Molecular Gas in Hickson Compact Groups

摘要

Hickson Compact Groups of galaxies (HCGs) are unique labo-ratories for studying galaxy interaction and evolution. We have observed the CO(1-0) and (2-1) emission of a sample of 51 galaxies with the IRAM 30m. To-gether with previous CO observations (Leon et al. 1998; Verdes-Montenegro et al. 1998) we have carried out a LB, FIR and HI analysis on a sample of 22 HCGs. Our results show a good correlation between the deficiency' of star formation (SF, traced by the FIR emission) and of the gas content, agreeing with the previ-ously proposed evolutionary model (Verdes-Montenegro et al. 2001). According to it, once HI is removed, the molecular gas is not replenished, inhibiting future SF and explaining the previously found H2 and SF deficiencies.