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- Duarte-Cabral, A., et al.
(author)
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The SEDIGISM survey: Molecular clouds in the inner Galaxy
- 2021
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In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 500:3, s. 3027-3049
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We use the 13CO(2-1) emission from the SEDIGISM (Structure, Excitation, and Dynamics of the Inner Galactic InterStellar Medium) high-resolution spectral-line survey of the inner Galaxy, to extract the molecular cloud population with a large dynamic range in spatial scales, using the Spectral Clustering for Interstellar Molecular Emission Segmentation (SCIMES) algorithm. This work compiles a cloud catalogue with a total of 10 663 molecular clouds, 10 300 of which we were able to assign distances and compute physical properties. We study some of the global properties of clouds using a science sample, consisting of 6664 well-resolved sources and for which the distance estimates are reliable. In particular, we compare the scaling relations retrieved from SEDIGISM to those of other surveys, and we explore the properties of clouds with and without high-mass star formation. Our results suggest that there is no single global property of a cloud that determines its ability to form massive stars, although we find combined trends of increasing mass, size, surface density, and velocity dispersion for the sub-sample of clouds with ongoing high-mass star formation. We then isolate the most extreme clouds in the SEDIGISM sample (i.e. clouds in the tails of the distributions) to look at their overall Galactic distribution, in search for hints of environmental effects. We find that, for most properties, the Galactic distribution of the most extreme clouds is only marginally different to that of the global cloud population. The Galactic distribution of the largest clouds, the turbulent clouds and the high-mass star-forming clouds are those that deviate most significantly from the global cloud population. We also find that the least dynamically active clouds (with low velocity dispersion or low virial parameter) are situated further afield, mostly in the least populated areas. However, we suspect that part of these trends may be affected by some observational biases (such as completeness and survey limitations), and thus require further follow up work in order to be confirmed.
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2. |
- Schuller, F., et al.
(author)
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The SEDIGISM survey: First Data Release and overview of the Galactic structure
- 2021
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In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 500:3, s. 3064-3082
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The SEDIGISM (Structure, Excitation and Dynamics of the Inner Galactic InterstellarMedium) survey used the APEX telescope to map 84 deg(2) of the Galactic plane between l = -60 degrees and +31 degrees in several molecular transitions, including (CO)-C-13(2 - 1) and (CO)-O-18(2 - 1), thus probing the moderately dense (similar to 10(3) cm(-3)) component of the interstellar medium. With an angular resolution of 30 arcsec and a typical 1 sigma sensitivity of 0.8-1.0K at 0.25 km s(-1) velocity resolution, it gives access to a wide range of structures, from individual star-forming clumps to giant molecular clouds and complexes. The coverage includes a good fraction of the first and fourth Galactic quadrants, allowing us to constrain the large-scale distribution of cold molecular gas in the inner Galaxy. In this paper, we provide an updated overview of the full survey and the data reduction procedures used. We also assess the quality of these data and describe the data products that are being made publicly available as part of this First Data Release (DR1). We present integrated maps and position-velocity maps of the molecular gas and use these to investigate the correlation between the molecular gas and the large-scale structural features of the Milky Way such as the spiral arms, Galactic bar and Galactic Centre. We find that approximately 60 per cent of the molecular gas is associated with the spiral arms and these appear as strong intensity peaks in the derived Galactocentric distribution. We also find strong peaks in intensity at specific longitudes that correspond to the Galactic Centre and well-known star-forming complexes, revealing that the 13CO emission is concentrated in a small number of complexes rather than evenly distributed along spiral arms.
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3. |
- Mills, E. A. C., et al.
(author)
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Clustered Star Formation in the Center of NGC 253 Contributes to Driving the Ionized Nuclear Wind
- 2021
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In: Astrophysical Journal. - : American Astronomical Society. - 1538-4357 .- 0004-637X. ; 919:2
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We present new 3 mm observations of the ionized gas toward the nuclear starburst in the nearby (D similar to 3.5 Mpc) galaxy NGC 253. With ALMA, we detect emission from the H40 alpha and He40 alpha lines in the central 200 pc of this galaxy on spatial scales of similar to 4 pc. The recombination line emission primarily originates from a population of approximately a dozen embedded super star clusters in the early stages of formation. We find that emission from these clusters is characterized by electron temperatures ranging from 7000 to 10,000 K and measures an average singly ionized helium abundance Y (+) = 0.25 +/- 0.06, both of which are consistent with values measured for H ii regions in the center of the Milky Way. We also report the discovery of unusually broad line width recombination line emission originating from seven of the embedded clusters. We suggest that these clusters contribute to the launching of the large-scale hot wind observed to emanate from the central starburst. Finally, we use the measured recombination line fluxes to improve the characterization of overall embedded cluster properties, including the distribution of cluster masses and the fractional contribution of the clustered star formation to the total starburst, which we estimate is at least 50%.
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- Henshaw, Jonathan D., et al.
(author)
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Ubiquitous velocity fluctuations throughout the molecular interstellar medium
- 2020
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In: Nature Astronomy. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2397-3366. ; 4:11, s. 1064-1071
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The density structure of the interstellar medium determines where stars form and release energy, momentum and heavy elements, driving galaxy evolution1–4. Density variations are seeded and amplified by gas motion, but the exact nature of this motion is unknown across spatial scales and galactic environments5. Although dense star-forming gas probably emerges from a combination of instabilities6,7, convergent flows8 and turbulence9, establishing the precise origin is challenging because it requires gas motion to be quantified over many orders of magnitude in spatial scale. Here we measure10–12 the motion of molecular gas in the Milky Way and in nearby galaxy NGC 4321, assembling observations that span a spatial dynamic range 10−1–103 pc. We detect ubiquitous velocity fluctuations across all spatial scales and galactic environments. Statistical analysis of these fluctuations indicates how star-forming gas is assembled. We discover oscillatory gas flows with wavelengths ranging from 0.3–400 pc. These flows are coupled to regularly spaced density enhancements that probably form via gravitational instabilities13,14. We also identify stochastic and scale-free velocity and density fluctuations, consistent with the structure generated in turbulent flows9. Our results demonstrate that the structure of the interstellar medium cannot be considered in isolation. Instead, its formation and evolution are controlled by nested, interdependent flows of matter covering many orders of magnitude in spatial scale.
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6. |
- Stanke, T., et al.
(author)
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The APEX Large CO Heterodyne Orion Legacy Survey (ALCOHOLS): I. Survey overview
- 2022
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In: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 658
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Context. The Orion molecular cloud complex harbours the nearest Giant Molecular Clouds (GMCs) and the nearest site of high-mass star formation. Its young star and protostar populations are thoroughly characterized. The region is therefore a prime target for the study of star formation. Aims. Here, we verify the performance of the SuperCAM 64 pixel heterodyne array on the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX). We give a descriptive overview of a set of wide-field CO(32) spectral line cubes obtained towards the Orion GMC complex, aimed at characterizing the dynamics and structure of the extended molecular gas in diverse regions of the clouds, ranging from very active sites of clustered star formation in Orion B to comparatively quiet regions in southern Orion A. In a future publication, we will characterize the full population of protostellar outflows and their feedback over an entire GMC. Methods. We present a 2.7 square degree (130 pc2) mapping survey in the 12CO(32) transition, obtained using SuperCAM on APEX at an angular resolution of 19 (7600 AU or 0.037 pc at a distance of 400 pc), covering the main sites of star formation in the Orion B cloud (L 1622, NGC 2071, NGC 2068, Ori B9, NGC 2024, and NGC 2023), and a large patch in the southern part of the L 1641 cloud in Orion A. Results. We describe CO integrated line emission and line moment maps and position-velocity diagrams for all survey fields and discuss a few sub-regions in some detail. Evidence for expanding bubbles is seen with lines splitting into double components, often in areas of optical nebulosities, most prominently in the NGC 2024 H II region, where we argue that the bulk of the molecular gas is in the foreground of the H II region. High CO(32)/CO(10) line ratios reveal warm CO along the western edge of the Orion B cloud in the NGC 2023 & NGC 2024 region facing the IC 434 H II region. We see multiple, well separated radial velocity cloud components towards several fields and propose that L 1641-S consists of a sequence of clouds at increasingly larger distances. We find a small, seemingly spherical cloud, which we term Cow Nebula globule, north of NGC 2071. We confirm that we can trace high velocity line wings out to the extremely high velocity regime in protostellar molecular outflows for the NGC 2071-IR outflow and the NGC 2024 CO jet, and identify the protostellar dust core FIR4 (rather than FIR5) as the true driving source of the NGC 2024 monopolar outflow.
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7. |
- Emig, Kimberly L., et al.
(author)
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Super Star Clusters in the Central Starburst of NGC 4945
- 2020
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In: Astrophysical Journal. - : American Astronomical Society. - 1538-4357 .- 0004-637X. ; 903:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The nearby (3.8Mpc) galaxy NGC 4945 hosts a nuclear starburst and Seyfert type 2 active galactic nucleus (AGN). We use the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to image the 93 GHz (3.2 mm) free-free continuum and hydrogen recombination line emission (H40 alpha and H42 alpha) at 2.2 pc (0 12) resolution. Our observations reveal 27 bright, compact sources with FWHM sizes of 1.4-4.0 pc, which we identify as candidate super star clusters. Recombination line emission, tracing the ionizing photon rate of the candidate clusters, is detected in 15 sources, six of which have a significant synchrotron component to the 93 GHz continuum. Adopting an age of similar to 5Myr, the stellar masses implied by the ionizing photon luminosities are log(10) (M*/M-circle dot) approximate to 4.7-6.1. We fit a slope to the cluster mass distribution and find beta = -1.8 +/-.0.4. The gas masses associated with these clusters, derived from the dust continuum at 350 GHz, are typically an order of magnitude lower than the stellar mass. These candidate clusters appear to have already converted a large fraction of their dense natal material into stars and, given their small freefall times of similar to 0.05 Myr, are surviving an early volatile phase. We identify a pointlike source in 93 GHz continuum emission that is presumed to be the AGN. We do not detect recombination line emission from the AGN and place an upper limit on the ionizing photons that leak into the starburst region of Q(0).<.10(52) s(-1).
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8. |
- Pandhi, A., et al.
(author)
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Alignment of dense molecular core morphology and velocity gradients with ambient magnetic fields
- 2023
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In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 525:1, s. 364-392
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Studies of dense core morphologies and their orientations with respect to gas flows and the local magnetic field have been limited to only a small sample of cores with spectroscopic data. Leveraging the Green Bank Ammonia Survey alongside existing sub-millimeter continuum observations and Planck dust polarization, we produce a cross-matched catalogue of 399 dense cores with estimates of core morphology, size, mass, specific angular momentum, and magnetic field orientation. Of the 399 cores, 329 exhibit 2D v(LSR) maps that are well fit with a linear gradient, consistent with rotation projected on the sky. We find a best-fit specific angular momentum and core size relationship of J/M & PROP; R-1.82 & PLUSMN; 0.10, suggesting that core velocity gradients originate from a combination of solid body rotation and turbulent motions. Most cores have no preferred orientation between the axis of core elongation, velocity gradient direction, and the ambient magnetic field orientation, favouring a triaxial and weakly magnetized origin. We find, however, strong evidence for a preferred anti-alignment between the core elongation axis and magnetic field for protostellar cores, revealing a change in orientation from starless and prestellar populations that may result from gravitational contraction in a magnetically-regulated (but not dominant) environment. We also find marginal evidence for anti-alignment between the core velocity gradient and magnetic field orientation in the L1228 and L1251 regions of Cepheus, suggesting a preferred orientation with respect to magnetic fields may be more prevalent in regions with locally ordered fields.
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- Cervin, Matti, et al.
(author)
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The p Factor Consistently Predicts Long-Term Psychiatric and Functional Outcomes in Anxiety-Disordered Youth
- 2021
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In: Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. - : Elsevier BV. - 0890-8567. ; 60:7, s. 902-912
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- ObjectivePediatric anxiety disorders can have a chronic course and are considered gateway disorders to adult psychopathology, but no consistent predictors of long-term outcome have been identified. A single latent symptom dimension that reflects features shared by all mental health disorders, the p factor, is thought to reflect mechanisms that cut across mental disorders. Whether p predicts outcome in youth with psychiatric disorders has not been examined. We tested whether the p factor predicted long-term psychiatric and functional outcomes in a large naturalistically followed-up cohort of anxiety-disordered youth.MethodYouth enrolled in a randomized controlled treatment trial of pediatric anxiety during childhood/adolescence were followed-up on average six years posttreatment and then annually for four years. Structural equation modeling was used to estimate p at baseline. p and previously established predictors were modeled as predictors of long-term outcome.ResultsHigher levels of p at baseline were related to more mental health disorders, poorer functioning, and greater impairment across all measures at all follow-up time points. p predicted outcome above and beyond previously identified predictors, including diagnostic comorbidity at baseline. Post hoc analyses showed that p predicted long-term anxiety outcomes, but not acute treatment outcome, suggesting that p may be uniquely associated with long-term outcome.ConclusionYouth with anxiety disorders who present with a liability towards broad mental health problems may be at a higher risk for poor long-term outcome across mental health and functional domains. Efforts to assess and address this broad liability may enhance long-term outcome.
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