Context. Class I methanol masers are thought to be tracers of interstellar shock waves. However, they have received relatively little attention mostly as a consequence of their low luminosities ...compared to other maser transitions. This situation has changed recently and Class I methanol masers are now routinely used as signposts of outflow activity especially in high extinction regions. The recent detection of polarisation in Class I lines now makes it possible to obtain direct observational information about magnetic fields in interstellar shocks. Aims. We make use of newly calculated collisional rate coefficients for methanol to investigate the excitation of Class I methanol masers and to reconcile the observed Class I methanol maser properties with model results. Methods. We performed large velocity gradient calculations with a plane-parallel slab geometry appropriate for shocks to compute the pump and loss rates which regulate the interactions of the different maser systems with the maser reservoir. We study the dependence of the pump rate coefficient, the maser loss rate, and the inversion efficiency of the pumping scheme of several Class I masers on the physics of the emitting gas. Results. We predict inversion in all transitions where maser emission is observed. Bright Class I methanol masers are mainly high-temperature (>100 K) high-density (n(H2) ~ 107−108 cm-3) structures with methanol maser emission measures, ξ, corresponding to high methanol abundances close to the limits set by collisional quenching. Our model predictions reproduce reasonably well most of the observed properties of Class I methanol masers. Class I masers in the 25 GHz series are the most sensitive to the density of the medium and mase at higher densities than other lines. Moreover, even at high density and high methanol abundances, their luminosity is predicted to be lower than that of the 44 GHz and 36 GHz masers. Our model predictions also reflect the observational result that the 44 GHz line is almost always stronger than the 36 GHz maser. By comparison between observed isotropic photon luminosities and our model predictions, we infer maser beam solid angles of roughly 10-3 steradian. Conclusions. We find that the Class I masers can reasonably be separated into three families: the (J + 1)-1−J0-E type series, the (J + 1)0−J1-A type, and the J2−J1-E lines at 25 GHz. The 25 GHz lines behave in a different fashion from the other masers as they are only inverted at high densities above 106 cm-3 in contrast to other Class I masers. Therefore, the detection of maser activity in all three families is a clear indication of high densities.
Context. Newborn stars form within the localized, high density regions of molecular clouds. The sequence and rate at which stars form in dense clumps and the dependence on local and global ...environments are key factors in developing descriptions of stellar production in galaxies. Aims. We seek to observationally constrain the rate and latency of star formation in dense massive clumps that are distributed throughout the Galaxy and to compare these results to proposed prescriptions for stellar production. Methods. A sample of 24 μm-based Class I protostars are linked to dust clumps that are embedded within molecular clouds selected from the APEX Telescope Large Area Survey of the Galaxy. We determine the fraction of star-forming clumps, f∗, that imposes a constraint on the latency of star formation in units of a clump’s lifetime. Protostellar masses are estimated from models of circumstellar environments of young stellar objects from which star formation rates are derived. Physical properties of the clumps are calculated from 870 μm dust continuum emission and NH3 line emission. Results. Linear correlations are identified between the star formation rate surface density, ΣSFR, and the quantities ΣH2/τff and ΣH2/τcross, suggesting that star formation is regulated at the local scales of molecular clouds. The measured fraction of star forming clumps is 23%. Accounting for star formation within clumps that are excluded from our sample due to 24 μm saturation, this fraction can be as high as 31%, which is similar to previous results. Dense, massive clumps form primarily low mass (<1–2 M⊙) stars with emergent 24 μm fluxes below our sensitivity limit or are incapable of forming any stars for the initial 70% of their lifetimes. The low fraction of star forming clumps in the Galactic center relative to those located in the disk of the Milky Way is verified.
ABSTRACT
ATLASGAL is an 870-µm dust survey of 420 deg2 the inner Galactic plane and has been used to identify ∼10 000 dense molecular clumps. Dedicated follow-up observations and complementary ...surveys are used to characterize the physical properties of these clumps, map their Galactic distribution, and investigate the evolutionary sequence for high-mass star formation. The analysis of the ATLASGAL data is ongoing: We present an up-to-date version of the catalogue. We have classified 5007 clumps into four evolutionary stages (quiescent, protostellar, young stellar objects and H ii regions) and find similar numbers of clumps in each stage, suggesting a similar lifetime. The luminosity-to-mass (Lbol/Mfwhm) ratio curve shows a smooth distribution with no significant kinks or discontinuities when compared to the mean values for evolutionary stages indicating that the star formation process is continuous and that the observational stages do not represent fundamentally different stages or changes in the physical mechanisms involved. We compare the evolutionary sample with other star formation tracers (methanol and water masers, extended green objects and molecular outflows) and find that the association rates with these increases as a function of evolutionary stage, confirming that our classification is reliable. This also reveals a high association rate between quiescent sources and molecular outflows, revealing that outflows are the earliest indication that star formation has begun and that star formation is already ongoing in many of the clumps that are dark even at 70 µm.
Abstract
Nitrogen (N)-fractionation is used as a tool to search for a link between the chemical history of the Solar system and star-forming regions. A large variation of 14N/15N is observed towards ...different astrophysical sources, and current chemical models cannot reproduce it. With the advent of high angular resolution radiotelescopes it is now possible to search for N-fractionation at core scales. We present IRAM NOEMA observations of the J= 1–0 transition of N2H+, 15NNH+, and N15NH+ towards the high-mass protocluster IRAS 05358+3543. We find 14N/15N ratios that span from ∼100 up to ∼220 and these values are lower or equal to those observed with single-dish observations towards the same source. Since N-fractionation changes across the studied region, this means that it is regulated by local environmental effects. We find also the possibility, for one of the four cores defined in the protocluster, to have a more abundant 15NNH+ with respect to N15NH+. This is another indication that current chemical models may be missing chemical reactions or may not take into account other mechanisms, like photodissociation or grain surface chemistry, that could be important.
Context.
Understanding the details of the formation process of massive (i.e.
M
≳ 8–10
M
⊙
) stars is a long-standing problem in astrophysics. They form and evolve very quickly, and almost their ...entire formation process takes place deeply embedded in their parental clumps. Together with the fact that these objects are rare and at a relatively large distance, this makes observing them very challenging.
Aims.
We present a method for deriving accurate timescales of the evolutionary phases of the high-mass star formation process.
Methods.
We modelled a representative number of massive clumps of the ATLASGAL-TOP100 sample that cover all the evolutionary stages. The models describe an isothermal collapse and the subsequent warm-up phase, for which we followed the chemical evolution. The timescale of each phase was derived by comparing the results of the models with the properties of the sources of the ATLASGAL-TOP100 sample, taking into account the mass and luminosity of the clumps, and the column densities of methyl acetylene (CH
3
CCH), acetonitrile (CH
3
CN), formaldehyde (H
2
CO), and methanol (CH
3
OH).
Results.
We find that the molecular tracers we chose are affected by the thermal evolution of the clumps, showing steep ice evaporation gradients from 10
3
to 10
5
AU during the warm-up phase. We succeed in reproducing the observed column densities of CH
3
CCH and CH
3
CN, but H
2
CO and CH
3
OH agree less with the observed values. The total (massive) star formation time is found to be ~5.2 × 10
5
yr, which is defined by the timescales of the individual evolutionary phases of the ATLASGAL-TOP100 sample: ~5 × 10
4
yr for 70-μm weak, ~1.2 × 10
5
yr for mid-IR weak, ~2.4 × 10
5
yr for mid-IR bright, and ~1.1 × 10
5
yr for HII-region phases.
Conclusions.
With an appropriate selection of molecular tracers that can act as chemical clocks, our model allows obtaining robust estimates of the duration of the individual phases of the high-mass star formation process. It also has the advantage of being capable of including additional tracers aimed at increasing the accuracy of the estimated timescales.
ABSTRACT
An estimate of the degree of CO-depletion (fD) provides information on the physical conditions occurring in the innermost and densest regions of molecular clouds. A key parameter in these ...studies is the size of the depletion radius, i.e. the radius within which the C-bearing species, and in particular CO, are largely frozen on to dust grains. A strong depletion state (i.e. fD > 10, as assumed in our models) is highly favoured in the innermost regions of dark clouds, where the temperature is <20 K and the number density of molecular hydrogen exceeds a few × 104 cm−3. In this work, we estimate the size of the depleted region by studying the Infrared Dark Cloud (IRDC) G351.77−0.51. Continuum observations performed with the Herschel Space Observatory and the LArge APEX BOlometer CAmera, together with APEX C18O and C17O J = 2→1 line observations, allowed us to recover the large-scale beam- and line-of-sight-averaged depletion map of the cloud. We built a simple model to investigate the depletion in the inner regions of the clumps in the filament and the filament itself. The model suggests that the depletion radius ranges from 0.02 to 0.15 pc, comparable with the typical filament width (i.e. ∼0.1 pc). At these radii, the number density of H2 reaches values between 0.2 and 5.5 × 105 cm−3. These results provide information on the approximate spatial scales on which different chemical processes operate in high-mass star-forming regions and also suggest caution when using CO for kinematical studies in IRDCs.
Abstract
We present a new derivation of the Milky Way’s current star formation rate (SFR) based on the data of the Herschel InfraRed Galactic Plane Survey (Hi-GAL). We estimate the distribution of ...the SFR across the Galactic plane from the star-forming clumps identified in the Hi-GAL survey and calculate the total SFR from the sum of their contributions. The estimate of the global SFR amounts to 2.0 ± 0.7
M
⊙
yr
−1
, of which 1.7 ± 0.6
M
⊙
yr
−1
coming from clumps with reliable heliocentric distance assignment. This value is in general agreement with estimates found in the literature of last decades. The profile of SFR density averaged in Galactocentric rings is found to be qualitatively similar to others previously computed, with a peak corresponding to the Central Molecular Zone and another one around Galactocentric radius
R
gal
∼ 5 kpc, followed by an exponential decrease as
log
(
Σ
SFR
/
M
⊙
yr
−
1
kpc
−
2
)
=
a
R
gal
/
kpc
+
b
, with
a
= −0.28 ± 0.01. In this regard, the fraction of SFR produced within and outside the solar circle is 84% and 16%, respectively; the fraction corresponding to the far outer Galaxy (
R
gal
> 13.5 kpc) is only 1%. We also find that, for
R
gal
> 3 kpc, our data follow a power law as a function of density, similarly to the Kennicutt–Schmidt relation. Finally, we compare the distribution of the SFR density across the face-on Galactic plane and those of median parameters, such as temperature, luminosity/mass ratio, and bolometric temperature, describing the evolutionary stage of Hi-GAL clumps. We found no clear correlation between the SFR and the clump evolutionary stage.
Analyzing the kinematics of filamentary molecular clouds is a crucial step toward understanding their role in the star formation process. Therefore, we study the kinematics of 283 filament candidates ...in the inner Galaxy, that were previously identified in the ATLASGAL dust continuum data. The 13CO(2 – 1) and C18O(2 – 1) data of the SEDIGISM survey (Structure, Excitation, and Dynamics of the Inner Galactic Inter Stellar Medium) allows us to analyze the kinematics of these targets and to determine their physical properties at a resolution of 30′′ and 0.25 km s−1. To do so, we developed an automated algorithm to identify all velocity components along the line-of-sight correlated with the ATLASGAL dust emission, and derive size, mass, and kinematic properties for all velocity components. We find two-third of the filament candidates are coherent structures in position-position-velocity space. The remaining candidates appear to be the result of a superposition of two or three filamentary structures along the line-of-sight. At the resolution of the data, on average the filaments are in agreement with Plummer-like radial density profiles with a power-law exponent of p ≈ 1.5 ± 0.5, indicating that they are typically embedded in a molecular cloud and do not have a well-defined outer radius. Also, we find a correlation between the observed mass per unit length and the velocity dispersion of the filament of m ∝ σv2 $m \propto \sigma_{\rm{v}}^2$ m∝ σ v 2 . We show that this relation can be explained by a virial balance between self-gravity and pressure. Another possible explanation could be radial collapse of the filament, where we can exclude infall motions close to the free-fall velocity.
Context. The assumption of a gas-to-dust mass ratio γ is a common approach to estimate the basic properties of molecular clouds, such as total mass and column density of molecular hydrogen, from ...(sub)mm continuum observations of the dust. In the Milky Way a single value is used at all galactocentric radii, independently of the observed metallicity gradients. Both models and extragalactic observations suggest that this quantity increases for decreasing metallicity Z, typical of the outer regions in disks, where fewer heavy elements are available to form dust grains. Aims. We aim to investigate the variation of the gas-to-dust ratio as a function of galactocentric radius and metallicity, to allow a more accurate characterisation of the quantity of molecular gas across the galactic disk, as derived from observations of the dust. Methods. Observations of the optically thin C18O (2–1) transition were obtained with the APEX telescope for a sample of 23 massive and dense star-forming regions in the far outer Galaxy (galactocentric distance greater than 14 kpc). From the modelling of this line and of the spectral energy distribution of the selected clumps we computed the gas-to-dust ratio and compared it to that of well-studied sources from the ATLASGAL TOP100 sample in the inner galactic disk. Results. The gradient in γ is found to be 0.087+0.047-0.025 dex kpc-1 (or equivalently γ ∝ Z-1.4+0.3-1.0). The dust-to-metal ratio, decreases with galactocentric radius, which is the most common situation also for external late-type galaxies. This suggests that grain growth dominates over destruction. The predicted γ is in excellent agreement with the estimates in Magellanic clouds, for the appropriate value of Z.
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