1. |
- Cheng, Yu, et al.
(author)
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Star Formation in a Strongly Magnetized Cloud
- 2021
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In: Astrophysical Journal. - : American Astronomical Society. - 1538-4357 .- 0004-637X. ; 916:2
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We study star formation in the Center Ridge 1 (CR1) clump in the Vela C giant molecular cloud, selected as a high column density region that shows the lowest level of dust continuum polarization-angle dispersion, likely indicating that the magnetic field is relatively strong. We observe the source with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array 7 m array at 1.05 and 1.3 mm wavelengths, which enable measurements of dust temperature, core mass, and astrochemical deuteration. A relatively modest number of 11 dense cores are identified via their dust continuum emission, with masses spanning from 0.17-6.7 M-circle dot. Overall CR1 has a relatively low compact dense gas fraction compared with other typical clouds with similar column densities, which may be a result of the strong magnetic field and/or the very early evolutionary stage of this region. The deuteration ratios, D-frac, of the cores, measured with N2H+(3-2) and N2D+(3-2) lines, span from 0.011-0.85, with the latter being one of the highest values yet detected. The level of deuteration appears to decrease with evolution from prestellar to protostellar phase. A linear filament, running approximately parallel with the large scale magnetic field orientation, is seen connecting the two most massive cores, each having CO bipolar outflows aligned orthogonally to the filament. The filament contains the most deuterated core, likely to be prestellar and located midway between the protostars. The observations permit measurement of the full deuteration structure of the filament along its length, which we present. We also discuss the kinematics and dynamics of this structure, as well as of the dense core population.
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2. |
- Cosentino, Giuliana, et al.
(author)
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Interstellar Plunging Waves: ALMA Resolves the Physical Structure of Nonstationary MHD Shocks
- 2019
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In: Astrophysical Journal Letters. - : American Astronomical Society. - 2041-8213 .- 2041-8205. ; 881:2
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) shocks are violent events that inject large amounts of energy in the interstellar medium dramatically modifying its physical properties and chemical composition. Indirect evidence for the presence of such shocks has been reported from the especial chemistry detected toward a variety of astrophysical shocked environments. However, the internal physical structure of these shocks remains unresolved since their expected spatial scales are too small to be measured with current instrumentation. Here we report the first detection of a fully spatially resolved, MHD shock toward the infrared dark cloud (IRDC) G034.77-00.55. The shock, probed by silicon monoxide (SiO) and observed with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), is associated with the collision between the dense molecular gas of the cloud and a molecular gas flow pushed toward the IRDC by the nearby supernova remnant (SNR) W44. The interaction is occurring on subparsec spatial scales thanks to the enhanced magnetic field of the SNR, making the dissipation region of the MHD shock large enough to be resolved with ALMA. Our observations suggest that molecular flow-flow collisions can be triggered by stellar feedback, inducing shocked molecular gas densities compatible with those required for massive star formation.
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3. |
- Hsu, Chia-Jung, 1991, et al.
(author)
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Deuterium Chemodynamics of Massive Pre-Stellar Cores
- 2021
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In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 502:1, s. 1104-1127
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- High levels of deuterium fractionation of $\rm N_2H^+$ (i.e., $\rm D_{frac}^{N_2H^+} = 0.1$) are often observed in pre-stellar cores (PSCs) and detection of $\rm N_2D^+$ is a promising method to identify elusive massive PSCs. However, the physical and chemical conditions required to reach such high levels of deuteration are still uncertain, as is the diagnostic utility of $\rm N_2H^+$ and $\rm N_2D^+$ observations of PSCs. We perform 3D magnetohydrodynamics simulations of a massive, turbulent, magnetised PSC, coupled with a sophisticated deuteration astrochemical network. Although the core has some magnetic/turbulent support, it collapses under gravity in about one freefall time, which marks the end of the simulations. Our fiducial model achieves relatively low $\rm D_{frac}^{N_2H^+} \sim0.002$ during this time. We then investigate effects of initial ortho-para ratio of $\rm H_2$ ($\rm OPR^{H_2}$), temperature, cosmic ray (CR) ionization rate, CO and N-species depletion factors and prior PSC chemical evolution. We find that high CR ionization rates and high depletion factors allow the simulated $\rm D_{frac}^{N_2H^+}$ and absolute abundances to match observational values within one freefall time. For $\rm OPR^{H_2}$, while a lower initial value helps the growth of $\rm D_{frac}^{N_2H^+}$, the spatial structure of deuteration is too widespread compared to observed systems. For an example model with elevated CR ionization rates and significant heavy element depletion, we then study the kinematic and dynamic properties of the core as traced by its $\rm N_2D^+$ emission. The core, undergoing quite rapid collapse, exhibits disturbed kinematics in its average velocity map. Still, because of magnetic support, the core often appears kinematically sub-virial based on its $\rm N_2D^+$ velocity dispersion.
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4. |
- Jimenez-Serra, I., et al.
(author)
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The Complex Organic Molecular Content in the L1498 Starless Core
- 2021
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In: Astrophysical Journal. - : American Astronomical Society. - 1538-4357 .- 0004-637X. ; 917:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Observations carried out toward starless and prestellar cores have revealed that complex organic molecules are prevalent in these objects, but it is unclear what chemical processes are involved in their formation. Recently, it has been shown that complex organics are preferentially produced at an intermediate-density shell within the L1544 prestellar core at radial distances of similar to 4000 au with respect to the core center. However, the spatial distribution of complex organics has only been inferred toward this core, and it remains unknown whether these species present a similar behavior in other cores. We report high-sensitivity observations carried out toward two positions in the L1498 starless core, the dust peak and a position located at a distance of similar to 11,000 au from the center of the core where the emission of CH3OH peaks. Similarly to L1544, our observations reveal that small O-bearing molecules and N-bearing species are enhanced by factors of similar to 4-14 toward the outer shell of L1498. However, unlike L1544, large O-bearing organics such as CH3CHO, CH3OCH3, or CH3OCHO are not detected within our sensitivity limits. For N-bearing organics, these species are more abundant toward the outer shell of the L1498 starless core than toward the one in L1544. We propose that the differences observed between O-bearing and N-bearing species in L1498 and L1544 are due to the different physical structure of these cores, which in turn is a consequence of their evolutionary stage, with L1498 being younger than L1544.
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5. |
- Kong, Shuo, et al.
(author)
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Widespread Molecular Outflows in the Infrared Dark Cloud G28.37+0.07: Indications of Orthogonal Outflow-filament Alignment
- 2019
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In: Astrophysical Journal. - : American Astronomical Society. - 1538-4357 .- 0004-637X. ; 874:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We present ALMA CO(2-1) observations toward a massive infrared dark cloud G28.37+0.07. The ALMA data reveal numerous molecular (CO) outflows with a wide range of sizes throughout the cloud. Sixty-two 1.3 mm continuum cores were identified to be driving molecular outflows. We have determined the position angle in the plane-of-sky of 120 CO outflow lobes and studied their distribution. We find that the distribution of the plane-of-sky outflow position angles peaks at about 100 degrees, corresponding to a concentration of outflows with an approximately east-west direction. For most outflows, we have been able to estimate the plane-of-sky angle between the outflow axis and the filament that harbors the protostar that powers the outflow. Statistical tests strongly indicate that the distribution of outflow-filament orientations is consistent with most outflow axes being mostly orthogonal to their parent filament in three dimensions. Such alignment may result from filament fragmentation or continuous mass transportation from the filament to the embedded protostellar core. The latter is suggested by recent numerical studies with moderately strong magnetic fields.
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6. |
- Liu, Mengyao, et al.
(author)
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SiO Outflows as Tracers of Massive Star Formation in Infrared Dark Clouds
- 2021
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In: Astrophysical Journal. - : American Astronomical Society. - 1538-4357 .- 0004-637X. ; 921:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- To study the early phases of massive star formation, we present ALMA observations of SiO(5-4) emission and VLA observations of 6 cm continuum emission toward 32 Infrared Dark Cloud clumps, spatially resolved down to less than or similar to 0.05 pc. Out of the 32 clumps, we detect SiO emission in 20 clumps, and in 11 of them the SiO emission is relatively strong and likely tracing protostellar outflows. Some SiO outflows are collimated, while others are less ordered. For the six strongest SiO outflows, we estimate basic outflow properties. In our entire sample, where there is SiO emission, we find 1.3 mm continuum and infrared emission nearby, but not vice versa. We build the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of cores with 1.3 mm continuum emission and fit them with radiative transfer models. The low luminosities and stellar masses returned by SED fitting suggest these are early-stage protostars. We see a slight trend of increasing SiO line luminosity with bolometric luminosity, which suggests more powerful shocks in the vicinity of more massive YSOs. We do not see a clear relation between the SiO luminosity and the evolutionary stage indicated by L/M. We conclude that, as a protostar approaches a bolometric luminosity of similar to 10(2) L (circle dot), the shocks in the outflow are generally strong enough to form SiO emission. The VLA 6 cm observations toward the 15 clumps with the strongest SiO emission detect emission in four clumps, which is likely from shock-ionized jets associated with the more massive ones of these protostellar cores.
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7. |
- Taniguchi, KotomiFF, et al.
(author)
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Carbon Chain Chemistry in Hot-core Regions around Three Massive Young Stellar Objects Associated with 6.7 GHz Methanol Masers
- 2021
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In: Astrophysical Journal. - : American Astronomical Society. - 1538-4357 .- 0004-637X. ; 908:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We have carried out observations of CCH (N = 1 - 0), CH3CN (J = 5 - 4), and three C-13 isotopologues of HC3N (J = 10 - 9) toward three massive young stellar objects (MYSOs), G12.89+0.49, G16.86-2.16, and G28.28-0.36, with the Nobeyama 45 m radio telescope. Combined with previous results on HC5N, the column density ratios of N(CCH)/N(HC5N), hereafter the CCH/HC5N ratios, in the MYSOs are derived to be similar to 15. This value is lower than that in a low-mass warm carbon chain chemistry (WCCC) source by more than one order of magnitude. We compare the observed CCH/HC5N ratios with hot-core model calculations. The observed ratios in the MYSOs can be best reproduced by models when the gas temperature is similar to 85 K, which is higher than in L1527, a low-mass WCCC source (similar to 35 K). These results suggest that carbon-chain molecules detected around the MYSOs exist at least partially in higher temperature regions than those in low-mass WCCC sources. There is no significant difference in column density among the three C-13 isotopologues of HC3N in G12.89+0.49 and G16.86-2.16, while (HCCCN)-C-13 is more abundant than the others in G28.28-0.36. We discuss carbon-chain chemistry around the three MYSOs based on the CCH/HC5N ratio and the C-13 isotopic fractionation of HC3N.
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8. |
- Taniguchi, Kotomi, et al.
(author)
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Chemical Differentiation around Five Massive Protostars Revealed by ALMA: Carbon-chain Species and Oxygen/Nitrogen-bearing Complex Organic Molecules
- 2023
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In: Astrophysical Journal, Supplement Series. - 1538-4365 .- 0067-0049. ; 267:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We present Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array Band 3 data toward five massive young stellar objects (MYSOs), and investigate relationships between unsaturated carbon-chain species and saturated complex organic molecules (COMs). An HC5N (J = 35-34) line has been detected from three MYSOs, where nitrogen (N)-bearing COMs (CH2CHCN and CH3CH2CN) have been detected. The HC5N spatial distributions show compact features and match with a methanol (CH3OH) line with an upper-state energy around 300 K, which should trace hot cores. The hot regions are more extended around the MYSOs where N-bearing COMs and HC5N have been detected compared to two MYSOs without these molecular lines, while there are no clear differences in the bolometric luminosity and temperature. We run chemical simulations of hot-core models with a warm-up stage, and compare with the observational results. The observed abundances of HC5N and COMs show good agreements with the model at the hot-core stage with temperatures above 160 K. These results indicate that carbon-chain chemistry around the MYSOs cannot be reproduced by warm carbon-chain chemistry, and a new type of carbon-chain chemistry occurs in hot regions around MYSOs.
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