Abstract

Contributed Talk - Splinter JungeAG

Monday, 12 September 2022, 15:00   (SFG 1010 / virtual JAG)

Investigating the [CII] deficit in M82 with FIFI-LS on SOFIA

Serina T. Latzko, Christian Fischer, Alfred Krabbe, et al.
University of Stuttgart, German SOFIA Institute

Starburst galaxies like M82 obtain their high infrared luminosity primarily by intense star formation, which heat up the surrounding dust and gas via strong UV radiation. The thermal balance of the interstellar medium (ISM) is maintained mainly by the emission of fine structure spectral lines. Due to its low ionisation potential, [CII] at 158µm is one of the main cooling lines and is expected to directly scale with the far infrared emission at first sight. However, there seem to be significant variations in the ratio between [CII] and the total infrared emission in many observed galaxies - the so called [CII] deficit. Over the past years, this phenomenon has been investigated in many nearby galaxies in particular in those with a face-on orientation. M82, at a distance of 3.5 Mpc, is one of the closest ultra luminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs) with an edge-on orientation and an enormous outflow. For the first time, there is [CII] data available, reaching far into M82's outflow to answer questions about the [CII] deficit occurring perpendicular to the disc.