Imaging Molecular Gas in the Luminous Merger NGC 3256: Detection of High-Velocity Gas and Twin Gas Peaks in the Double Nucleus

Molecular gas in the merging starburst galaxy NGC 3256 has been imaged with the Submillimeter Array at a resolution of 1′′ × 2′′ (170 × 340 pc at 35 Mpc). This is the first interferometric imaging of molecular gas in the most luminous galaxy within z = 0.01. There is a large disk of molecular gas (r > 3 kpc) in the center of the merger with a strong gas concentration toward the double nucleus. The gas disk having a mass of ~3 × 109 M☉ in the central 3 kpc rotates around a point between the two nuclei that are 850 pc apart on the sky. The molecular gas is warm and turbulent and shows spatial variation of the intensity ratio between CO isotopomers. High-velocity molecular gas is discovered at the galactic center. Its velocity in our line of sight is up to 420 km s-1 offset from the systemic velocity of the galaxy; the terminal velocity is twice as large as that due to the rotation of the main gas disk. The high-velocity gas is most likely due to a molecular outflow from the gas disk, entrained by the starburst-driven superwind in the galaxy. The molecular outflow is estimated to have a rate of ~10 M☉ yr-1 and to play a significant role in the dispersal or depletion of molecular gas from the galactic center. A compact gas concentration and steep velocity gradient are also found around each of the twin nuclei. They are suggestive of a small gas disk rotating around each nucleus. If these are indeed minidisks, their dynamical masses are ~109 M☉ within a radius of 170 pc.