Widespread Hco Emission in the M 82's Nuclear Starburst

We present a high-resolution (∼5 ") image of the nucleus of M 82 showing the presence of widespread emission of the formyl radical (HCO). The HCO map, the first obtained in an external galaxy, reveals the existence of a structured disk of ∼650 pc full diameter. The HCO distribution in the plane mimics the ring morphology displayed by other molecular/ionized gas tracers in M 82. More precisely, rings traced by HCO, CO and HII regions are nested, with the HCO ring lying in the outer edge of the molecular torus. Observations of HCO in galactic clouds indicate that the abundance of HCO is strongly enhanced in the interfaces between the ionized and molecular gas. The surprisingly high overall abundance of HCO measured in M 82 (X(HCO)∼4 10 −10) indicates that its nuclear disk can be viewed as a giant Photon Dominated Region (PDR) of ∼650 pc size. The existence of various nested gas rings, with the highest HCO abundance occurring at the outer ring (X(HCO)∼0.8 10 −9), suggests that PDR chemistry is propagating in the disk. We discuss the inferred large abundances of HCO in M 82 in the context of a starburst evolutionary scenario, picturing the M 82 nucleus as an evolved starburst. – 2 – Subject headings: galaxies: individual(M82)–galaxies: starburst– galaxies: nuclei– ISM: molecules–molecular processes–radio lines: galaxies