A Search for Molecular Gas in Low Luminosity Radio Galaxies

TL;DR

This study investigates the distribution and characteristics of molecular gas in low luminosity radio galaxies, comparing it with other samples and exploring its relation to dust disks and galaxy dynamics.

Contribution

It provides new CO spectral line data for a volume-limited sample of low luminosity radio galaxies, analyzing molecular gas distribution and its association with dust structures.

Findings

Most galaxies show ordered rotation of molecular gas.

Molecular gas masses are characterized and compared with other radio sources.

The relation between molecular gas and dust disks is established.

Abstract

We discuss CO spectral line data of a volume-limited sample of 23 nearby (z<0.03) low luminosity radi galaxies, selected from the B2 catalogue. Most of such objects (16/23) have HST imaging. Our aim is to establish the distribution of molecular gas masses in low luminosity radio galaxies, in comparison with other radio source samples, confirm the suggestion that the CO is in ordered rotation, determine its relation to the dust disks observed in these objects with HST and establish targets for future interferometric imaging.