305 research outputs found
A Case Study of Triggered Star Formation in Cygnus X
Radiative feedback from massive stars can potentially trigger star formation
in the surrounding molecular gas. Inspired by the case of radiatively driven
implosion in M16 or Eagle Nebula, we analyze a similar case of star formation
observed in the Cygnus X region. We present new JCMT observations of
CO(3-2) and CO(3-2) molecular lines of a cometary feature located
at 50 pc north of the Cyg OB2 complex that was previously identified in
CO(3-2) mapping. These data are combined with archival H,
infrared, and radio continuum emission data, from which we measure the mass to
be 110 M. We identify Cyg OB2 as the ionizing source. We measure the
properties of two highly energetic molecular outflows and the photoionized rim.
From this analysis, we argue the external gas pressure and gravitational energy
dominate the internal pressure. The force balance along with previous
simulation results and a close comparison with the case of Eagle Nebula favours
a triggering scenario
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