Resolved molecular gas in nearby galaxies

Here, we explore this correlation on kiloparsec scales with CO(1-0) maps from EDGE-CALIFA matched in resolution to WISE 12{mu}m images. We find strong CO-12{mu}m correlations within each galaxy and we show that the scatter in the global CO-12{mu}m correlation is largely driven by differences from galaxy to galaxy.

The correlation is stronger than that between star formation rate and H_2_ surface densities [{Sigma}(H_2_)]. We explore multivariable regression to predict {Sigma}(H_2_) in star-forming pixels using the WISE 12{mu}m data combined with global and resolved galaxy properties, and provide the fit parameters for the best estimators. We find that {Sigma}(H_2_) estimators that include {Sigma}(12{mu}m) are able to predict {Sigma}(H_2_) more accurately than estimators that include resolved optical properties instead of {Sigma}(12{mu}m).