Subscribe to the gold package and get unlimited access to Shamra Academy
Register a new userThe ATLASGAL survey: a catalog of dust condensations in the Galactic plane
160
0
0.0
(
0
)
Ask ChatGPT about the research
No Arabic abstract
The formation processes and the evolutionary stages of high-mass stars are poorly understood compared to low-mass stars. Large-scale surveys are needed to provide an unbiased census of high column density sites which can potentially host precursors to high-mass stars. Here we use the ATLASGAL survey covering 420 sq. degree of the Galactic plane at 870 $mu$m; and use the MRE-GLC method to identify the population of embedded sources throughout the inner Galaxy. We identify in total 10861 compact sub-millimeter sources with fluxes above 5 sigma. Completeness tests show that our catalogue is 97% complete above 5 sigma and >99% complete above 7$sigma$. We correlate this sample with mid-infrared point source catalogues (MSX at 21.3 $mu$m and WISE at 22 $mu$m) and determine a lower limit of ~33% that are associated with embedded protostellar objects. We note that the proportion of clumps associated with mid-infrared sources increases with increasing flux density, achieving a rather constant fraction of ~75% of all clumps with fluxes over 5 Jy/beam being associated with star-formation. Examining the source counts as a function of Galactic longitude we are able to identify the most prominent star forming regions in the Galaxy. From the fraction of the likely massive quiescent clumps (~25%) we estimate a formation time-scale of ~7.5+/-2.5 $times$ 10$^4$yr for the deeply embedded phase before the emergence of luminous YSOs. Such a short duration for the formation of high-mass stars in massive clumps clearly proves that the earliest phases have to be dynamic with supersonic motions.
rate research
Read More
Sensitive ground-based submillimeter surveys, such as ATLASGAL, provide a global view on the distribution of cold dense gas in the Galactic plane. Here we use the 353 GHz maps from the Planck/HFI instrument to complement the ground-based APEX/LABOCA observations with information on larger angular scales. The resulting maps reveal the distribution of cold dust in the inner Galaxy with a larger spatial dynamic range. We find examples of elongated structures extending over angular scales of 0.5 degree. Corresponding to >30 pc structures in projection at a distance of 3 kpc, these dust lanes are very extended and show large aspect ratios. Furthermore, we assess the fraction of dense gas ($f_{rm DG}$), and estimate 2-5% (above A$_{rm{v}}>$7 mag) on average in the Galactic plane. PDFs of the column density reveal the typically observed log-normal distribution for low- and exhibit an excess at high column densities. As a reference for extragalactic studies, we show the line-of-sight integrated N-PDF of the inner Galaxy, and derive a contribution of this excess to the total column density of $sim2.2$%, above $N_{rm H_2} = 2.92times10^{22}$ cm$^{-2}$. Taking the total flux density, we provide an independent estimate of the mass of molecular gas in the inner Galaxy of $sim1times10^9,M_{odot}$, which is consistent with previous estimates using CO emission. From the mass and $f_{rm DG}$ we estimate a Galactic SFR of $dot M = 1.3,M_{odot}$ yr$^{-1}$. While the distribution of diffuse gas is homogenous in the inner Galaxy, the CMZ stands out with a higher dense gas fraction. The low star formation efficiency of the Milky Way is well explained by the low $f_{rm DG}$ in the Galactic ISM, while the high $f_{rm DG}$ towards the CMZ, despite its low star formation activity, suggests that, in that particular region of our Galaxy, high-density gas is not the bottleneck for star formation.
The initial conditions of molecular clumps in which high-mass stars form are poorly understood. In particular, a more detailed study of the earliest evolutionary phases is needed. The APEX Telescope Large Area Survey of the whole inner Galactic disk at 870 micron, ATLASGAL, has been conducted to discover high-mass star-forming regions at different evolutionary phases. Using the Parkes telescope, we observed the NH3 (1,1) to (3,3) inversion transitions towards 354 ATLASGAL clumps in the fourth quadrant. For a subsample of 289 sources, the N2H+ (1-0) line was measured with the Mopra telescope. We measured a median NH3(1,1) line width of about 2 km/s and rotational temperatures from 12 to 28 K with a mean of 18 K. For a subsample with detected NH3 (2,2) hyperfine components, we found that the commonly used method to compute the (2,2) optical depth from the (1,1) optical depth and the (2,2) to (1,1) main beam brightness temperature ratio leads to an underestimation of the rotational temperature and column density. A larger median virial parameter of about 1 is determined using the broader N2H+ line width than is estimated from the NH3 line width of about 0.5 with a general trend of a decreasing virial parameter with increasing gas mass. We found a warmer surrounding of ATLASGAL clumps than the surrounding of low-mass cores and smaller velocity dispersions in low-mass than high-mass star-forming regions. The NH3 (1,1) inversion transition of 49% of the sources shows hyperfine structure anomalies. The intensity ratio of the outer hyperfine structure lines with a median of 1.27+/-0.03 and a standard deviation of 0.45 is significantly higher than 1, while the intensity ratios of the inner satellites with a median of 0.9+/-0.02 and standard deviation of 0.3 and the sum of the inner and outer hyperfine components with a median of 1.06+/-0.02 and standard deviation of 0.37 are closer to 1.
We present a catalog of 8358 sources extracted from images produced by the Bolocam Galactic Plane Survey (BGPS). The BGPS is a survey of the millimeter dust continuum emission from the northern Galactic plane. The catalog sources are extracted using a custom algorithm, Bolocat, which was designed specifically to identify and characterize objects in the large-area maps generated from the Bolocam instrument. The catalog products are designed to facilitate follow-up observations of these relatively unstudied objects. The catalog is 98% complete from 0.4 Jy to 60 Jy over all object sizes for which the survey is sensitive (<3.5). We find that the sources extracted can best be described as molecular clumps -- large dense regions in molecular clouds linked to cluster formation. We find the flux density distribution of sources follows a power law with dN/dS ~S^(-2.4 +/- 0.1) and that the mean Galactic latitude for sources is significantly below the midplane: <b>=(-0.095 +/- 0.001) deg.
The H.E.S.S. Galactic Plane Survey (HGPS), the first comprehensive survey of the inner Galaxy at TeV energies, has led to the discovery of an unexpectedly large and diverse population of over 60 sources of TeV gamma rays within its current range of l = 250 to 65 degrees in longitude and |b| < 3.5 degrees in latitude. The data set of the HGPS comprises 2800 hours of high-quality data, taken in the years 2004 to 2013. The sensitivity for the detection of point-like sources is at the level of 2% Crab or better in the HGPS region. The population of TeV gamma-ray emitters is dominated by the pulsar wind nebula and supernova remnant source classes, although nearly a third of the sources remain unidentified or ambiguous. We are presenting the latest HGPS significance and sensitivity maps, as well as a work on the HGPS source catalog, based on a uniform re-analysis of the full data set collected in the last decade. We will also give a brief overview of the H.E.S.S. Galactic source population.
The Bolocam Galactic Plane Survey (BGPS) is a 1.1 mm continuum survey of dense clumps of dust throughout the Galaxy covering 170 square degrees. We present spectroscopic observations using the Heinrich Hertz Submillimeter Telescope of the dense gas tracers, HCO+ and N2H+ 3-2, for all 6194 sources in the Bolocam Galactic Plane Survey v1.0.1 catalog between 7.5 <= l <= 194 degrees. This is the largest targeted spectroscopic survey of dense molecular gas in the Milky Way to date. We find unique velocities for 3126 (50.5%) of the BGPS v1.0.1 sources observed. Strong N2H+ 3-2 emission (T_{mb} > 0.5 K) without HCO+ 3-2 emission does not occur in this catalog. We characterize the properties of the dense molecular gas emission toward the entire sample. HCO+ is very sub-thermally populated and the 3-2 transitions are optically thick toward most BGPS clumps. The median observed line width is 3.3 km/s consistent with supersonic turbulence within BGPS clumps. We find strong correlations between dense molecular gas integrated intensities and 1.1 mm peak flux and the gas kinetic temperature derived from previously published NH3 observations. These intensity correlations are driven by the sensitivity of the 3-2 transitions to excitation conditions rather than by variations in molecular column density or abundance. We identify a subset of 113 sources with stronger N2H+ than HCO+ integrated intensity, but we find no correlations between the N2H+ / HCO+ ratio and 1.1 mm continuum flux density, gas kinetic temperature, or line width. Self-absorbed profiles are rare (1.3%).
Log in to be able to interact and post comments
comments
Fetching comments
Sign in to be able to follow your search criteria
