602 research outputs found
Power Spectrum Analysis of Polarized Emission from the Canadian Galactic Plane Survey
Angular power spectra are calculated and presented for the entirety of the
Canadian Galactic Plane Survey polarization dataset at 1.4 GHz covering an area
of 1060 deg. The data analyzed are a combination of data from the 100-m
Effelsberg Telescope, the 26-m Telescope at the Dominion Radio Astrophysical
Observatory, and the Synthesis Telescope at the Dominion Radio Astrophysical
Observatory, allowing all scales to be sampled down to arcminute resolution.
The resulting power spectra cover multipoles from to and display both a power-law component at low multipoles and a
flattening at high multipoles from point sources. We fit the power spectrum
with a model that accounts for these components and instrumental effects. The
resulting power-law indices are found to have a mode of 2.3, similar to
previous results. However, there are significant regional variations in the
index, defying attempts to characterize the emission with a single value. The
power-law index is found to increase away from the Galactic plane. A transition
from small-scale to large-scale structure is evident at ,
associated with the disk-halo transition in a 15 region around
. Localized variations in the index are found toward HII regions
and supernova remnants, but the interpretation of these variations is
inconclusive. The power in the polarized emission is anticorrelated with bright
thermal emission (traced by H emission) indicating that the thermal
emission depolarizes background synchrotron emission.Comment: Accepted to ApJ; 17 page
Unusually Luminous Giant Molecular Clouds in the Outer Disk of M33
We use high spatial resolution (~7pc) CARMA observations to derive detailed
properties for 8 giant molecular clouds (GMCs) at a galactocentric radius
corresponding to approximately two CO scale lengths, or ~0.5 optical radii
(r25), in the Local Group spiral galaxy M33. At this radius, molecular gas
fraction, dust-to-gas ratio and metallicity are much lower than in the inner
part of M33 or in a typical spiral galaxy. This allows us to probe the impact
of environment on GMC properties by comparing our measurements to previous data
from the inner disk of M33, the Milky Way and other nearby galaxies. The outer
disk clouds roughly fall on the size-linewidth relation defined by
extragalactic GMCs, but are slightly displaced from the luminosity-virial mass
relation in the sense of having high CO luminosity compared to the inferred
virial mass. This implies a different CO-to-H2 conversion factor, which is on
average a factor of two lower than the inner disk and the extragalactic
average. We attribute this to significantly higher measured brightness
temperatures of the outer disk clouds compared to the ancillary sample of GMCs,
which is likely an effect of enhanced radiation levels due to massive star
formation in the vicinity of our target field. Apart from brightness
temperature, the properties we determine for the outer disk GMCs in M33 do not
differ significantly from those of our comparison sample. In particular, the
combined sample of inner and outer disk M33 clouds covers roughly the same
range in size, linewidth, virial mass and CO luminosity than the sample of
Milky Way GMCs. When compared to the inner disk clouds in M33, however, we find
even the brightest outer disk clouds to be smaller than most of their inner
disk counterparts. This may be due to incomplete sampling or a potentially
steeper cloud mass function at larger radii.Comment: Accepted for Publication in ApJ; 7 pages, 4 figure
The Perils of Clumpfind: The Mass Spectrum of Sub-structures in Molecular Clouds
We study the mass spectrum of sub-structures in the Perseus Molecular Cloud
Complex traced by 13CO (1-0), finding that for the
standard Clumpfind parameters. This result does not agree with the classical
. To understand this discrepancy we study the robustness
of the mass spectrum derived using the Clumpfind algorithm. Both 2D and 3D
Clumpfind versions are tested, using 850 m dust emission and 13CO
spectral-line observations of Perseus, respectively. The effect of varying
threshold is not important, but varying stepsize produces a different effect
for 2D and 3D cases. In the 2D case, where emission is relatively isolated
(associated with only the densest peaks in the cloud), the mass spectrum
variability is negligible compared to the mass function fit uncertainties. In
the 3D case, however, where the 13CO emission traces the bulk of the molecular
cloud, the number of clumps and the derived mass spectrum are highly correlated
with the stepsize used. The distinction between "2D" and "3D" here is more
importantly also a distinction between "sparse" and "crowded" emission. In any
"crowded" case, Clumpfind should not be used blindly to derive mass functions.
Clumpfind's output in the "crowded" case can still offer a statistical
description of emission useful in inter-comparisons, but the clump-list should
not be treated as a robust region decomposition suitable to generate a
physically-meaningful mass function. We conclude that the 13CO mass spectrum
depends on the observations resolution, due to the hierarchical structure of
MC.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ Letter
Minimal HCN emission from Molecular Clouds in M33
Since HCN emission has been shown to be a linear tracer of ongoing star
formation activity, we have searched for HCN (J = 1->0) emission from known
GMCs in the nearby galaxy M33. No significant HCN emission has been found along
any of the lines of sight. We find two lines of sight where CO-to-HCN
integrated intensity ratios up to 280, nearly a factor of 6 above what is found
in comparable regions of the Milky Way. Star formation tracers suggest that the
HCN-to-star formation rate ratio (L_HCN/M_SFR) is a factor of six lower than
what is observed in the Milky Way (on average) and local extragalactic systems.
Simple chemical models accounting for the sub-solar N/O ratio suggest that
depletion cannot account for the high CO-to-HCN ratios. Given HCN formation
requires high extinction (A_V > 4), low metallicity may yield reduced dust
shielding and thus a high CO/HCN ratio. The turbulence and structure of GMCs in
M33 are comparable to those found in other systems, so the differences are
unlikely to result from different GMC properties. Since lower CO-to-HCN ratios
are associated with the highest rates of star formation, we attribute the
deficits in part to evolutionary effects within GMCs.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRA
Hierarchical Star-Formation in M33: Fundamental properties of the star-forming regions
Star-formation within galaxies appears on multiple scales, from spiral
structure, to OB associations, to individual star clusters, and often
sub-structure within these clusters. This multitude of scales calls for
objective methods to find and classify star-forming regions, regardless of
spatial size. To this end, we present an analysis of star-forming groups in the
local group spiral galaxy M33, based on a new implementation of the Minimum
Spanning Tree (MST) method. Unlike previous studies which limited themselves to
a single spatial scale, we study star-forming structures from the effective
resolution limit (~20pc) to kpc scales. We find evidence for a continuum of
star-forming group sizes, from pc to kpc scales. We do not find a
characteristic scale for OB associations, unlike that found in previous
studies, and we suggest that the appearance of such a scale was caused by
spatial resolution and selection effects. The luminosity function of the groups
is found to be well represented by a power-law with an index, -2, similar to
that found for clusters and GMCs. Additionally, the groups follow a similar
mass-radius relation as GMCs. The size distribution of the groups is best
described by a log-normal distribution and we show that within a hierarchical
distribution, if a scale is selected to find structure, the resulting size
distribution will have a log-normal distribution. We find an abrupt drop of the
number of groups outside a galactic radius of ~4kpc, suggesting a change in the
structure of the star-forming ISM, possibly reflected in the lack of GMCs
beyond this radius. (abridged)Comment: 12 pages, 16 figures, accepted MNRA
An Ammonia Spectral Atlas of Dense Cores in Perseus
We present ammonia observations of 193 dense cores and core candidates in the
Perseus molecular cloud made using the Robert F. Byrd Green Bank Telescope. We
simultaneously observed the NH3(1,1), NH3(2,2), CCS (2_1 -> 1_0) and CC34S (2_1
-> 1_0) transitions near 23 GHz for each of the targets with a spectral
resolution of dv ~ 0.024 km/s. We find ammonia emission associated with nearly
all of the (sub)millimeter sources as well as at several positions with no
associated continuum emission. For each detection, we have measured physical
properties by fitting a simple model to every spectral line simultaneously.
Where appropriate, we have refined the model by accounting for low optical
depths, multiple components along the line of sight and imperfect coupling to
the GBT beam. For the cores in Perseus, we find a typical kinetic temperature
of T=11 K, a typical column density of N(NH3)~ 10^14.5 /cm^2 and velocity
dispersions ranging from sigma_v = 0.07 km/s to 0.7 km/s. However, many cores
with velocity dispersions > 0.2 km/s show evidence for multiple velocity
components along the line of sight.Comment: 19 pages; Accepted to ApJS; version with high resolution figures
available at http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/COMPLETE/papers/nh3-paper1.pdf ;
online data at
http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/COMPLETE/data_html_pages/GBT_NH3.htm
The Gas Temperature of Starless Cores in Perseus
In this paper we study the determinants of starless core temperatures in the
Perseus molecular cloud. We use NH3 (1,1) and (2,2) observations to derive core
temperatures (T_kin) and data from the COMPLETE Survey of Star Forming Regions
and the c2d Spitzer Legacy Survey for observations of the other core and
molecular cloud properties. The kinetic temperature distribution probed by NH3
is in the fairly narrow range of 9 - 15 K. We find that cores within the
clusters IC348 and NGC1333 are significantly warmer than "field" starless
cores, and T_kin is higher within regions of larger extinction-derived column
density. Starless cores in the field are warmer when they are closer to class
O/I protostars, but this effect is not seen for those cores in clusters. For
field starless cores, T_kin is higher in regions in which the 13CO linewidth
and the 1.1mm flux from the core are larger, and T_kin is lower when the the
peak column density within the core and average volume density of the core are
larger. There is no correlation between T_kin and 13CO linewidth, 1.1mm flux,
density or peak column density for those cores in clusters. The temperature of
the cloud material along the line of sight to the core, as measured by CO or
far-infrared emission from dust, is positively correlated with core temperature
when considering the collection of cores in the field and in clusters, but this
effect is not apparent when the two subsamples of cores are considered
separately.Comment: Accepted to ApJ; 13 pages, including 3 tables and three figure
A Water Maser and Ammonia Survey of GLIMPSE Extended Green Objects (EGOs)
We present the results of a Nobeyama 45-m water maser and ammonia survey of
all 94 northern GLIMPSE Extended Green Objects (EGOs), a sample of massive
young stellar objects (MYSOs) identified based on their extended 4.5 micron
emission. We observed the ammonia (1,1), (2,2), and (3,3) inversion lines, and
detect emission towards 97%, 63%, and 46% of our sample, respectively (median
rms ~50 mK). The water maser detection rate is 68% (median rms ~0.11 Jy). The
derived water maser and clump-scale gas properties are consistent with the
identification of EGOs as young MYSOs. To explore the degree of variation among
EGOs, we analyze subsamples defined based on MIR properties or maser
associations. Water masers and warm dense gas, as indicated by emission in the
higher-excitation ammonia transitions, are most frequently detected towards
EGOs also associated with both Class I and II methanol masers. 95% (81%) of
such EGOs are detected in water (ammonia(3,3)), compared to only 33% (7%) of
EGOs without either methanol maser type. As populations, EGOs associated with
Class I and/or II methanol masers have significantly higher ammonia linewidths,
column densities, and kinetic temperatures than EGOs undetected in methanol
maser surveys. However, we find no evidence for statistically significant
differences in water maser properties (such as maser luminosity) among any EGO
subsamples. Combining our data with the 1.1 mm continuum Bolocam Galactic Plane
Survey, we find no correlation between isotropic water maser luminosity and
clump number density. Water maser luminosity is weakly correlated with clump
(gas) temperature and clump mass.Comment: Astrophysical Journal, accepted. Emulateapj, 24 pages including 24
figures, plus 9 tables (including full content of online-only tables
The varying mass distribution of molecular clouds across M83
The work of Adamo et al. showed that the mass distributions of young massive stellar clusters were truncated above a maximum-mass scale in the nearby galaxy M83 and that this truncation mass varies with the galactocentric radius. Here, we present a cloud-based analysis of Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array CO(1 → 0) observations of M83 to search for such a truncation mass in the molecular cloud population. We identify a population of 873 molecular clouds in M83 that is largely similar to those found in the Milky Way and Local Group galaxies, though clouds in the centre of the galaxy show high surface densities and enhanced turbulence, as is common for clouds in high-density nuclear environments. Like the young massive clusters, we find a maximum-mass scale for the molecular clouds which decreases radially in the galaxy. We find that the most young massive cluster tracks the most massive molecular cloud with the cluster mass being 10−2 times that of the most massive molecular cloud. Outside the nuclear region of M83 (Rg > 0.5 kpc), there is no evidence for changing internal conditions in the population of molecular clouds, with the average internal pressures, densities and free-fall times remaining constant for the cloud population over the galaxy. This result is consistent with the bound cluster formation efficiency depending only on the large-scale properties of the interstellar medium rather than the internal conditions of individual clouds
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