449 research outputs found
Massive Infrared-Quiet Dense Cores: Unveiling the Initial Conditions of High-Mass Star Formation
As Pr. Th. Henning said at the conference, cold precursors of high-mass stars
are now "hot topics". We here propose some observational criteria to identify
massive infrared-quiet dense cores which can host the high-mass analogs of
Class 0 protostars and pre-stellar condensations. We also show how far-infrared
to millimeter imaging surveys of entire complexes forming OB stars are starting
to unveil the initial conditions of high-mass star formation
Submillimeter spectroscopy of interstellar hydrides
We discuss airborne observations of rotational transitions
of various hydride molecules in the interstellar medium, including H_2^(18)O
and HCI. The detection of these transitions is now feasible with a new,
sensitive submillimeter receiver which has been developed for the NASA
Kuiper Airborne Observatory (KAO) over the past several years
A Direct Measurement of the Total Gas Column Density in Orion KL
The large number of high-J lines of C^(18)O available via the Herschel Space Observatory provide an unprecedented ability to model the total CO column density in hot cores. Using the emission from all the observed lines (up to J = 15-14), we sum the column densities in each individual level to obtain the total column after correcting for the population in the unobserved states. With additional knowledge of source size, V_(LSR), and line width, and both local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) and non-LTE modeling, we have determined the total C^(18)O column densities in the Extended Ridge, Outflow/Plateau, Compact Ridge, and Hot Core components of Orion KL to be 1.4 × 10^(16) cm^(–2), 3.5 × 10^(16) cm^(–2), 2.2 × 10^(16) cm^(–2), and 6.2 × 10^(16) cm^(–2), respectively. We also find that the C^(18)O/C^(17)O abundance ratio varies from 1.7 in the Outflow/Plateau, 2.3 in the Extended Ridge, 3.0 in the Hot Core, and to 4.1 in the Compact Ridge. This is in agreement with models in which regions with higher ultraviolet radiation fields selectively dissociate C^(17)O, although care must be taken when interpreting these numbers due to the size of the uncertainties in the C^(18)O/C^(17)O abundance ratio
Hydrogen Isocyanide in Comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann (Fragment B)
We present a sensitive 3-sigma upper limit of 1.1% for the HNC/HCN abundance
ratio in comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann (Fragment B), obtained on May 10-11,
2006 using Caltech Submillimeter Observatory (CSO). This limit is a factor of
~7 lower than the values measured previously in moderately active comets at 1
AU from the Sun. Comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann was depleted in most volatile
species, except of HCN. The low HNC/HCN ratio thus argues against HNC
production from polymers produced from HCN. However, thermal degradation of
macromolecules, or polymers, produced from ammonia and carbon compounds, such
as acetylene, methane, or ethane appears a plausible explanation for the
observed variations of the HNC/HCN ratio in moderately active comets, including
the very low ratio in comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann reported here. Similar
polymers have been invoked previously to explain anomalous 14N/15N ratios
measured in cometary CN.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, 2 table
Large scale IRAM 30m CO-observations in the giant molecular cloud complex W43
We aim to give a full description of the distribution and location of dense
molecular clouds in the giant molecular cloud complex W43. It has previously
been identified as one of the most massive star-forming regions in our Galaxy.
To trace the moderately dense molecular clouds in the W43 region, we initiated
an IRAM 30m large program, named W43-HERO, covering a large dynamic range of
scales (from 0.3 to 140 pc). We obtained on-the-fly-maps in 13CO (2-1) and C18O
(2-1) with a high spectral resolution of 0.1 km/s and a spatial resolution of
12". These maps cover an area of ~1.5 square degrees and include the two main
clouds of W43, as well as the lower density gas surrounding them. A comparison
with Galactic models and previous distance calculations confirms the location
of W43 near the tangential point of the Scutum arm at a distance from the Sun
of approximately 6 kpc. The resulting intensity cubes of the observed region
are separated into sub-cubes, centered on single clouds which are then analyzed
in detail. The optical depth, excitation temperature, and H2 column density
maps are derived out of the 13CO and C18O data. These results are then compared
with those derived from Herschel dust maps. The mass of a typical cloud is
several 10^4 solar masses while the total mass in the dense molecular gas (>100
cm^-3) in W43 is found to be about 1.9e6 solar masses. Probability distribution
functions obtained from column density maps derived from molecular line data
and Herschel imaging show a log-normal distribution for low column densities
and a power-law tail for high densities. A flatter slope for the molecular line
data PDF may imply that those selectively show the gravitationally collapsing
gas
Herschel observations of interstellar chloronium. II - Detections toward G29.96-0.02, W49N, W51, and W3(OH), and determinations of the ortho-to-para and Cl/Cl isotopic ratios
We report additional detections of the chloronium molecular ion, HCl,
toward four bright submillimeter continuum sources: G29.96, W49N, W51, and
W3(OH). With the use of the HIFI instrument on the Herschel Space Observatory,
we observed the transition of ortho-HCl at 781.627
GHz in absorption toward all four sources. Much of the detected absorption
arises in diffuse foreground clouds that are unassociated with the background
continuum sources and in which our best estimates of the ratio lie in the range .
These chloronium abundances relative to atomic hydrogen can exceed the
predictions of current astrochemical models by up to a factor of 5. Toward
W49N, we have also detected the transition of
ortho-HCl at 780.053 GHz and the transition of
para-HCl at 485.418 GHz. These observations imply column density ratios that are consistent with the
solar system Cl/Cl isotopic ratio of 3.1, and chloronium
ortho-to-para ratios consistent with 3, the ratio of spin statistical weights.Comment: 31 pages, including 7 figures. Accepted for publication in the Ap
The W43-MM1 mini-starburst ridge, a test for star formation efficiency models
Context: Star formation efficiency (SFE) theories are currently based on
statistical distributions of turbulent cloud structures and a simple model of
star formation from cores. They remain poorly tested, especially at the highest
densities. Aims: We investigate the effects of gas density on the SFE through
measurements of the core formation efficiency (CFE). With a total mass of
M, the W43-MM1 ridge is one of the most convincing
candidate precursor of starburst clusters and thus one of the best place to
investigate star formation. Methods: We used high-angular resolution maps
obtained at 3 mm and 1 mm within W43-MM1 with the IRAM Plateau de Bure
Interferometer to reveal a cluster of 11 massive dense cores (MDCs), and, one
of the most massive protostellar cores known. An Herschel column density image
provided the mass distribution of the cloud gas. We then measured the
'instantaneous' CFE and estimated the SFE and the star formation rate (SFR)
within subregions of the W43-MM1 ridge. Results: The high SFE found in the
ridge (6% enclosed in 8 pc) confirms its ability to form a
starburst cluster. There is however a clear lack of dense cores in the northern
part of the ridge, which may be currently assembling. The CFE and the SFE are
observed to increase with volume gas density while the SFR steeply decreases
with the virial parameter, . Statistical models of the SFR may
well describe the outskirts of the W43-MM1 ridge but struggle to reproduce its
inner part, which corresponds to measurements at low . It may be
that ridges do not follow the log-normal density distribution, Larson
relations, and stationary conditions forced in the statistical SFR models.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures. Accepted by A&
Physical and chemical conditions in methanol maser selected hot-cores and UCHII regions
We present the results of a targeted 3-mm spectral line survey towards the
eighty-three 6.67 GHz methanol maser selected star forming clumps observed by
Purcell et al. 2006. In addition to the previously reported measurements of
HCO+ (1 - 0), H13CO+ (1 - 0), and CH3CN (5 - 4) & (6 -5), we used the Mopra
antenna to detect emission lines of N2H+ (1 - 0), HCN (1 - 0) and HNC (1 - 0)
towards 82/83 clumps (99 per cent), and CH3OH (2 - 1) towards 78/83 clumps (94
per cent). The molecular line data have been used to derive virial and LTE
masses, rotational temperatures and chemical abundances in the clumps, and
these properties have been compared between sub-samples associated with
different indicators of evolution. The greatest differences are found between
clumps associated with 8.6 GHz radio emission, indicating the presence of an
Ultra-Compact HII region, and `isolated' masers (without associated radio
emission), and between clumps exhibiting CH3CN emission and those without. In
particular, thermal CH3OH is found to be brighter and more abundant in
Ultra-Compact HII (UCHII) regions and in sources with detected CH3CN, and may
constitute a crude molecular clock in single dish observations. Clumps
associated with 8.6 GHz radio emission tend to be more massive and more
luminous than clumps without radio emission. This is likely because the most
massive clumps evolve so rapidly that a Hyper-Compact HII or UCHII region is
the first visible tracer of star-formation. The gas-mass to sub-mm/IR
luminosity relation for the combined sample was found to be L proportional to
M**0.68, considerably shallower than expected for massive main-sequence stars
Discovery of Interstellar Hydrogen Fluoride
We report the first detection of interstellar hydrogen fluoride. Using the
Long Wavelength Spectrometer (LWS) of the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO), we
have detected the 121.6973 micron J = 2 - 1 line of HF in absorption toward the
far-infrared continuum source Sagittarius B2. The detection is statistically
significant at the 13 sigma level. On the basis of our model for the excitation
of HF in Sgr B2, the observed line equivalent width of 1.0 nm implies a
hydrogen fluoride abundance of 3E-10 relative to H2. If the elemental abundance
of fluorine in Sgr B2 is the same as that in the solar system, then HF accounts
for ~ 2% of the total number of fluorine nuclei. We expect hydrogen fluoride to
be the dominant reservoir of gas-phase fluorine in Sgr B2, because it is formed
rapidly in exothermic reactions of atomic fluorine with either water or
molecular hydrogen; thus the measured HF abundance suggests a substantial
depletion of fluorine onto dust grains. Similar conclusions regarding depletion
have previously been reached for the case of chlorine in dense interstellar
clouds. We also find evidence at a lower level of statistical significance (~ 5
sigma) for an emission feature at the expected position of the 4(3,2)-4(2,3)
121.7219 micron line of water. The emission line equivalent width of 0.5 nm for
the water feature is consistent with the water abundance of 5E-6 relative to H2
that has been inferred previously from observations of the hot core of Sgr B2.Comment: 11 pages (AASTeX using aaspp4.sty) plus 2 figures; to appear in ApJ
Letter
Coupling the dynamics and the molecular chemistry in the Galactic center
The physical conditions of the Galactic center (GC) clouds moving with
non-circular velocities are not well-known. We have studied the physical
conditions of these clouds with the aim of better understanding the origin of
the outstanding physical conditions of the GC molecular gas and the possible
effect of the large scale dynamics on these physical conditions.Using published
CO(1-0) data, we have selected a set of clouds belonging to all the kinematical
components seen in the longitude-velocity diagram of the GC. We have done a
survey of dense gas in all the components using the J=2-1 lines of CS and SiO
as tracers of high density gas and shock chemistry. We have detected CS and SiO
emission in all the kinematical components. The gas density and the SiO
abundance of the clouds in non-circular orbits are similar those in the nuclear
ring (GCR). Therefore, in all the kinematical components there are dense clouds
that can withstand the tidal shear. However, there is no evidence of star
formation outside the GCR. The high relative velocity and shear expected in the
dust-lanes along the bar major axis could inhibit the star formation process,
as observed in other galaxies. The high SiO abundances derived in the
non-circular velocity clouds are likely due to the large-scale shocks that
created the dust lanesComment: One figure as an independent PDF file. Accepted by A&
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