Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics – Galaxy Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2009-12-09
Astrophysical Journal 709 (2010) 791-800
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
Galaxy Astrophysics
10 pages, 8 figures, 4 tables. ApJ in press. An extended version of Figure 1 can be found at http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/users
Scientific paper
The winds and radiation from massive stars clear out large cavities in the interstellar medium. These bubbles, as they have been called, impact their surrounding molecular clouds and may influence the formation of stars therein. Here we present JCMT observations of the J=3-2 line of CO in 43 bubbles identified with Spitzer Space Telescope observations. These spectroscopic data reveal the three-dimensional structure of the bubbles. In particular, we show that the cold gas lies in a ring, not a sphere, around the bubbles indicating that the parent molecular clouds are flattened with a typical thickness of a few parsecs. We also mapped 7 bubbles in the J=4-3 line of HCO+ and find that the column densities inferred from the CO and HCO+ line intensities are below that necessary for "collect and collapse" models of induced star formation. We hypothesize that the flattened molecular clouds are not greatly compressed by expanding shock fronts, which may hinder the formation of new stars.
Beaumont Christopher N.
Williams Jonathan P.
No associations
LandOfFree
Molecular Rings and the Thickness of Star-Forming Clouds does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Molecular Rings and the Thickness of Star-Forming Clouds, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Molecular Rings and the Thickness of Star-Forming Clouds will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-594017