The first observations of the [CII] line toward the nuclei of gas-rich external galaxies, showed that the far-infrared line emission contributes up to 1% of the total luminosity and most likely originates from dense photon-dominated regions (PDRs) associated with the surfaces of molecular clouds exposed to FUV from external or embedded OB stars (Crawford et al. 1985, Lugten et al. 1986, Stacey et al. 1991). We have mapped the [CII] emission toward NGC 6946 over an 8' × 6' (23 × 17 kpc) (Madden et al. 1991) using the Max-Planck Instutute/U.C.Berkeley Far-Infrared Imaging Fabry-Perot Interferometer (FIFI) on the Kuiper Airborne Observatory (KAO).
A 158μm [CII] Map of NGC 6946: Detection in Extragalactic Atomic and Ionized Gas