Are molecular clouds in virial equilibrium?

Details Are molecular clouds in virial equilibrium? Are molecular clouds in virial equilibrium?

Jan 1990

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1990apj...348l...9m&link_type=abstract

Astrophysical Journal, Part 2 - Letters (ISSN 0004-637X), vol. 348, Jan. 1, 1990, p. L9-L12. Research supported by NWO.

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

47

Carbon Monoxide, Interstellar Matter, Milky Way Galaxy, Molecular Clouds, Virial Theorem, Interstellar Gas, Luminosity, Spectral Line Width

Scientific paper

A correlation between CO luminosities and virial theorem masses of Galactic molecular clouds has been claimed to prove conclusively that molecular clouds are in gravitational virial equilibrium. This correlation is an artifact of the size-line width relation exhibited by molecular clouds, which does not require clouds to be virialized. Virial theorem masses do not provide an estimate of N(H2)/I(co). Comparison of the virial theorem-derived values of N(H2)/I(co) with the gamma-ray value shows that the masses of lower luminosity clouds are considerably overestimated by virial theorem analyses; these clouds are probably strongly influenced by nongravitational forces.

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