A ${}^{13}$CO Detection in a Brightest Cluster Galaxy

Abstract

We present ALMA Cycle 4 observations of CO(1-0), CO(3-2), and ${}^{13}$CO(3-2) line emission in the brightest cluster galaxy of RXJ0821+0752. This is one of the first detections of ${}^{13}$CO line emission in a galaxy cluster. Half of the CO(3-2) line emission originates from two clumps of molecular gas that are spatially offset from the galactic center. These clumps are surrounded by diffuse emission that extends $8\mathrm{kpc}$ in length. The detected ${}^{13}$CO emission is confined entirely to the two bright clumps, with any emission outside of this region lying below our detection threshold. Two distinct velocity components with similar integrated fluxes are detected in the ${}^{12}$CO spectra. The narrower component ($60\mathrm{km}{\mathrm{s}}^{-1}$ FWHM) is consistent in both velocity centroid and linewidth with ${}^{13}$CO(3-2) emission, while the broader ($130-160\mathrm{km}{\mathrm{s}}^{-1}$), slightly blueshifted wing has no associated ${}^{13}$CO(3-2) emission. A simple local thermodynamic model indicates that the ${}^{13}$CO emission traces $2.1\times 10^9{\mathrm{M}}_{\odot }$ of molecular gas. Isolating the ${}^{12}$CO velocity component that accompanies the ${}^{13}$CO emission yields a CO-to-H${}_2$ conversion factor of ${\alpha }_{\mathrm{CO}}=2.3{\mathrm{M}}_{\odot }(\mathrm{K}\mathrm{km}{\mathrm{s}}^{-1}{)}^{-1}$, which is a factor of two lower than the Galactic value. Adopting the Galactic CO-to-H${}_2$ conversion factor in brightest cluster galaxies may therefore overestimate their molecular gas masses by a factor of two. This is within the object-to-object scatter from extragalactic sources, so calibrations in a larger sample of clusters are necessary in order to confirm a sub-Galactic conversion factor.

arXiv comment11 pages, 5 figures, accepted by ApJ

References in corpus (64)

• Observational Evidence of AGN Feedback
• The CO-to-H2 Conversion Factor
• Rotating Nuclear Rings and Extreme Starbursts in Ultraluminous Galaxies
• Heating Hot Atmospheres with Active Galactic Nuclei
• A Systematic Study of Radio-Induced X-ray Cavities in Clusters, Groups, and Galaxies
• Massive Molecular Outflows and Evidence for AGN Feedback from CO Observations
• Molecular Gas at High Redshift
• Mechanical Feedback from Active Galactic Nuclei in Galaxies, Groups, and Clusters
• A very deep Chandra observation of the Perseus cluster: shocks, ripples and conduction
• Chandra X-ray Observations of the Hydra A Cluster: An Interaction Between the Radio Source and the X-Ray-Emitting Gas
• Quasar feedback revealed by giant molecular outflows
• The Feedback-Regulated Growth of Black Holes and Bulges through Gas Accretion and Starbursts in Cluster Central Dominant Galaxies
• Massive molecular outflows and negative feedback in ULIRGs observed by Herschel-PACS
• Chaotic cold accretion onto black holes
• The ROSAT Brightest Cluster Sample (BCS): -- III. Optical spectra of the central cluster galaxies
• How to Calculate Molecular Column Density
• The detection of molecular gas in the central galaxies of cooling-flow clusters
• Discovery of an AGN-Driven Molecular Outflow in the Local Early-Type Galaxy NGC 1266
• Fast neutral outflows in powerful radio galaxies: a major source of feedback in massive galaxies
• Integral Field Spectroscopy of Massive, Kiloparsec-Scale Outflows in the Infrared-Luminous QSO Mrk 231
• On the Nature of the NGC 1275 System
• Extreme gas kinematics in the z=2.2 powerful radio galaxy MRC1138-262: Evidence for efficient AGN feedback in the early Universe?
• Chandra Observation of the Radio Source / X-ray Gas Interaction in the Cooling Flow Cluster Abell 2052
• An Infrared Survey of Brightest Cluster Galaxies. II: Why are Some Brightest Cluster Galaxies Forming Stars?
• The relationship between the optical Halpha filaments and the X-ray emission in the core of the Perseus cluster
• The Regulation of Cooling and Star Formation in Luminous Galaxies by AGN Feedback and the Cooling-Time/Entropy Threshold for the Onset of Star Formation
• Investigating AGN Heating in a Sample of Nearby Clusters
• An Entropy Threshold for Strong H-alpha and Radio Emission in the Cores of Galaxy Clusters
• Cold molecular gas in cooling flow clusters of galaxies
• The fast molecular outflow in the Seyfert galaxy IC5063 as seen by ALMA
• On the Nature of Feedback Heating in Cooling Flow Clusters
• Cold molecular gas in the Perseus cluster core - Association with X-ray cavity, Halpha filaments and cooling flow -
• Cold, clumpy accretion onto an active supermassive black hole
• Molecular gas in extreme star-forming environments: the starbursts Arp220 and NGC6240 as case studies
• A Mechanism for Stimulating AGN Feedback by Lifting Gas in Massive Galaxies
• Jet acceleration of the fast molecular outflows in the Seyfert galaxy IC5063
• The Spectral Energy Distribution of CO lines in M82
• A Ten Billion Solar Mass Outflow of Molecular Gas Launched by Radio Bubbles in the Abell 1835 Brightest Cluster Galaxy
• Modeling AGN Feedback in Cool-Core Clusters: The Balance between Heating and Cooling
• Revealing the physical properties of molecular gas in Orion with a large scale survey in J=2-1 lines of 12CO, 13CO and C18O
• Formation of cold filaments in cooling flow clusters
• On the origin and excitation of the extended nebula surrounding NGC 1275
• A very extended molecular web around NGC 1275
• Molecular Gas in the X-ray Bright Group NGC 5044 as Revealed by ALMA
• ALMA observations of cold molecular gas filaments trailing rising radio bubbles in PKS0745-191
• Optical Emission Line Nebulae in Galaxy Cluster Cores 1: The Morphological, Kinematic and Spectral Properties of the Sample
• ALMA observations of massive molecular gas filaments encasing radio bubbles in the Phoenix cluster
• On carbon and oxygen isotope ratios in starburst galaxies: New data from NGC253 and Mrk231 and their implications
• An infrared survey of brightest cluster galaxies: Paper I
• An Extragalactic 12CO J=3-2 survey with the Heinrich-Hertz-Telescope
• ALMA reveals optically thin, highly excited CO gas in the jet-driven winds of the galaxy IC5063
• CO/H2, C/CO, OH/CO, and OH/O2 in Dense Interstellar Gas: From High Ionization to Low Metallicity
• Massive molecular gas flows in the Abell 1664 brightest cluster galaxy
• 13CO and C18O emission from a dense gas disk at z=2.3: abundance variations, cosmic rays and the initial conditions for star formation
• Turbulent and fast motions of H2 gas in active galactic nuclei
• CI and CO in nearby galaxy centers. The star-burst galaxies NGC 278, NGC 660, NGC 3628, NGC 4631, and NGC 4666
• Molecular Gas Along a Bright H-alpha Filament in 2A 0335+096 Revealed by ALMA
• Searching for the missing iron in the core of the Centaurus cluster
• The peculiar cooling flow cluster RX J0820.9+0752
• The peculiar cooling flow cluster RX J0820.9+0752
• Molecular Gas in the Perseus Cooling Flow Galaxy, NGC 1275
• Evidence of boosted 13CO/12CO ratio in early-type galaxies in dense environments
• The Large-scale J=3-2 and J=2-1 CO Emission from M17 and its Implications for Extragalactic CO Observations
• Temperature and Density Gradients Across the Nucleus of M82

Cited by in corpus (23)

• Ubiquitous cold and massive filaments in cool core clusters
• A Galaxy-Scale Fountain of Cold Molecular Gas Pumped by a Black Hole
• Driving massive molecular gas flows in central cluster galaxies with AGN feedback
• ALMA observations of molecular clouds in three group centered elliptical galaxies: NGC 5846, NGC 4636, and NGC 5044
• The MASSIVE survey - XI. What drives the molecular gas properties of early-type galaxies
• Dense gas formation and destruction in a simulated Perseus-like galaxy cluster with spin-driven black hole feedback
• Cold gas in a complete sample of group-dominant early-type galaxies
• Origins of molecular clouds in early-type galaxies
• An enormous molecular gas flow in the RXJ0821+0752 galaxy cluster
• The Dust and Molecular Gas in the Brightest Cluster Galaxy in MACS 1931.8-2635
• Molecular gas filaments and star-forming knots beneath an X-ray cavity in RXC J1504-0248
• A molecular absorption line survey toward the AGN of Hydra-A
• Building a cluster: shocks, cavities, and cooling filaments in the group-group merger NGC 6338
• Atacama Compact Array Measurements of the Molecular Mass in the NGC 5044 Cooling Flow Group
• Molecular Flows in Contemporary Active Galaxies and the Efficacy of Radio-Mechanical Feedback
• Radio jet-ISM interaction and positive radio-mechanical feedback in Abell 1795
• Revealing a Highly-Dynamic Cluster Core in Abell 1664 with Chandra
• Molecular gas along the old radio jets of the cluster-central type 2 quasar IRAS 09104+4109
• A Massive, Clumpy Molecular Gas Distribution and Displaced AGN in Zw 3146
• The correlation between the 500 pc scale molecular gas masses and AGN powers for massive elliptical galaxies
• SDSS-IV MaNGA: The Nature of an Off-galaxy H$\alpha$ Blob -- A Multi-wavelength View of Offset Cooling in a Merging Galaxy Group
• The inner gas mass-temperature profile in the core of nearby galaxy clusters
• Star Formation Histories and Stellar Dynamics in the Central Galaxies of RX J0820.9+0752, A1835, and PKS 0745-191