordered versus random motions. The former appears stronger in gas structures at $\gtrsim$ 30 pc while the latter becomes more dominant at $\lesssim$ 30 pc. Modulo uncertainties with the CO-to-H$_2$ conversion factor, the estimated gravitational free-fall time is comparable to the crossing time of ordered motions for structures on all spatial scales, and both becomes longer than the crossing time of random motions at small, $\lesssim$ 10 pc scales. Our results highlight the varying sources and drivers of gas motions on different spatial scales in the CMZ of a Milky Way-like galaxy.