A comparison of the HI and CO velocity dispersions of nearby galaxies

Velocity dispersions are used to determine the stability of galactic disks against gravitational collapse to form stars, in some star formation recipes, in studies of gas dynamics, and to determine how much turbulence there is in the interstellar medium. Atomic hydrogen (HI) dispersions have been used in the studies of star formation and large-scale turbulence, despite stars forming in molecular clouds and the inner regions of galaxies being dominated by molecular gas. Carbon monoxide (CO) has been used as a tracer for molecular gas. In this work HI and CO dispersions were determined for a sample of nearby galaxies and they were compared to determine what the relationship between HI and molecular gas dispersions is.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Department of Astronomy

Year dc:date.issued

2012

Author dc:creator

• Mogotsi, Keoikantse Moses

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• De Blok, W J G

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/12098

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/12098