Paper:	CO Surrounding M82's Starburst Center - the Bottom of the Iceberg
Volume:	320, The Neutral ISM in Starburst Galaxies
Page:	142
Authors:	Weiss, A.; Walter, F.; Scoville, N.
Abstract:	We present an analysis of the excitation conditions of the molecular gas surrounding M82's central starburst region based on 12CO and 13CO observations. We find that the surrounding gas has a low H2 density (log(H2) < 3.0) and moderately warm kinetic temperatures. This gas is not dense enough to excite high-J CO lines. Consequently, even though two−thirds of the 12CO(1&38722;0) flux arises from regions outside the starforming disk, CO lines above 12CO(3−2) are mainly emitted from the starburst center. This implies that special care should be taken if one compares high and low-J CO lines in systems where no detailed information on the distribution of the molecular gas can be obtained, such as sources at high-redshifts.

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