A New Probe of the Molecular Gas Content in Galaxies: Application to M101

Recent studies of nearby spiral galaxies suggest that photodissoiation regions (PDRS) are capable of producing much of the observed HI in galaxy disks. In that case, measurements of the observed HI column density and the far-ultraviolet (FUV) photon flux responsible for the photodissociation process provide a new probe of the volume density of the local underlying molecular hydrogen. We develop the method and apply it to the giant Scd spiral M101. The HI column density and amount of FUV emission have been measured for a sample of 35 candidate PDRs located throughout the disk of M101 using the Very Large Array and the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope. We find that, after correction for the known gradient of metallicity in the Interstellar Medium (ISM) of M101 and for the extinction of the ultraviolet emission, molecular gas with a narrow range of density from 30-1000/ cubic cm is found near star-forming regions at all radii in the disk of M101 out to a distance of 12 seconds approximately equals 26 kpc, close to the photometric limit of R(sub 25) approximately equals 13.5 seconds. In this picture, the ISM is virtually all molecular in the inner parts of M101. The strong decrease of the HI column density in the inner disk of the galaxy at R(sub G) < 10 kpc is a consequence of a strong increase in the dust-to-gas ratio there, resulting in an increase of the H(sub 2) formation rate on grains and a corresponding disappearance of hydrogen in its atomic form.