No Arabic abstract
G23.33-0.30 is a 600 $M_{odot}$ infrared dark molecular filament that exhibits large NH$_3$ velocity dispersions ($sigma sim 8 rm{km s^{-1}}$) and bright, narrow NH$_3$(3,3) line emission. We have probed G23.33-0.30 at the $<0.1$ pc scale and confirmed that the narrow NH$_3$(3,3) line is emitted by four rare NH$_3$(3,3) masers, which are excited by a large-scale shock impacting the filament. G23.33-0.30 also displays a velocity gradient along its length, a velocity discontinuity across its width, shock-tracing SiO(5-4) emission extended throughout the filament, broad turbulent line widths in NH$_3$(1,1) through (6,6), CS(5-4), and SiO(5-4), as well as an increased NH$_3$ rotational temperature ($T_{rm{rot}}$) and velocity dispersion ($sigma$) associated with the shocked, blueshifted component. The correlations among $T_{rm{rot}}$, $sigma$, and $V_{rm{LSR}}$ implies that the shock is accelerating, heating, and adding turbulent energy to the filament gas. Given G23.33-0.30s location within the giant molecular cloud G23.0-0.4, we speculate that the shock and NH$_3$(3,3) masers originated from the supernova remnant W41, which exhibits additional evidence of an interaction with G23.0-0.4. We have also detected the 1.3 mm dust continuum emission from at least three embedded molecular cores associated with G23.33-0.30. Although the cores have moderate gas masses ($M = 7-10$ M$_{odot}$), their large virial parameters ($alpha=4-9$) suggest that they will not collapse to form stars. The turbulent line widths of the cores may indicate negative feedback due to the SNR shock.
The initial conditions of massive star and star cluster formation are expected to be cold, dense and high column density regions of the interstellar medium, which can reveal themselves via near, mid and even far-infrared absorption as Infrared Dark Clouds (IRDCs). Elucidating the dynamical state of IRDCs thus constrains theoretical models of these complex processes. In particular, it is important to assess whether IRDCs have reached virial equilibrium, where the internal pressure balances that due to the self-gravitating weight of the cloud plus the pressure of the external environmental. We study this question for the filamentary IRDC G035.39-00.33 by deriving mass from combined NIR & MIR extinction maps and velocity dispersion from C18O (1-0) & (2-1) line emission. In contrast to our previous moderately super-virial results based on 13CO emission and MIR-only extinction mapping, with improved mass measurements we now find that the filament is consistent with being in virial equilibrium, at least in its central parsec-wide region where ~1000 M_Sun snakes along several parsecs. This equilibrium state does not require large-scale net support or confinement by magnetic fields.
We present molecular line observations, made with angular resolutions of ~20, toward the filamentary infrared dark cloud G34.43+0.24 using the APEX [CO(3-2), 13CO(3-2), C18O(3-2) and CS(7-6) transitions], Nobeyama 45 m [CS(2-1), SiO(2-1), C34S(2-1), HCO+(1-0), H13CO+(1-0) and CH3OH(2-1) transitions], and SEST [CS(2-1) and C18O(2-1) transitions] telescopes. We find that the spatial distribution of the molecular emission is similar to that of the dust continuum emission observed with 11 resolution showing a filamentary structure and four cores. The cores have local thermodynamic equilibrium masses ranging from 3.3x10^2 - 1.5x10^3 solar masses and virial masses from 1.1x10^3 - 1.5x10^3 solar masses, molecular hydrogen densities between 1.8x10^4 and 3.9x10^5 cm^{-3}, and column densities >2.0x10^{22} cm^{-2}; values characteristics of massive star forming cores. The 13CO(3-2) profile observed toward the most massive core reveals a blue profile indicating that the core is undergoing large-scale inward motion with an average infall velocity of 1.3 km/s and a mass infall rate of 1.8x10^{-3} solar masses per year. We report the discovery of a molecular outflow toward the northernmost core thought to be in a very early stage of evolution. We also detect the presence of high velocity gas toward each of the other three cores, giving support to the hypothesis that the excess 4.5 $mu$ emission (green fuzzies) detected toward these cores is due to shocked gas. The molecular outflows are massive and energetic, with masses ranging from 25 -- 80 solar masses, momentum 2.3 - 6.9x10^2 Msun km/s, and kinetic energies 1.1 - 3.6x10^3 Msun km^2 s^{-2}; indicating that they are driven by luminous, high-mass young stellar objects.
We present results of a high resolution study of the filamentary infrared dark cloud G192.76+00.10 in the S254-S258 OB complex in several molecular species tracing different physical conditions. These include three isotopologues of carbon monoxide (CO), ammonia (NH$_3$), carbon monosulfide (CS). The aim of this work is to study the general structure and kinematics of the filamentary cloud, its fragmentation and physical parameters. The gas temperature is derived from the NH$_3 $ $(J,K) = (1,1), (2,2)$ and $^{12}$CO(2--1) lines and the $^{13}$CO(1--0), $^{13}$CO(2--1) emission is used to investigate the overall gas distribution and kinematics. Several dense clumps are identified from the CS(2--1) data. Values of the gas temperature lie in the ranges $10-35$ K, column density $N(mathrm{H}_2)$ reaches the value 5.1 10$^{22}$ cm$^{-2}$. The width of the filament is of order 1 pc. The masses of the dense clumps range from $ sim 30 $ M$_odot$ to $ sim 160 $ M$_odot$. They appear to be gravitationally unstable. The molecular emission shows a gas dynamical coherence along the filament. The velocity pattern may indicate longitudinal collapse.
Infrared Dark Clouds (IRDCs) are cold, high mass surface density and high density structures, likely to be representative of the initial conditions for massive star and star cluster formation. CO emission from IRDCs has the potential to be useful for tracing their dynamics, but may be affected by depleted gas phase abundances due to freeze-out onto dust grains. Here we analyze C18O J=1-0 and J=2-1 emission line data, taken with the IRAM 30m telescope, of the highly filamentary IRDC G035.39.-0033. We derive the excitation temperature as a function of position and velocity, with typical values of ~7K, and thus derive total mass surface densities, Sigma_C18O, assuming standard gas phase abundances and accounting for optical depth in the line, which can reach values of ~1. The mass surface densities reach values of ~0.07 g/cm^2. We compare these results to the mass surface densities derived from mid-infrared (MIR) extinction mapping, Sigma_SMF, by Butler & Tan, which are expected to be insensitive to the dust temperatures in the cloud. With a significance of >10sigma, we find Sigma_C18O/Sigma_SMF decreases by about a factor of 5 as Sigma increases from ~0.02 to ~0.2 g/cm^2, which we interpret as evidence for CO depletion. Several hundred solar masses are being affected, making this one of the most massive clouds in which CO depletion has been observed directly. We present a map of the depletion factor in the filament and discuss implications for the formation of the IRDC.
G349.7+0.2 is a young Galactic supernova remnant (SNR) located at the distance of 11.5 kpc and observed across the entire electromagnetic spectrum from radio to high energy (HE) Gamma-rays. Radio and infrared observations indicate that the remnant is interacting with a molecular cloud. In this paper, the detection of very high energy (VHE) Gamma-ray emission coincident with this SNR with the High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.) is reported. An integral flux F(E>400GeV)=(6.5 +-1.1stat +-1.3syst) x 10^{-13} ph/cm/s corresponding to 0.7% of that of the Crab Nebula and to a luminosity of 10^34 erg/s above the same energy threshold, and a steep photon index Gamma_VHE = 2.8 +-0.27stat +-0.20syst are measured. The analysis of more than 5 yr of Fermi-LAT data towards this source shows a power-law like spectrum with a best-fit photon index Gamma_HE = 2.2 +-0.04stat +0.13-0.31syst. The combined Gamma-ray spectrum of G349.7+0.2 can be described by either a broken power-law (BPL) or a power-law with exponential (or sub-exponential) cutoff (PLC). In the former case, the photon break energy is found at E_br,gamma = 55 +70-30 GeV, slightly higher than what is usually observed in the HE/VHE Gamma-ray emitting middle-aged SNRs known to be interacting with molecular clouds. In the latter case, the exponential (respectively sub-exponential) cutoff energy is measured at E_cut,gamma = 1.4 +1.6-0.55 (respectively 0.35 +0.75-0.21) TeV. A pion-decay process resulting from the interaction of the accelerated protons and nuclei with the dense surrounding medium is clearly the preferred scenario to explain the Gamma-ray emission. The BPL with a spectral steepening of 0.5-1 and the PLC provide equally good fits to the data. The product of the average gas density and the total energy content of accelerated protons and nuclei amounts to nH Wp ~ 5 x 10^51 erg/cm3.