A Large-field J=1-0 Survey of CO and Its Isotopologues Toward the Cassiopeia A Supernova Remnant


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We have conducted a large-field simultaneous survey of $^{12}$CO, $^{13}$CO, and C$^{18}$O $J=1-0$ emission toward the Cassiopeia A (Cas A) supernova remnant (SNR), which covers a sky area of $3.5^{circ}times3.1^{circ}$. The Cas giant molecular cloud (GMC) mainly consists of three individual clouds with masses on the order of $10^4-10^5 M_{odot}$. The total mass derived from the $rm{^{13}CO}$ emission of the GMC is 2.1$times10^{5} M_{odot}$ and is 9.5$times10^5 M_{odot}$ from the $rm{^{12}CO}$ emission. Two regions with broadened (6$-$7 km s$^{-1}$) or asymmetric $^{12}$CO line profiles are found in the vicinity (within a 10$times10$ region) of the Cas A SNR, indicating possible interactions between the SNR and the GMC. Using the GAUSSCLUMPS algorithm, 547 $^{13}$CO clumps are identified in the GMC, 54$%$ of which are supercritical (i.e. $alpha_{rm{vir}}<2$). The mass spectrum of the molecular clumps follows a power-law distribution with an exponent of $-2.20$. The pixel-by-pixel column density of the GMC can be fitted with a log-normal probability distribution function (N-PDF). The median column density of molecular hydrogen in the GMC is $1.6times10^{21}$ cm$^{-2}$ and half the mass of the GMC is contained in regions with H$_2$ column density lower than $3times10^{21}$ cm$^{-2}$, which is well below the threshold of star formation. The distribution of the YSO candidates in the region shows no agglomeration.

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