Infall in massive clumps harboring bright infrared sources

Abstract

Thirty massive clumps associated with bright infrared sources were observed to detect the infall signatures and characterize infall properties in the envelope of the massive clumps by APEX telescope in CO(4–3) and C17O(3–2) lines. Eighteen objects exhibit a “blue profile” in the CO(4–3) line with virial parameters less than 2, suggesting that global collapse is taking place in these massive clumps. The CO(4–3) lines were fitted via the two-layer model in order to obtain infall velocities and mass infall rates. Derived mass infall rates range from 10−3 to 10−1 M ⊙ yr−1. A positive relationship between clump mass and infall rate appears to indicate that gravity plays a dominant role in the collapsing process. Higher luminosity clumps have a larger mass infall rate, implying that those clumps with higher mass infall rates possess a higher star formation rate.