2012ApJ...754...58K

For the first time, we study the eastern nucleus in greater detail and search for the more extended emission in the molecular gas in different CO line transitions of the famous ultraluminous infrared galaxy (ULIRG) Arp 220. Furthermore, we present a model of the merger in Arp 220 on large scales with the help of the CO data and an optical and near-infrared composite Hubble Space Telescope image of the prototypical ULIRG. Using the Plateau de Bure interferometer (PdBI), we obtained CO (2-1) and (1-0) data at wavelengths of 1 and 3 mm in 1994, 1996, 1997, and 2006 at different beam sizes and spatial resolutions. The simulations of the merger in Arp 220 were performed with the Identikit modeling tool. The model parameters that describe the galaxy merger best give a mass ratio of 1:2 and result in a merger of ∼6x10⁸ yr. The low-resolution CO (1-0) PdBI observations suggest that there are indications for emission ∼10'' toward the south, as well as to the north and to the west of the two nuclei.