Observations of CO(J = 2-1) emission from molecular clouds.
TL;DR: In this paper, spectra and strip maps of CO(J=2-1) emission for a variety of molecular clouds within the Galaxy are presented, and a discussion of the behavior of line widths and spatial extents as a function of CO line opacity is given.
Abstract: We present spectra and strip maps of CO(J=2-1) emission for a variety of molecular clouds within the Galaxy. In most cases data are also presented for the less-abundant species /sup 13/CO and C/sup 18/O, and, where possible, cpmparison is made between the CO(2-1) data and equivalent CO(1-0) spectra and maps. A discussion is given of the behavior of line widths and spatial extents as a function of CO line opacity. From the line widths it is deduced that for some dense molecular clouds the CO(1-0) optical depth is in the range 20--100.
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TL;DR: In this article, a multiline study of the dense core L1544 in the Taurus molecular complex was presented, showing that the core is almost isothermal and that the self absorptions are due to very subthermal excitation of dense gas tracers in the outer layers.
Abstract: We present a multiline study of the dense core L1544 in the Taurus molecular complex. Although L1544 does not harbor an embedded star, it presents several characteristics of cores that have already undergone star formation, suggesting that it may be rather advanced in its evolution toward becoming a star-forming core. The spectral lines from L1544 present an interesting dichotomy, with the thick dense gas tracers su†ering very strong self absorption while CO and its isotopes are not being absorbed at all. The presence of the self absorptions allows us to study both the density structure and kinematics of the gas in detail. A simple analysis shows that the core is almost isothermal and that the self absorptions are due to very subthermal excitation of the dense gas tracers in the outer layers. The density has to decrease outward rapidly, and a detailed radiative transfer calculation that simultaneously -ts three iso- topes of CO and two of CS shows that the density approximately follows a r~1.5 power law. The self absorptions, in addition, allow us to measure the relative velocity between the inner and outer layers of the core, and we -nd that there is a global pattern of inward motions (background and foreground approaching each other). The relative speed between the foreground and background changes with posi- tion, and we use a simple two-layer model to deduce that while the foreground gas has a constant veloc- ity, the background material presents systematic velocity changes that we interpret as arising from two velocity components. We explore the origin of the inward motions by comparing our observations with models of gravitational collapse. A model in which the infall starts at the center and propagates outward (as in the inside-out collapse of Shu) is inconsistent with the large extension of the absorption (that sug- gests an advanced age) and the lack of a star at the core center (that suggests extreme youth). Ambipolar di†usion seems also ruled out because of the large amount of the inward speed (up to 0.1 km s~1) and the fact that ionized species move with speeds similar to those of the neutrals. Other infall models seem also to have problems -tting the data, so if L1544 is infalling, it seems to be doing so in a manner not contemplated by the standard theories of star formation. Our study of L1544 illustrates how little is still known about the physical conditions that precede star formation and how detailed studies of starless cores are urgently needed. Subject headings: ISM: individual (L1544) E ISM: kinematics and dynamics E stars: formation
309 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors have mapped 63 regions forming high-mass stars in CS J = 5 → 4 using the CSO and found a strong correlation between C34S line width and size.
Abstract: We have mapped 63 regions forming high-mass stars in CS J = 5 → 4 using the CSO. The CS peak position was observed in C34S J = 5 → 4 toward 57 cores and in 13CS J = 5 → 4 toward the nine brightest cores. The sample is a subset of a sample originally selected toward water masers; the selection on maser sources should favor sources in an early stage of evolution. The cores are located in the first and second Galactic quadrants with an average distance of 5.3 ± 3.7 kpc and were well detected with a median peak signal-to-noise ratio in the integrated intensity of 40. The integrated intensity of CS J = 5 → 4 correlates very well with the dust continuum emission at 350 μm. For 57 sufficiently isolated cores, a well-defined angular size (FWHM) was determined. The core radius (RCS), aspect ratio [(a/b)obs], virial mass (Mvir), surface density (Σ), and the luminosity in the CS J = 5 → 4 line (L(CS54)) are calculated. The distributions of size, virial mass, surface density, and luminosity are all peaked with a few cores skewed toward much larger values than the mean. The median values, μ1/2, are as follows: μ1/2 (RCS) = 0.32 pc, μ1/2 ((a/b)obs) = 1.20, μ1/2 (Mvir) = 920 M⊙, μ1/2 (Σ) = 0.60 g cm-2, μ1/2 (L(CS54)) = 1.9 × 10-2 L⊙, and μ1/2 (Lbol/Mvir) = 165 (L/M)⊙. We find a weak correlation between C34S line width and size, consistent with Δv ~ R0.3. The line widths are much higher than would be predicted by the usual relations between line width and size determined from regions of lower mass. These regions are very turbulent. The derived virial mass agrees within a factor of 2-3 with mass estimates from dust emission at 350 μm after corrections for the density structure are accounted for. The resulting cumulative mass spectrum of cores above 1000 M⊙ can be approximated by a power law with a slope of about -0.9, steeper than that of clouds measured with tracers of lower density gas and close to that for the total masses of stars in OB associations. The median turbulent pressures are comparable to those in UCH II regions, and the pressures at small radii are similar to those in hypercompact H II regions (P/k ~ 1010 K cm-3). The filling factors for dense gas are substantial, and the median abundance of CS is about 10-9. The ratio of bolometric luminosity to virial mass is much higher than the value found for molecular clouds as a whole, and the correlation of luminosity with mass is tighter.
236 citations
Cites background from "Observations of CO(J = 2-1) emissio..."
...For a Gaussian line shape, the broadening due to optical depth can be expressed by ∆v ∆v o = 1 √ ln 2 ln τ ln 2 1+exp(−τ ) , (6) where ∆v o is the optically thin linewidth (Phillips et al. 1979)....
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors have mapped 63 regions forming high-mass stars in CS J=5-4 using the CSO and found a weak correlation between C34S linewidth and size, consistent with Dv ~ R^{0.3}.
Abstract: We have mapped 63 regions forming high-mass stars in CS J=5-4 using the CSO. The CS peak position was observed in C34S J=5-4 towards 57 cores and in 13CS J=5-4 towards the 9 brightest cores. The sample is a subset of a sample originally selected toward water masers; the selection on maser sources should favor sources in an early stage of evolution. The integrated intensity of CS J=5-4 correlates very well with the dust continuum emission at 350 microns. The distributions of size, virial mass, surface density, and luminosity are all peaked with a few cores skewed towards much larger values than the mean. We find a weak correlation between C34S linewidth and size, consistent with Dv ~ R^{0.3}. The linewidths are much higher than would be predicted by the usual relations between linewidth and size determined from regions of lower mass. These regions are very turbulent. The derived virial mass agrees within a factor of 2 to 3 with mass estimates from dust emission at 350 microns after corrections for the density structure are accounted for. The resulting cumulative mass spectrum of cores above 1000 solar masses can be approximated by a power law with a slope of about -0.9, steeper than that of clouds measured with tracers of lower density gas and close to that for the total masses of stars in OB associations. The median turbulent pressures are comparable to those in UCHII regions, and the pressures at small radii are similar to those in hypercompact-HII regions (P/k ~ 10^{10} K cm^{-3}). The filling factors for dense gas are substantial, and the median abundance of CS is about 10^{-9}. The ratio of bolometric luminosity to virial mass is much higher than the value found for molecular clouds as a whole, and the correlation of luminosity with mass is tighter. (Abridged).
220 citations
Spanish National Research Council1, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory2, California Institute of Technology3, University of Cologne4, École Normale Supérieure5, PSL Research University6, University of Michigan7, Chalmers University of Technology8, University of Vienna9, INAF10, Harvard University11, University of Massachusetts Amherst12
TL;DR: It is concluded that the [C ii] emitting column relative to the total dust column along each line of sight is responsible for the observed L[C ii?]/LFIR variations through the cloud.
Abstract: We present the first ~7.′5 × 11.′5 velocity-resolved (~0.2 km/s) map of the [C II] 158 μm line toward the Orion molecular cloud1 (OMC1) taken with the Herschel/HIFI instrument. In combination with far-IR (FIR) photometric images and velocity-resolved maps of the H41α hydrogen recombination and CO J = 2–1 lines, this data set provides an unprecedented view of the intricate small-scale kinematics of the ionized/photodissociation region (PDR)/molecular gas interfaces and of the radiative feedback from massive stars. The main contribution to the [C II] luminosity (~85%) is from the extended, FUV-illuminated face of the cloud (G0 > 500, nH > 5 × 10^3 cm^−3) and from dense PDRs (G0>~10^4, nH>~10^5 cm^−3) at the interface between OMC 1 and the H II region surrounding the Trapezium cluster. Around ~15% of the [C II] emission arises from a different gas component without a CO counterpart. The [C II] excitation, PDR gas turbulence, line opacity (from [13C II]), and role of the geometry of the illuminating stars with respect to the cloud are investigated. We construct maps of the L[CII]/LFIR and LFIR/MGas ratios and show that L[CII]/LFIR decreases from the extended cloud component (~10^−2–10^−3) to the more opaque star-forming cores (~10^-3-10−4). The lowest values are reminiscent of the “[C II] deficit” seen in local ultraluminous IR galaxies hosting vigorous star formation. Spatial correlation analysis shows that the decreasing L[C II]/LFIR ratio correlates better with the column density of dust through the molecular cloud than with LFIR/MGas. We conclude that the [C II]-emitting column relative to the total dust column along each line of sight is responsible for the observed L[C II]/LFIR variations through the cloud.
137 citations
Cites background from "Observations of CO(J = 2-1) emissio..."
...In particular, for τ[CII]'1-3, opacity broadening increases the line widths by ∼10-30% (e.g., Phillips et al. 1979; Ossenkopf et al. 2013)....
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors presented the results of N2H + (1-0) observations of 35 dense molecular cloud cores from the northern and southern hemispheres where massive stars and star clusters are formed.
Abstract: We present the results of N2H + (1-0) observations of 35 dense molecular cloud cores from the northern and southern hemispheres where massive stars and star clusters are formed. Line emission has been detected in 33 sources, for 28 sources detailed maps have been obtained. Peak N2H + column densities lie in the range: 3:6 10 12 1:5 10 14 cm 2 . Intensity ratios of (01-12) to (23-12) hyperfine components are slightly higher than the LTE value. The optical depth of (23-12) component toward peak intensity positions of 10 sources is0:2 1. In many cases the cores have elongated or more complex structures with several emission peaks. In total, 47 clumps have been revealed in 26 sources. Their sizes lie in the range 0.3-2.1 pc, the range of virial masses is30 3000 M. Mean N2H + abundance for 36 clumps is 5 10 10 . Integrated intensity maps with axial ratios<2 have been fitted with a power-law radial distribution r p convolved with the telescope beam. Mean power-law index for 25 clumps is close to 1.3. For reduced maps where positions of low intensity are rejected mean power-law index is close to unity corresponding to ther 2 density profile provided N 2H + excitation conditions do not vary inside these regions. In those cases where we have relatively extensive and high quality maps, line widths of the cores either decrease or stay constant with distance from the center, implying an enhanced dynamical activity in the center. There is a correlation between total velocity gradient direction and elongation angle of the cores. However, the ratio of rotational to gravitational energy is too low (4 10 4 - 7:1 10 2 ) for rotation to play a significant role in the dynamics of the cores. A correlation between mean line widths and sizes
114 citations