Small Molecular Clouds Research Articles

Optical polarimetry study of the Lambda-Orionis star-forming region

We present an optical polarimetry study of the nearby star-forming region Lambda-Orionis to map the plane-of-the-sky magnetic field geometry to understand the magnetized evolution of the HII region and the associated small molecular clouds. We made multiwavelength polarization observations of 34 bright stars distributed across the region. We also present the R-band polarization measurements that focused on the small molecular clouds, bright-rimmed clouds (BRC), BRC 17, and BRC 18, which are located at the periphery of the HII region. The magnetic field lines exhibit a large-scale ordered orientation consistent with the Planck submillimeter polarization measurements. The magnetic field lines in the two BRCs are found to be roughly in north-south directions. However, a larger dispersion is noted in the orientation for BRC 17 compared to BRC 18. Using a structure-function analysis, we estimate the strength of the plane-of-the-sky component of the magnetic field as ∼28 μG for BRC 17 and ∼40 μG for BRC 18. The average dust grain size and the mean value of the total-to-selective extinction ratio (RV) in the HII region are found to be ∼0.51 ± 0.05 μm and ∼2.9 ± 0.3, respectively. The distance of the whole HII region is estimated as ∼392 ± 8 pc by combining astrometry information from Global Astrometric Interferometer for Astrophysics (Gaia) early data release 3 (EDR3) for young stellar objects associated with BRCs and confirmed members of the central cluster Collinder 69.

Dust around Massive Stars Is Agnostic to Galactic Environment: New Insights from PHAT/BEAST

Resolving the environments of massive stars is crucial for understanding their formation mechanisms and their impact on galaxy evolution. An important open question is whether massive stars found in diffuse regions outside spiral arms formed in situ or migrated there after forming in denser environments. To address this question, we use multiresolution measurements of extinction in the Andromeda galaxy (M31) to probe the interstellar medium surrounding massive stars across galactic environments. We construct a catalog of 42,107 main-sequence massive star candidates (M ≥ 8 M ⊙) using resolved stellar photometry from the Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury (PHAT) program, plus stellar and dust model fits from the Bayesian Extinction and Stellar Tool (BEAST). We quantify galactic environments by computing surrounding stellar densities of massive stars using kernel density estimation. We then compare high-resolution line-of-sight extinction estimates from the BEAST with 25 pc resolution dust maps from PHAT, measuring the total column density distribution of extinction. Our key finding is that, although the average total column density of dust increases with the density of massive stars, the average line-of-sight extinction toward massive stars remains constant across all environments. This suggests that massive stars have a uniform amount of dust in their immediate environment, regardless of their location in the galaxy. One possible explanation for these findings is that small molecular clouds are still capable of forming massive stars, even if they are not resolvable at 25 pc. These results indicate that massive stars are forming in the sparse regions of M31, as opposed to migrating there.

Absorption of Millimeter-band CO and CN in the Early Universe: Molecular Clouds in the Radio Galaxy B2 0902+34 at Redshift 3.4

Using the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array, we have detected absorption lines due to carbon monoxide, CO(J = 0 → 1), and the cyano radical, CN(N = 0 → 1), associated with radio galaxy B2 0902+34 at redshift z = 3.4. The detection of millimeter-band absorption observed 1.5 Gyr after the Big Bang facilitates studying molecular clouds down to gas masses inaccessible to emission-line observations. The CO absorption in B2 0902+34 has a peak optical depth of τ ≥ 8.6% and consists of two components, one of which has the same redshift as previously detected 21 cm absorption of neutral hydrogen (H i) gas. Each CO component traces an integrated H2 column density of NH2 ≳ 3 × 1020 cm−2. CN absorption is detected for both CO components, as well as for a blueshifted component not detected in CO, with CO/CN line ratios ranging from ≲0.4 to 2.4. We discuss the scenario that the absorption components originate from collections of small and dense molecular clouds that are embedded in a region with more diffuse gas and high turbulence, possibly within the influence of the central active galactic nucleus or a starburst region. The degree of reddening in B2 0902+34, with rest-frame color B − K ∼ 4.2, is lower than the very red colors (B − K > 6) found among other known redshifted CO absorption systems at z < 1. Nevertheless, when including the many nondetections from the literature, a potential correlation between the absorption-line strength and B − K color is evident, giving weight to the argument that the red colors of CO absorbers are due to a high dust content.

PECULIAR SPECTRUM OF THE WATER MASER IN THE DARK NEBULA MSXDCG24.33+011(G24.33+014)

Giant molecular clouds (GMC) in our and other galaxies and small dense molecular clouds inside the Galaxy (IRDC) form cores due to gravitational instability, in which massive stars and clusters of low-mass stars arise. The high background of infrared radiation inside the Galaxy creates advantages in favor of IRDCs in the study of star formation processes and accompanying phenomena such as accretion, the appearance of HII regions, bipolar outflows, and others that cause various responses in their molecular composition. As a part of studying the evolutionary state in the cloud IRDC MSXDCG24.33+011 (the alternative name is G24.33+014), observations of the water vapor maser were made. On November 28 (2022) during the observations using the RT-22 of the Pushchino Radio Astronomy Observatory, the H2O maser detail at the velocity of \({{V}_{{{\text{LSR}}}}} = 103.15\) km/s with the linewidth of 0.52 km/s was detected. Peak flux of 49.5(\( \pm 6\)) Jy was recorded. This detail was not detected on RT-22 in the PRAO on July 5 (2022) and has not been seen before by other researchers.

Dispersion of Molecular Patterns Written in Turbulent Air.

We study the dispersion of tiny molecular clouds in turbulence by writing patterns in turbulent air and following their deformation in time. The writing is done by fusing O_{2} and N_{2} molecules into NO in the focus of a strong ultraviolet laser beam. By crossing several of these laser beams, patterns that have both small and large scales can be painted. The patterns are visualized a while later by inducing fluorescence of the NO molecules with a second UV laser and registering the image. The width of the lines that make the pattern is approximately 50 μm, a few times the Kolmogorov length η, the smallest length scale in turbulence, while the overall size of the patterns (≈4 mm) is inside the inertial range of the used turbulent jet flow. At small scales molecular clouds disperse under the joint action of molecular diffusion and turbulence. The experiments reveal for the first time this subtle, yet very important interaction. At macroscales (≈200 η) we verify the Batchelor dispersion of objects whose size is inside the inertial range; however, the expected influence of molecular diffusion is smaller than the accuracy of the experiments.

Dependence of Molecular Cloud Samples on Angular Resolution, Sensitivity, and Algorithms

In this work, we investigate the observational and algorithmic effects on molecular cloud samples identified from position–position–velocity (PPV) space. By smoothing and cutting off the high quality data of the Milky Way Imaging Scroll Painting (MWISP) survey, we extract various molecular cloud samples from those altered data with the DBSCAN (density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise) algorithm. Those molecular cloud samples are subsequently used to gauge the significance of sensitivity, angular/velocity resolution, and DBSCAN parameters. Two additional surveys, the FCRAO Outer Galaxy Survey and the CfA-Chile 1.2 m complete CO (CfA-Chile) survey, are used to verify the MWISP results. We found that molecular cloud catalogs are not unique and that the catalog boundary and therefore the sample size show strong variation with angular resolution and sensitivity. At low angular resolution (large beam sizes), molecular clouds merge together in PPV space, while a low sensitivity (high cutoffs) misses small faint molecular clouds and takes bright parts of large molecular clouds as single ones. At high angular resolution and sensitivity, giant molecular clouds (GMCs) are resolved into individual clouds, and their diffuse components are also revealed. Consequently, GMCs are more appropriately interpreted as clusters or aggregates of molecular clouds, i.e., GMCs represent molecular cloud samples themselves.

Shocks and Molecules in Diffuse Interstellar Cloud Pairs

Abstract The diffuse interstellar medium (ISM) is dynamic, and its chemistry and evolution are determined by shock fronts as well as photodissociation. Shocks are implied by the supersonic motions and velocity dispersion, often statistically called “turbulence”. We compare models of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) shocks, with speeds typical of cloud motions through the ISM (3–25 km s−1) and densities typical of cold neutral gas (∼102 cm−3), to archival observations of the H i 21 cm line for gas kinematics, far-infrared emission for dust mass, and mid-infrared emission for high-resolution morphology, to identify shock fronts in three high-latitude cloud pairs with masses of order 50 M ⊙. The clouds have “heads” with extended “tails,” and high-resolution images show arcs on the leading edges of the “heads” that could be individual shocks. The H i shows higher-velocity gas at the leading edges due to shock-accelerated material. For two cloud pairs, one cloud has an active shock indicated by broad and offset H i, while the other cloud has already been shocked and is predominantly “CO-dark” H2. Two-dimensional MHD simulations for shocks parallel to the magnetic field for pairs of clouds show a remarkable similarity to observed cloud features, including merged “tails” due to aligned flow and magnetic field, which leads to lateral confinement downstream. A parallel alignment between magnetic field and gas flow may lead to formation of small molecular clouds.

PERIODIC ACCRETION INSTABILITIES IN THE PROTOSTAR L1634 IRS 7

The small molecular cloud Lynds 1634 contains at least three outflow sources. We found one of these, IRS 7, to be variable with a period of 37.14 +/- 0.04 days and an amplitude of approximately 2 mag in the Ks band. The light curve consists of a quiescent phase with little or no variation, and a rapid outburst phase. During the outburst phase, the rapid brightness variation generates light echoes that propagate into the surrounding molecular cloud, allowing a measurement of the distance to IRS 7 of 404 pc +/- 35 pc. We observed only a marginally significant change in the H - K color during the outburst phase. The K-band spectrum of IRS 7 shows CO bandhead emission but its equivalent width does not change significantly with the phase of the light curve. The H_2 1-0 S(1) line emission does not follow the variability of the continuum flux. We also used the imaging data for a proper motion study of the outflows originating from the IRS 7 and the FIR source IRAS 05173-0555, and confirm that these are indeed distinct outflows.

THE BOLOCAM GALACTIC PLANE SURVEY. XIII. PHYSICAL PROPERTIES AND MASS FUNCTIONS OF DENSE MOLECULAR CLOUD STRUCTURES

We use the distance probability density function (DPDF) formalism of Ellsworth-Bowers et al. (2013, 2015) to derive physical properties for the collection of 1,710 Bolocam Galactic Plane Survey (BGPS) version 2 sources with well-constrained distance estimates. To account for Malmquist bias, we estimate that the present sample of BGPS sources is 90% complete above 400 $M_\odot$ and 50% complete above 70 $M_\odot$. The mass distributions for the entire sample and astrophysically motivated subsets are generally fitted well by a lognormal function, with approximately power-law distributions at high mass. Power-law behavior emerges more clearly when the sample population is narrowed in heliocentric distance (power-law index $\alpha = 2.0\pm0.1$ for sources nearer than 6.5 kpc and $\alpha = 1.9\pm0.1$ for objects between 2 kpc and 10 kpc). The high-mass power-law indices are generally $1.85 \leq \alpha \leq 2.05$ for various subsamples of sources, intermediate between that of giant molecular clouds and the stellar initial mass function. The fit to the entire sample yields a high-mass power-law $\hat{\alpha} = 1.94_{-0.10}^{+0.34}$. Physical properties of BGPS sources are consistent with large molecular cloud clumps or small molecular clouds, but the fractal nature of the dense interstellar medium makes difficult the mapping of observational categories to the dominant physical processes driving the observed structure. The face-on map of the Galactic disk's mass surface density based on BGPS dense molecular cloud structures reveals the high-mass star-forming regions W43, W49, and W51 as prominent mass concentrations in the first quadrant. Furthermore, we present a 0.25-kpc resolution map of the dense gas mass fraction across the Galactic disk that peaks around 5%.

Is molecular gas necessary for star formation?

On galactic scales, the surface density of star formation appears to be well correlated with the surface density of molecular gas. This has lead many authors to suggest that there exists a causal relationship between the chemical state of the gas and its ability to form stars -- in other words, the assumption that the gas must be molecular before star formation can occur. We test this hypothesis by modelling star formation within a dense cloud of gas with properties similar to a small molecular cloud using a series of different models of the chemistry, ranging from one in which the formation of molecules is not followed and the gas is assumed to remain atomic throughout, to one that tracks the formation of both H2 and CO. We find that presence of molecules in the gas has little effect on the ability of the gas to form stars: star formation can occur just as easily in atomic gas as in molecular gas. At low densities (< 10^4 cm^-3), the gas is able to cool via C+ fine-structure emission almost as efficiently as via CO rotational line emission, while at higher densities, the main cooling process involves the transfer of energy from gas to dust, meaning that the presence of molecules is again unimportant. Cooling by H2 is particularly inefficient, accounting for as little as 1 percent of the overall cooling in the cloud. Rather than the chemical makeup, we find that the most important factor controlling the rate of star formation is the ability of the gas to shield itself from the interstellar radiation field. As this is also a prerequisite for the survival of molecules within the gas, our results support a picture in which molecule formation and the formation of cold gas are both correlated with the column density of the cloud -- and thus its ability to shield itself -- rather than being directly correlated with each other.

THE INEVITABLE FUTURE OF THE STARLESS CORE BARNARD 68

Dense, small molecular cloud cores have been identified as the direct progenitors of stars. One of the best studied examples is Barnard 68 which is considered a prototype stable, spherical gas core, confined by a diffuse high-pressure environment. Observations of its radial density structure however indicate that Barnard 68 should be gravitationally unstable and collapsing which appears to be inconsistent with its inferred long lifetime and stability. We argue that Barnard 68 is currently experiencing a fatal collision with another small core which will lead to gravitational collapse. Despite the fact that this system is still in an early phase of interaction, our numerical simulations imply that the future gravitational collapse is already detectable in the outer surface density structure of the globule which mimicks the profile of a gravitationally unstable Bonnor-Ebert sphere. Within the next 200,000 years Barnard 68 will condense into a low-mass solar-type star(s), formed in isolation, and surrounded by diffuse, hot interstellar gas. As witnessed in situ for Barnard 68, core mergers might in general play an important role in triggering star formation and shaping the molecular core mass distribution and by that also the stellar initial mass function.

Large-scale CO observations of a far-infrared loop in Pegasus; detection of a large number of very small molecular clouds possibly formed via shocks

Large-scale CO observations with the millimeter/submillimeter telescope NANTEN toward a whole FIR loop-like structure whose angular extent is ~20° × 20° around (l, b) ~(109°, − 45°) in Pegasus have been carried out in the 12CO (J = 1 − 0) at 4′ – 8′ grid spacing and the 12CO emitting region in the 13CO (J=1–0) at 2′ grid spacing. The diameter corresponds to ~25 pc at a distance of 100 pc, adopted from that of the star HD886(B2IV) near the center of the loop.

Evidence for triggered star formation in the Carina Flare supershell

AbstractTheory predicts the triggered formation of molecular clouds stars through the fragmentation and collapse of swept-up ambient gas. Yet the majority of Galactic HI shells show no more than a scattering of small molecular clouds. The Carina Flare supershell (Fukui et al. 1999) is a rare example of an HI shell with a striking molecular component. Here we present the large-scale morphology of the molecular and atomic gas and the location of YSO candidates. A detailed look at two molecular clumps in the shell walls reveals active, intermediate mass star forming regions at various stages of early evolution.

NANTEN observations of triggered star formation: from HIIregions to galaxy collisions

AbstractIn this contribution, we will overview the NANTEN observations of molecular clouds faced to HIIregions, supershells, and interacting galaxies, which demonstrate that star/molecular cloud formation is being triggered by young OB associations, supershells, and collisions between galaxies. The large volume filling factor of explosive events like supernovae, ultraviolet radiation fields and stellar winds of massive stars suggest that most of the interstellar medium has been agitated by such strong impacts and triggered star formation is a common event at all scales from small molecular clouds to large galaxy-galaxy mergers. The consequence is the increase of star formation efficiency in many cases, and that more massive stars or clusters of more member stars tend to be formed by triggering than in spontaneous star formation.

Large‐Scale CO Observations of a Far‐Infrared Loop in Pegasus: Detection of a Large Number of Very Small Molecular Clouds Possibly Formed via Shocks

We have performed large-scale CO observations with the millimeter/submillimeter telescope NANTEN toward a FIR looplike structure whose angular extent is ~20° × 20° around (l,b) ~ (109°, - 45°) in Pegasus. Its diameter corresponds to ~25 pc at a distance of 100 pc, adopted from that of the star HD 886 (B2 IV) near the center of the loop. We covered the looplike structure in the 12CO (J = 1-0) emission at 4'-8' grid spacing and in the 13CO (J = 1-0) emission at 2' grid spacing for the 12CO-emitting regions. The 12CO distribution is found to consist of 78 small clumpy clouds of mass 0.04-11 M☉, of which ~83% have very small masses <1.0 M☉. 13CO observations revealed significant 13CO emission in 18 of the 78 12CO clouds. 13CO emission was detected in the region where the column density of H2 derived from 12CO is >5 × 1020 cm-2, corresponding to AV ~ 1 mag, which takes into account that of H I. We find no indication of star formation in these clouds in the IRAS and 2MASS point source catalogs. The very low mass clouds, M ≤ 1 M☉, identified are unusual in that they have a very weak 12CO peak temperature of 0.5-2.7 K and that they aggregate in a region of a few parsecs with no main massive clouds; in contrast, similar low-mass clouds <1 M☉ in other regions previously observed including those at high Galactic latitude are all associated with more massive main clouds of ~100 M☉. Comparison with a theoretical work on molecular cloud formation suggests that the very low mass clouds may have been formed in the shocked layer through thermal instability. HD 886 may be the source of the mechanical luminosity via stellar winds to create shocks, forming the looplike structure where the very low mass clouds are embedded.

Two new Perseus arm supernova remnants discovered in the Canadian Galactic Plane Survey

We report the discovery of two new second-quadrant supernova remnants, G96.0+2.0 and G113.0+0.2, in the data of the Canadian Galactic Plane Survey. The two SNRs are residents of the Perseus spiral arm at distances of 4.0 kpc and 3.1 kpc, respectively. The distances were determined kinematically by associating the objects with neutral hydrogen and molecular material. G96.0+2.0 is most likely located at the edge of a large stellar wind bubble with a systemic velocity of about −44 km s −1 . It consists of a relatively bright shell where the shock is encountering the wall of H i and slowly fades away towards the interior of the stellar wind bubble. The visible part of the remnant has a diameter of about 30 pc and a radio spectral index of α ≈− 0.66 (S ∼ ν α ), indicating that it is a shell-type remnant in an early stage of development. The SNR is most likely the remnant of a type Ib/c supernova explosion. G113.0+0.2 is located in an area of confusing thermal emission not far from the radio-bright supernova remnant Cassiopeia A. It has an unusual elongated structure consisting of a long polarized filament and a more complex head structure that is interacting with a small molecular cloud; it resides in a butterfly-shaped H i cavity, probably a stellar wind bubble. It is about 36 pc long and 15 pc wide at a position angle of 70 ◦ with the Galactic Plane. A pulsar with a relatively low period derivative, giving it a characteristic age of 10 million years, is located close to the centre of the radio continuum emission at a Perseus arm distance. Whether the pulsar is the result of the same supernova explosion that created G113.0+0.2 or if it was left behind by an earlier supernova that also shaped the stellar wind bubble remains uncertain.

New neighbours

We present spectra of 36 nearby star candidates and 3 red giant candidates, identified in the DENIS database. 32 of the dwarf candidates are nearby red dwarfs, with spectral types from M 5.5 to M 8.5. Out of 11 targets with low proper motion ( µ< 0. 1a rcsec yr −1 ) but a Reduced Proper Motion above an inclusive threshold, 9 are red dwarfs. The 4 contaminants are all reddened F-K main sequence stars, and could have been eliminated by checking for small well-known high latitude molecular clouds. These stars might be of interest as probes of interstellar absorption. For the red dwarfs we derive spectral types and spectroscopic distances, using a new calibration of the PC3 spectral index to absolute magnitudes in the I, J, H and K photometric bands. We confirm 2 new members of the 12 pc volume (2 new M 8.5), and one M 7.5 NLTT object closer than 10 pc; and show that one quarter of the stars with photometric distances under 30 pc have too small a proper motion for inclusion in the NLTT catalog.

The onset of collapse in turbulently supported molecular clouds

We examine the formation of bound coherent clumps within the environment of turbulent molecular clouds, with emphasis on determining the role that turbulent motions play in the star formation process. We use smoothed particle hydrodynamics to simulate small molecular clouds (∼30 M⊙), in which the gas is initially supported from gravitational collapse by a freely decaying turbulent field, consistent with a Larson relation of σ ∝ L1/2. We show that the turbulent field does not trigger the star formation via local decreases in the Jeans mass, as has been proposed elsewhere in the literature. Instead, the role of the turbulence is simply to provide shocks that dissipate the supporting kinetic energy and generate structure which acts as seeds for the subsequent fragmentation. These structures are initially unbound, but grow through the self-gravity of the larger-scale region. Collapse proceeds once they attain the mean Jeans mass of the cloud. At this point they are in approximate equipartition of kinetic and thermal energies and can thus fragment to form a multiple system during collapse. Multiple systems are thus a natural consequence of star formation in a turbulent environment.

A cold globule with a Class 0/I embedded source

Infrared observations of the dark cloud DC 303.8-14.2 and the embedded point source IRAS 13036-7644 have been made with the ISOPHOT instrument aboard ISO at 7.7 μm, 60 μm, 100 μm and 200 μm. We have compared the properties of dust in DC 303.8-14.2 and the Thumbprint Nebula (TPN), a morphologically similar globule but without star formation. The dust temperature at the center of DC 303.8-14.2 has a minimum of 14.6 ± 1 K, similar to that in the TPN. A comparison of far-infrared radial optical depth distributions between these clouds at angular scales of ∼1.5'-3' shows no difference. The observations suggest that there is a bright rim of 7,7 μm emission that peaks just outside the,optical bright rim of the cloud, indicating a halo of very small dust particles or PAHs around the cloud. The bolometric luminosity of the IRAS source is estimated to be about 1.0 L ○. . The heating of the cloud by the IRAS source is negligible; the thermal structure of the cloud is dominated by external heating. We have studied the evolutionary status of the IRAS source and find it to be located between Class 0 and Class I, at a late accretion phase. The source was detected at 7.7 μm and we suggest that this emission is due to the 7.7 μm UIR band. We also give a compilation of small molecular clouds whose extended FIR emission has been mapped with ISO.

High-Latitude Molecular Clouds as Gamma-Ray Sources for the Gamma-Ray Large Area Space Telescope

For about two decades, a population of relatively small and nearby molecular clouds has been known to exist at high Galactic latitudes. Lying more than 10° from the Galactic plane, these clouds have typical distances of ~150 pc, angular sizes of ~1°, and masses of order tens of solar masses. These objects are passive sources of high-energy γ-rays through cosmic-ray-gas interactions. Using a new wide-angle CO survey of the northern sky, we show that typical high-latitude clouds are not bright enough in γ-rays to have been detected by EGRET but that of order 100 of them will be detectable by the Large Area Telescope on the Gamma-Ray Large Area Space Telescope. Thus, we predict a new steady population of γ-ray sources at high Galactic latitudes, perhaps the most numerous after active galactic nuclei.