scholarly journals Coalescence of Molecular Filaments

Author(s):  
Nanda Kumar ◽  
Doris Arzoumanian ◽  
Alexander Men'shchikov ◽  
Pedro Palmeirim ◽  
Shu-Ichiro Inutsuka

Abstract Star-forming molecular filaments are found to display a spectrum of line-masses (mass per unit length)1. This spectrum is thought to influence key observational parameters of star formation2 including the core and stellar initial mass function1. The exact mechanism producing the wide-range of line-masses is unknown, even though, higher surface densities are often observed at the intersection of filaments in hub-filament systems3. Here we show that cascades of lower density filaments coalescing to form higher density filaments and eventually hubs. By performing a multi-scale decomposition of surface density maps of the MonR2 star-forming region, which displays a spiral-shaped hub-filament system4, the coalescence effect is detected in two consecutive cascading steps (the surface density jumps by an order of magnitude at each step) before merging at the central hub which is found to be a dense network of short high-density filaments (as opposed to its view as a massive clump). The radial density structure of the dense-gas component of the hub-filament system shows a power-law dependence of NH2 ∝ r−2 over the scale of ∼5 pc, a feature previously found only at scales of 0.1 pc in star-forming cores5. It appears that the hub-filament system is mimicking the radial profile of an isothermal sphere, at parsec scales, a feature not known until now. This behavior is not seen for the diffuse cloud (NH2 ∝ r−0.5) which holds nearly equal mass. The filamentary nature of the hub implies that only some (embedded in the filaments), and not all, stellar seeds within the hub can become massive stars.

Author(s):  
Takuma Izumi ◽  
Masafusa Onoue ◽  
Yoshiki Matsuoka ◽  
Tohru Nagao ◽  
Michael A Strauss ◽  
...  

Abstract We present ALMA [C ii] line and far-infrared (FIR) continuum observations of three $z \gt 6$ low-luminosity quasars ($M_{\rm 1450} \gt -25$ mag) discovered by our Subaru Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) survey. The [C ii] line was detected in all three targets with luminosities of $(2.4\mbox{--}9.5) \times 10^8\, L_{\odot }$, about one order of magnitude smaller than optically luminous ($M_{\rm 1450} \lesssim -25$ mag) quasars. The FIR continuum luminosities range from $\lt 9 \times 10^{10}\, L_{\odot }$ (3 $\sigma$ limit) to ${\sim } 2 \times 10^{12}\, L_{\odot }$, indicating a wide range in star formation rates in these galaxies. Most of the HSC quasars studied thus far show [C ii]/ FIR luminosity ratios similar to local star-forming galaxies. Using the [C ii]-based dynamical mass ($M_{\rm dyn}$) as a surrogate for bulge stellar mass ($M_{\rm\, bulge}$), we find that a significant fraction of low-luminosity quasars are located on or even below the local $M_{\rm\, BH}$–$M_{\rm\, bulge}$ relation, particularly at the massive end of the galaxy mass distribution. In contrast, previous studies of optically luminous quasars have found that black holes are overmassive relative to the local relation. Given the low luminosities of our targets, we are exploring the nature of the early co-evolution of supermassive black holes and their hosts in a less biased way. Almost all of the quasars presented in this work are growing their black hole mass at a much higher pace at $z \sim 6$ than the parallel growth model, in which supermassive black holes and their hosts grow simultaneously to match the local $M_{\rm\, BH}$–$M_{\rm\, bulge}$ relation at all redshifts. As the low-luminosity quasars appear to realize the local co-evolutionary relation even at $z \sim 6$, they should have experienced vigorous starbursts prior to the currently observed quasar phase to catch up with the relation.


2020 ◽  
Vol 493 (4) ◽  
pp. 5336-5356
Author(s):  
Richard M Bielby ◽  
Michele Fumagalli ◽  
Matteo Fossati ◽  
Marc Rafelski ◽  
Benjamin Oppenheimer ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT We present a study of the galaxy environment of nine strong H i + C iv absorption line systems (16.2 < log(N(HI)) < 21.2) spanning a wide range in metallicity at z ∼ 4−5, using MUSE integral field and X-Shooter spectroscopic data collected in a z ≈ 5.26 quasar field. We identify galaxies within a 250 kpc and ±1000 km s−1 window for six out of the nine absorption systems, with two of the absorption line systems showing multiple associated galaxies within the MUSE field of view. The space density of Ly α emitting galaxies (LAEs) around the H i and C iv systems is ≈10−20 times the average sky density of LAEs given the flux limit of our survey, showing a clear correlation between the absorption and galaxy populations. Further, we find that the strongest C iv systems in our sample are those that are most closely aligned with galaxies in velocity space, i.e. within velocities of ±500 km s−1. The two most metal-poor systems lie in the most dense galaxy environments, implying we are potentially tracing gas that is infalling for the first time into star-forming groups at high redshift. Finally, we detect an extended Ly α nebula around the z ≈ 5.26 quasar, which extends up to ≈50 kpc at the surface brightness limit of 3.8 × 10−18 erg s−1 cm−2 arcsec−2. After scaling for surface brightness dimming, we find that this nebula is centrally brighter, having a steeper radial profile than the average for nebulae studied at z ∼ 3 and is consistent with the mild redshift evolution seen from z ≈ 2.


1986 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 452-455 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. C. Walker

The radio jet and lobes of 3C 120 have been mapped on scales from 1 pc to over 400 kpc. The observations show that the jet is continuous from the parsec scales, where superluminal motions are seen, to over 100 kpc. The wide range of scales observed allows an underlying power-law function of central-jet brightness vs. distance from the core to be distinguished from order-of-magnitude local-brightness fluctuations. The power law has an index of about −2.2 (preliminary result). Following the usual minimum-energy assumptions, we find this index gives an energy per unit length of the jet that is nearly constant and a magnetic field that scales with the inverse of the core distance. It appears that the basic physical parameters of the jet are established on subparsec scales, where there are relativistic motions, and evolve in a simple manner for over five orders of magnitude in distance from the core.


2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (S316) ◽  
pp. 117-122
Author(s):  
Dimitrios A. Gouliermis ◽  
Sacha Hony

AbstractHow does a star cluster of more than few 10,000 solar masses form? We present the case of the cluster NGC 346 in the Small Magellanic Cloud, still embedded in its natal star-forming region N66, and we propose a scenario for its formation, based on observations of the rich stellar populations in the region. Young massive clusters host a high fraction of early-type stars, indicating an extremely high star formation efficiency. The Milky Way galaxy hosts several young massive clusters that fill the gap between young low-mass open clusters and old massive globular clusters. Only a handful, though, are young enough to study their formation. Moreover, the investigation of their gaseous natal environments suffers from contamination by the Galactic disk. Young massive clusters are very abundant in distant starburst and interacting galaxies, but the distance of their hosting galaxies do not also allow a detailed analysis of their formation. The Magellanic Clouds, on the other hand, host young massive clusters in a wide range of ages with the youngest being still embedded in their giant HII regions. Hubble Space Telescope imaging of such star-forming complexes provide a stellar sampling with a high dynamic range in stellar masses, allowing the detailed study of star formation at scales typical for molecular clouds. Our cluster analysis on the distribution of newly-born stars in N66 shows that star formation in the region proceeds in a clumpy hierarchical fashion, leading to the formation of both a dominant young massive cluster, hosting about half of the observed pre–main-sequence population, and a self-similar dispersed distribution of the remaining stars. We investigate the correlation between stellar surface density (and star formation rate derived from star-counts) and molecular gas surface density (derived from dust column density) in order to unravel the physical conditions that gave birth to NGC 346. A power law fit to the data yields a steep correlation between these two parameters with a considerable scatter. The fraction of stellar over the total (gas plus young stars) mass is found to be systematically higher within the central 15 pc (where the young massive cluster is located) than outside, which suggests variations in the star formation efficiency within the same star-forming complex. This trend possibly reflects a change of star formation efficiency in N66 between clustered and non-clustered star formation. Our findings suggest that the formation of NGC 346 is the combined result of star formation regulated by turbulence and of early dynamical evolution induced by the gravitational potential of the dense interstellar medium.


2020 ◽  
Vol 501 (2) ◽  
pp. 1591-1602
Author(s):  
T Parsotan ◽  
R K Cochrane ◽  
C C Hayward ◽  
D Anglés-Alcázar ◽  
R Feldmann ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The galaxy size–stellar mass and central surface density–stellar mass relationships are fundamental observational constraints on galaxy formation models. However, inferring the physical size of a galaxy from observed stellar emission is non-trivial due to various observational effects, such as the mass-to-light ratio variations that can be caused by non-uniform stellar ages, metallicities, and dust attenuation. Consequently, forward-modelling light-based sizes from simulations is desirable. In this work, we use the skirt  dust radiative transfer code to generate synthetic observations of massive galaxies ($M_{*}\sim 10^{11}\, \rm {M_{\odot }}$ at z = 2, hosted by haloes of mass $M_{\rm {halo}}\sim 10^{12.5}\, \rm {M_{\odot }}$) from high-resolution cosmological zoom-in simulations that form part of the Feedback In Realistic Environments project. The simulations used in this paper include explicit stellar feedback but no active galactic nucleus (AGN) feedback. From each mock observation, we infer the effective radius (Re), as well as the stellar mass surface density within this radius and within $1\, \rm {kpc}$ (Σe and Σ1, respectively). We first investigate how well the intrinsic half-mass radius and stellar mass surface density can be inferred from observables. The majority of predicted sizes and surface densities are within a factor of 2 of the intrinsic values. We then compare our predictions to the observed size–mass relationship and the Σ1−M⋆ and Σe−M⋆ relationships. At z ≳ 2, the simulated massive galaxies are in general agreement with observational scaling relations. At z ≲ 2, they evolve to become too compact but still star forming, in the stellar mass and redshift regime where many of them should be quenched. Our results suggest that some additional source of feedback, such as AGN-driven outflows, is necessary in order to decrease the central densities of the simulated massive galaxies to bring them into agreement with observations at z ≲ 2.


2021 ◽  
Vol 504 (2) ◽  
pp. 2325-2345
Author(s):  
Emanuel Sillero ◽  
Patricia B Tissera ◽  
Diego G Lambas ◽  
Stefano Bovino ◽  
Dominik R Schleicher ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT We present p-gadget3-k, an updated version of gadget-3, that incorporates the chemistry package krome. p-gadget3-k follows the hydrodynamical and chemical evolution of cosmic structures, incorporating the chemistry and cooling of H2 and metal cooling in non-equilibrium. We performed different runs of the same ICs to assess the impact of various physical parameters and prescriptions, namely gas metallicity, molecular hydrogen formation on dust, star formation recipes including or not H2 dependence, and the effects of numerical resolution. We find that the characteristics of the simulated systems, both globally and at kpc-scales, are in good agreement with several observable properties of molecular gas in star-forming galaxies. The surface density profiles of star formation rate (SFR) and H2 are found to vary with the clumping factor and resolution. In agreement with previous results, the chemical enrichment of the gas component is found to be a key ingredient to model the formation and distribution of H2 as a function of gas density and temperature. A star formation algorithm that takes into account the H2 fraction together with a treatment for the local stellar radiation field improves the agreement with observed H2 abundances over a wide range of gas densities and with the molecular Kennicutt–Schmidt law, implying a more realistic modelling of the star formation process.


1998 ◽  
Vol 188 ◽  
pp. 13-16
Author(s):  
R. Pallavicini

A number of major advances in stellar coronal physics have occurred since 1990 mainly as a consequence of imaging observations by ROSAT and spectroscopic observations by ASCA. These can be summarised as follows: 1.an all-sky survey has been performed by ROSAT at a sensitivity of ~ 2 × 10−13 erg cm−2 s−1, complemented by pointed observations an order of magnitude deeper;2.complete mapping and deeper pointings have been obtained for virtually all open clusters closer than ~ 500 pc, and covering the age range from ~ 30 Myr to ~ 700 Myr;3.complete mapping and deeper paintings have been obtained for several Star Forming Regions (SFRs) covering the age range ~ 1 to ~ 10 Myr;4.spectroscopic observations of bright coronal sources have been obtained with EUVE and ASCA allowing the derivation of the temperature structure and elemental abundances.


2006 ◽  
Vol 2 (S237) ◽  
pp. 408-408
Author(s):  
Richard de Grijs

Young, massive star clusters (YMCs) are the most notable and significant end products of violent star-forming episodes triggered by galaxy collisions and close encounters. The question remains, however, whether or not at least a fraction of the compact YMCs seen in abundance in extragalactic starbursts, are potentially the progenitors of (≳10 Gyr) old globular cluster (GC)-type objects. If we could settle this issue convincingly, one way or the other, the implications of such a result would have far-reaching implications for a wide range of astrophysical questions, including our understanding of the process of galaxy formation and assembly, and the process and conditions required for star (cluster) formation. Because of the lack of a statistically significant sample of YMCs in the Local Group, however, we need to resort to either statistical arguments or to the painstaking approach of case-by-case studies of individual objects in more distant galaxies.


2006 ◽  
Vol 2 (S235) ◽  
pp. 376-380 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debra Meloy Elmegreen

AbstractClumpy galaxies are prominent in the early Universe. We present morphological and photometric properties of a wide range of galaxy types and their star-forming clumps in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field. Sizes, scale lengths, and scale heights suggest that galaxies grow by a factor of 2 fromz= 4 to the present, and that thick disks are present in the early Universe. The largest clumps of star formation are 107–109M⊙in different galaxies, much more massive than large star-forming complexes in local galaxies. Dissolved clumps may account for both the exponential disks and the early thick disks of spirals and proto-spiral galaxies.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abinash Tripathy ◽  
Patryk Wąsik ◽  
Syama Sreedharan ◽  
Dipankar Nandi ◽  
Oier Bikondoa ◽  
...  

Functional ZnO nanostructured surfaces are important in a wide range of applications. Here we report the simple fabrication of ZnO surface structures at near room temperature with morphology resembling that of sea urchins, with densely packed, μm-long, tapered nanoneedles radiating from the urchin center. The ZnO urchin structures were successfully formed on several different substrates with high surface density and coverage, including silicon (Si), glass, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), and copper (Cu) sheets, as well as Si seeded with ZnO nanocrystals. Time-resolved SEM revealed growth kinetics of the ZnO nanostructures on Si, capturing the emergence of “infant” urchins at the early growth stage and subsequent progressive increases in the urchin nanoneedle length and density, whilst the spiky nanoneedle morphology was retained throughout the growth. ε-Zn(OH)2 orthorhombic crystals were also observed alongside the urchins. The crystal structures of the nanostructures at different growth times were confirmed by synchrotron X-ray diffraction measurements. On seeded Si substrates, a two-stage growth mechanism was identified, with a primary growth step of vertically aligned ZnO nanoneedle arrays preceding the secondary growth of the urchins atop the nanoneedle array. The antibacterial, anti-reflective, and wetting functionality of the ZnO urchins—with spiky nanoneedles and at high surface density—on Si substrates was demonstrated. First, bacteria colonization was found to be suppressed on the surface after 24 h incubation in gram-negative Escherichia coli (E. coli) culture, in contrast to control substrates (bare Si and Si sputtered with a 20 nm ZnO thin film). Secondly, the ZnO urchin surface, exhibiting superhydrophilic property with a water contact angle ~ 0°, could be rendered superhydrophobic with a simple silanization step, characterized by an apparent water contact angle θ of 159° ± 1.4° and contact angle hysteresis ∆θ < 7°. The dynamic superhydrophobicity of the surface was demonstrated by the bouncing-off of a falling 10 μL water droplet, with a contact time of 15.3 milliseconds (ms), captured using a high-speed camera. Thirdly, it was shown that the presence of dense spiky ZnO nanoneedles and urchins on the seeded Si substrate exhibited a reflectance R < 1% over the wavelength range λ = 200–800 nm. The ZnO urchins with a unique morphology fabricated via a simple route at room temperature, and readily implementable on different substrates, may be further exploited for multifunctional surfaces and product formulations.


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