The first exploration of the correlations between WISE 12 μm and CO emission in early-type galaxies

Gao, Yang, Wang, Enci, Tan, Qing-Hua, Davis, Timothy A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4932-9379, Liang, Fu-Heng, Jiang, Xue-Jian, Gai, Ning, Jiao, Qian, Shi, DongDong, Feng, Shuai, Tang, Yanke, Li, Shiji and Wang, Yi-Fan 2025. The first exploration of the correlations between WISE 12 μm and CO emission in early-type galaxies. The Astrophysical Journal 979 , 105. 10.3847/1538-4357/ad9d0f

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Abstract

We present the analysis of a comprehensive sample of 352 early-type galaxies using public data, to investigate the correlations between CO luminosities and mid-infrared luminosities observed by Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer. We find strong correlations between both CO (1–0) and CO (2–1) luminosities and 12 μm luminosity, boasting a correlation coefficient greater than 0.9 and an intrinsic scatter smaller than 0.1 dex. The consistent slopes observed for the relationships of CO (1–0) and CO (2–1) suggest that the line ratio R21 lacks correlation with mid-infrared emission in early-type galaxies, which is significantly different from star-forming galaxies. Moreover, the slopes of LCO(1−0)–L12 μm and LCO(2−1)–L12 μm relations in early-type galaxies are steeper than those observed in star-forming galaxies. Given the absence of correlation with color, morphology, or specific star formation rate (sSFR), the correlation between deviations and the molecular gas mass surface density could be eliminated by correcting the possible 12 μm emission from old stars or adopting a systematically different αCO. The latter, on average, is equivalent to adding a constant CO brightness density, specifically and for CO (1–0) and (2–1), respectively. These explorations will serve as useful tools for estimating the molecular gas content in gas-poor galaxies and understanding associated quenching processes.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Physics and Astronomy
Publisher:	American Astronomical Society
ISSN:	1538-4357
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	20 January 2025
Date of Acceptance:	8 December 2024
Last Modified:	28 Jan 2025 10:51
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/175417

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