@article{discovery1363691, note = {{\copyright} 2012 RAS Definitive versions of articles pre-2013 are available at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1365-2966, now published by http://mnras.oxfordjournals.org}, pages = {3050--3080}, journal = {Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society}, number = {4}, year = {2012}, title = {The JCMT Nearby Galaxies Legacy Survey - VIII. CO data and the L\$\_CO(3-2)\$-L\$\_FIR\$ correlation in the SINGS sample}, volume = {424}, month = {August}, abstract = {The James Clerk Maxwell Telescope Nearby Galaxies Legacy Survey (NGLS) comprises an H i-selected sample of 155 galaxies spanning all morphological types with distances less than 25 Mpc. We describe the scientific goals of the survey, the sample selection and the observing strategy. We also present an atlas and analysis of the CO J=3 - 2 maps for the 47 galaxies in the NGLS which are also part of the Spitzer Infrared Nearby Galaxies Survey. We find a wide range of molecular gas mass fractions in the galaxies in this sample and explore the correlation of the far-infrared luminosity, which traces star formation, with the CO luminosity, which traces the molecular gas mass. By comparing the NGLS data with merging galaxies at low and high redshift, which have also been observed in the CO J=3 - 2 line, we show that the correlation of far-infrared and CO luminosity shows a significant trend with luminosity. This trend is consistent with a molecular gas depletion time which is more than an order of magnitude faster in the merger galaxies than in nearby normal galaxies. We also find a strong correlation of the LFIR/LCO(3-2) ratio with the atomic-to-molecular gas mass ratio. This correlation suggests that some of the far-infrared emission originates from dust associated with atomic gas and that its contribution is particularly important in galaxies where most of the gas is in the atomic phase.}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2966.2012.21453.x}, author = {Wilson, CD and Warren, BE and Israel, FP and Serjeant, S and Attewell, D and Bendo, GJ and Butner, HM and Chanial, P and Clements, DL and Golding, J and Heesen, V and Irwin, J and Leech, J and Matthews, HE and M{\"u}hle, S and Mortier, AMJ and Petitpas, G and S{\'a}nchez-Gallego, JR and Sinukoff, E and Shorten, K and Tan, BK and Tilanus, RPJ and Usero, A and Vaccari, M and Wiegert, T and Zhu, M and Alexander, DM and Alexander, P and Azimlu, M and Barmby, P and Brar, R and Bridge, C and Brinks, E and Brooks, S and Coppin, K and C{\^o}t{\'e}, S and C{\^o}t{\'e}, P and Courteau, S and Davies, J and Eales, S and Fich, M and Hudson, M and Hughes, DH and Ivison, RJ and Knapen, JH and Page, M and Parkin, TJ and Rigopoulou, D and Rosolowsky, E and Seaquist, ER and Spekkens, K and Tanvir, N and van der Hulst, JM and van der Werf, P and Vlahakis, C and Webb, TM and Weferling, B and White, GJ}, issn = {0035-8711} }