Pillars of creation amongst destruction: Star formation in molecular clouds near R136 in 30 Doradus

Abstract

New sensitive CO(2-1) observations of the 30 Doradus region in the Large Magellanic Cloud are presented. We identify a chain of three newly discovered molecular clouds we name KN1, KN2 and KN3 lying within 2--14 pc in projection from the young massive cluster R136 in 30 Doradus. Excited H$_2$ 2.12$\mu$m emission is spatially coincident with the molecular clouds, but ionized Br$\gamma$ emission is not. We interpret these observations as the tails of pillar-like structures whose ionized heads are pointing towards R136. Based on infrared photometry, we identify a new generation of stars forming within this structure.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ (includes 13 pages, 8 figures). For higher resolution figures please see http://www.das.uchile.cl/~vkalari/staplervk.pd