Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
1999-07-05
Astrophys.J.527:285-297,1999
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
26 pages, 12 ps figures. Apj accepted
Scientific paper
10.1086/308076
We suggest that molecular clouds can be formed on short time scales by compressions from large scale streams in the interstellar medium (ISM). In particular, we argue that the Taurus-Auriga complex, with filaments of 10-20 pc $\times$ 2-5 pc, most have been formed by H I flows in $\lesssim 3$Myr, explaining the absence of post-T Tauri stars in the region with ages $\gtrsim 3$ Myr. Observations in the 21 cm line of the H I `halos' around the Taurus molecular gas show many features (broad asymmetric profiles, velocity shifts of H I relative to $^{12}$CO) predicted by our MHD numerical simulations, in which large-scale H I streams collide to produce dense filamentary structures. This rapid evolution is possible because the H I flows producing and disrupting the cloud have much higher velocities (5-10 kms) than present in the molecular gas resulting from the colliding flows. The simulations suggest that such flows can occur from the global ISM turbulence without requiring a single triggering event such as a SN explosion.
Ballesteros-Paredes Javier
Hartmann Lee
Vázquez-Semadeni Enrique
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