scholarly journals The Structure of the W49A Molecular Cloud Complex: Burst of Star Formation in the 105 M⊙ Core

1987 ◽  
Vol 115 ◽  
pp. 170-171
Author(s):  
Ryosuke Miyawaki ◽  
Masahiko Hayashi ◽  
Tetsuo Hasegawa

We have observed the CS (J = 1-0), C34S (J = 1-0) and H51α emission toward the W49A molecular cloud complex in an area of 3'x 2′ (α x δ) with an angular resolution of 33″. The CS emitting region is 100″ x 80″ or 6.7 pc x 5.4 pc (α x δ) at the half maximum level. Although the CO emission is self-absorbed due to the foreground cold gas, the CS optical depth of the foreground gas is found to be small. Therefore, the two CS peaks at VLSR = 4 km s−1 and 12 km s−1 imply the presence of two dense molecular clouds toward W49A. The brighter 12 km s−1 cloud peaks 35″ southeast of W49A IRS, the infrared and H2O/OH maser sources associated with the compact H II region, while the 4 km s−1 cloud has a peak at W49A IRS. The hydrogen column density through the c34S emitting region is (0.3-1.7) x 1024 cm−2. The estimated core mass of the W49A molecular cloud is (0.5-2.5) x 104 M⊙. This mass is closely packed in a small region of 3.4 pc in diameter, and is about an order of magnitude larger than the virial mass of the system. The massive core will collapse within 10 years unless there is some special supporting mechanism. There was a sudden increase in the star formation rate 104– 105 years ago, suggesting a triggered burst of star formation in the core of W49A. The collision of two velocity clouds might have triggered the formation of this massive core and the burst of star formation.

2021 ◽  
Vol 502 (1) ◽  
pp. 1246-1252
Author(s):  
M Zoccali ◽  
E Valenti ◽  
F Surot ◽  
O A Gonzalez ◽  
A Renzini ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT We analyse the near-infrared colour–magnitude diagram of a field including the giant molecular cloud G0.253+0.016 (a.k.a. The Brick) observed at high spatial resolution, with HAWK-I@VLT. The distribution of red clump stars in a line of sight crossing the cloud, compared with that in a direction just beside it, and not crossing it, allow us to measure the distance of the cloud from the Sun to be 7.20, with a statistical uncertainty of ±0.16 and a systematic error of ±0.20 kpc. This is significantly closer than what is generally assumed, i.e. that the cloud belongs to the near side of the central molecular zone, at 60 pc from the Galactic centre. This assumption was based on dynamical models of the central molecular zone, observationally constrained uniquely by the radial velocity of this and other clouds. Determining the true position of the Brick cloud is relevant because this is the densest cloud of the Galaxy not showing any ongoing star formation. This puts the cloud off by one order of magnitude from the Kennicutt–Schmidt relation between the density of the dense gas and the star formation rate. Several explanations have been proposed for this absence of star formation, most of them based on the dynamical evolution of this and other clouds, within the Galactic centre region. Our result emphasizes the need to include constraints coming from stellar observations in the interpretation of our Galaxy’s central molecular zone.


1987 ◽  
Vol 115 ◽  
pp. 161-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. B. Whiteoak ◽  
F. F. Gardner ◽  
J. R. Forster ◽  
P. Palmer ◽  
V. Pankonin

H2CO and OH masers in the H II-region/molecular-cloud complex Sgr B2 have been observed with the VLA and combined with other observations of OH and H2O masers. It is found that groups of the masers and compact continuum components are located along a north-south line extending across the complex. The overall alignment suggests that star formation is being triggered by a single large-scale event such as an interaction between molecular clouds.


2020 ◽  
Vol 493 (1) ◽  
pp. 815-820
Author(s):  
Eric G Blackman

ABSTRACT Molecular cloud complexes exhibit both (i) an unfettered Larson-type spectrum over much of their dynamic range, whilst (ii) still producing a much lower star formation rate than were this cascade to remain unfettered all the way down to star-forming scales. Here we explain the compatibility of these attributes with minimalist considerations of a mass-conserving fragmentation cascade, combined with estimates of stellar feedback. Of importance is that the amount of feedback needed to abate fragmentation and truncate the complex decreases with decreasing scale. The scale at which the feedback momentum matches the free-fall momentum marks a transition scale below most of the cascade is truncated and the molecular cloud complex dissipated. For a 106 M⊙ giant molecular cloud (GMC) complex starting with radius of ∼50 pc, the combined feedback from young stellar objects, supernovae, radiation, and stellar winds for a GMC cloud complex can truncate the cascade within an outer free-fall time but only after the cascade reaches parsec scales.


1980 ◽  
Vol 237 ◽  
pp. 711 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. R. Dickel ◽  
J. R. Dickel ◽  
W. J. Wilson ◽  
M. W. Werner

2020 ◽  
Vol 493 (1) ◽  
pp. L6-L10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petra N Tang ◽  
J J Eldridge ◽  
Elizabeth R Stanway ◽  
J C Bray

ABSTRACT We compare the impacts of uncertainties in both binary population synthesis models and the cosmic star formation history on the predicted rates of gravitational wave (GW) compact binary merger events. These uncertainties cause the predicted rates of GW events to vary by up to an order of magnitude. Varying the volume-averaged star formation rate density history of the Universe causes the weakest change to our predictions, while varying the metallicity evolution has the strongest effect. Double neutron star merger rates are more sensitive to assumed neutron star kick velocity than the cosmic star formation history. Varying certain parameters affects merger rates in different ways depending on the mass of the merging compact objects; thus some of the degeneracy may be broken by looking at all the event rates rather than restricting ourselves to one class of mergers.


1987 ◽  
Vol 115 ◽  
pp. 188-188
Author(s):  
M. Tapia ◽  
M. Roth ◽  
L.F. Rodríguez ◽  
J. Cantó ◽  
P. Persi ◽  
...  

GM24 is a small visible nebulosity in the vicinity of a molecular cloud. In this contribution we present the results of continuum (6-cm) and CO line (J = 1 → 0) radio observations, infrared maps, broad-band photometry and low-resolution spectroscopy as well as long-slit Echelle Ha spectroscopy. We found evidence that the GM24 = PP85 nebula is part of a larger region where star formation occurred in the past 104 years; the region is embedded in a typical molecular cloud with a dimension of ∼ 10 pc and mass of ∼104 M⊙. A compact radio H II region seems to be associated with GM24 and with one of the mid-infrared peaks detected. The nebula is most probably the visible part of an embedded H II region that is starting to emerge from the cloud. The other infrared peaks found in its vicinity (∼ 1 pc) are probably associated with less evolved stellar objects. The complex also shows an extended near-infrared flux which we believe to arise in a reflection nebula. From energy arguments, we found that the luminosity required to power the H II region and keep the cloud at the observed large temperature (TK ≅33 K), is ∼105 L⊙ which is consistent with the infrared total flux from the present measurements and those from IRAS of 4x104 L⊙; this corresponds to the flux of ∼3 BO ZAMS stars. The details of the present work have appeared in the Revista Mexicana de Astronomía y Astrofísica, Volume 11, 83, 1985.


1979 ◽  
Vol 232 ◽  
pp. 451 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. L. Mufson ◽  
H. S. Liszt

Author(s):  
Atsushi Nishimura ◽  
Shinji Fujita ◽  
Mikito Kohno ◽  
Daichi Tsutsumi ◽  
Tetsuhiro Minamidani ◽  
...  

Abstract M 16, the Eagle Nebula, is an outstanding H ii region which exhibits extensive high-mass star formation and hosts remarkable “pillars.” We herein obtained new 12COJ = 1–0 data for the region observed with NANTEN2, which were combined with the 12COJ = 1–0 data obtained using the FOREST unbiased galactic plane imaging with Nobeyama 45 m telescope (FUGIN) survey. These observations revealed that a giant molecular cloud (GMC) of ∼1.3 × 105 M⊙ is associated with M 16, which extends for 30 pc perpendicularly to the galactic plane, at a distance of 1.8 kpc. This GMC can be divided into the northern (N) cloud, the eastern (E) filament, the southeastern (SE) cloud, the southeastern (SE) filament, and the southern (S) cloud. We also found two velocity components (blueshifted and redshifted components) in the N cloud. The blueshifted component shows a ring-like structure, and the redshifted one coincides with the intensity depression of the ring-like structure. The position–velocity diagram of the components showed a V-shaped velocity feature. The spatial and velocity structures of the cloud indicated that two different velocity components collided with each other at a relative velocity of 11.6 km s−1. The timescale of the collision was estimated to be ∼4 × 105 yr. The collision event reasonably explains the formation of the O9V star ALS 15348, as well as the shape of the Spitzer bubble N19. A similar velocity structure was found in the SE cloud, which is associated with the O7.5V star HD 168504. In addition, the complementary distributions of the two velocity components found in the entire GMC suggested that the collision event occurred globally. On the basis of the above results, we herein propose a hypothesis that the collision between the two components occurred sequentially over the last several 106 yr and triggered the formation of O-type stars in the NGC 6611 cluster in M 16.


2020 ◽  
Vol 499 (1) ◽  
pp. 1406-1423 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lin Lin ◽  
Cheng Li ◽  
Cheng Du ◽  
Enci Wang ◽  
Ting Xiao ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT We analyse two-dimensional maps and radial profiles of EW(Hα), EW(HδA), and Dn(4000) of low-redshift galaxies using integral field spectroscopy from the MaNGA survey. Out of ≈1400 nearly face-on late-type galaxies with a redshift z < 0.05, we identify 121 “turnover” galaxies that each have a central upturn in EW(Hα), EW(HδA), and/or a central drop in Dn(4000), indicative of ongoing/recent star formation. The turnover features are found mostly in galaxies with a stellar mass above ∼1010 M⊙ and NUV – r colour less than ≈5. The majority of the turnover galaxies are barred, with a bar fraction of 89 ± 3 per cent. Furthermore, for barred galaxies, the radius of the central turnover region is found to tightly correlate with one-third of the bar length. Comparing the observed and the inward extrapolated star formation rate surface density, we estimate that the central SFR have been enhanced by an order of magnitude. Conversely, only half of the barred galaxies in our sample have a central turnover feature, implying that the presence of a bar is not sufficient to lead to a central SF enhancement. We further examined the SF enhancement in paired galaxies, as well as the local environment, finding no relation. This implies that the environment is not a driving factor for central SF enhancement in our sample. Our results reinforce both previous findings and theoretical expectation that galactic bars play a crucial role in the secular evolution of galaxies by driving gas inflow and enhancing the star formation and bulge growth in the centre.


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