Dense gas in the dust lane of Centaurus A
| dc.creator | Wild, W. | |
| dc.creator | Eckart, A. | |
| dc.date | 2000-05-19 | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2026-07-07T01:53:39Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2026-07-07T01:53:39Z | |
| dc.description | The interstellar medium of Centaurus A (NGC 5128) has been studied extensively in recent years, using mostly molecular lines tracing low to medium density gas (500 to several $10^3$ cm$^{-3}$). The amount and distribution of the dense molecular gas was largely unknown. Here we present new millimeter data of the HCN(1-0), CS(2-1), and CS(3-2) rotational transitions towards the nearby radio galaxy Centaurus A observed with the SEST on La Silla, Chile. We obtained spectra of the HCN(1-0) emission which traces dense 10$^4$ cm$^{-3}$ molecular gas at the center and along the prominent dust lane at offset positions $\pm60^{\prime \prime}$ and $\pm100^{\prime \prime}$. We also obtained a few spectra of CS(2-1) and (3-2) tracing densities of $\sim10^5$ cm$^{-3}$. The emission in these lines is weak and reaches a few mK at the available angular resolutions of 54$^{\prime \prime}$ - 36$^{\prime \prime}$. At the central position, the integrated intensity ratio I(HCN)/I(CO) peaks at 0.064, and decreases to $\sim$0.02 to 0.04 in the dust lane. | |
| dc.description | 7 pages, 5 figures, accepted by A.&A. 04. May 2000 | |
| dc.identifier | https://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0005401 | |
| dc.identifier | http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0005401 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/1042 | |
| dc.subject | Astrophysics | |
| dc.title | Dense gas in the dust lane of Centaurus A | |
| dc.type | text |