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© Claudia Cicone
The cold phase of the interstellar medium has a central role in galaxy growth and evolution. In normal galaxies following the so-called "main sequence" of star-forming galaxies, the star formation rate is believed to be regulated uniquely by the amount of gas available, and more specifically by the mass of cold and dense molecular gas. Despite the enormous efforts to trace molecular gas in larger and larger samples of galaxies, at multiple scales and at multiple epochs, nearly all of our empirical knowledge of scaling relations linking molecular gas and galaxy properties is still based on observations of massive (e.g. M*>10^10 M_Sun), metal-rich and gas-rich spirals. There is therefore a strong motivation to test molecular gas scaling relations over a much broader dynamic range of galaxy properties.
With this goal in mind, we have undertaken the 'APEX low-redshift legacy survey of molecular gas (ALLSMOG)', a survey of CO(2-1) line emission in a sample of ~100 star forming galaxies in the local Universe, characterised by stellar masses, SFRs and gas-phase metallicities significantly lower than have been probed by previous CO observations.
The survey was completed in early 2016 and the final data products will be released soon (Cicone et al. submitted). I will present our latest results based on the full ALLSMOG dataset.
© Claudia Cicone