The structure and kinematics of molecular clouds from large scale mapping of millimeter lines

2008 ◽  
pp. 81-86
Author(s):  
John Bally ◽  
Antony A. Stark ◽  
Robert W. Wilson ◽  
William D. Langer
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Clouds ◽  
Large Scale

scholarly journals The atomic hydrogen/molecular cloud association: an unavoidable relationship

1991 ◽  
Vol 147 ◽  
pp. 37-40
Author(s):  
G. Joncas
Keyword(s):  
Atomic Hydrogen ◽  
Molecular Clouds ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Young Stars ◽  
Physical Processes ◽  
Star Forming ◽  
Dark Clouds ◽  
Star Forming Regions ◽  
The Impact

The presence of HI in the interstellar medium is ubiquitous. HI is the principal actor in the majority of the physical processes at work in our Galaxy. Restricting ourselves to the topics of this symposium, atomic hydrogen is involved with the formation of molecular clouds and is one of the byproducts of their destruction by young stars. HI has different roles during a molecular cloud's life. I will discuss here a case of coexisting HI and H2 at large scale and the origin of HI in star forming regions. For completeness' sake, it should be mentionned that there are at least three other aspects of HI involvement: HI envelopes around molecular clouds, the impact of SNRs (see work on IC 443), and the role of HI in quiescent dark clouds (see van der Werf's work).

scholarly journals Filament Formation in Molecular Clouds as a Scale-Free Process

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (A29B) ◽  
pp. 709-710
Author(s):  
Enrique Vázquez-Semadeni ◽  
Gilberto Gómez
Keyword(s):  
Hierarchical Structure ◽  
Molecular Clouds ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Filament Formation ◽  
Molecular Line ◽  
Scale Free ◽  
The Core ◽  
Free Process ◽  
Self Gravity

AbstractWe discuss the formation of filaments in molecular clouds (MCs) as the result of large-scale collapse in the clouds. We first give arguments suggesting that self-gravity dominates the nonthermal motions, and then briefly describe the resulting structure, similar to that found in molecular-line and dust observations of the filaments in the clouds. The filaments exhibit a hierarchical structure in both density and velocity, suggesting a scale-free nature, similar to that of the cosmic web, resulting from the domination of self-gravity from the MC down to the core scale.

scholarly journals CS Lines and Dust Continuum Observations of the OMC2 Infrared Cluster

1994 ◽  
Vol 140 ◽  
pp. 245-246
Author(s):  
T. Umemoto ◽  
N. Ohashi ◽  
Y. Murata ◽  
K. Tatematsu ◽  
M. Suzuki
Keyword(s):  
Formation Process ◽  
Molecular Clouds ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Infrared Imaging ◽  
Cluster Formation ◽  
Young Stars ◽  
Ir Sources ◽  
Near Ir ◽  
Molecular Core

It is known that stars in GMCs are often born as clusters. Recently, near infrared imaging has enabled us to study the young stars within molecular clouds (e.g., Lada & Lada 1991). Orion Molecular Cloud 2 (OMC2) is located 12' north of the Trapezium cluster in the Orion A cloud, and contains a cluster of about 20 near-IR sources and several FIR sources distributed within a diameter of 0.2 pc (Rayner et al... 1989; Johnson et al. 1990; Mezger, Wink, & Zylka 1990). By large scale mapping observations using the NRO 45 m telescope, this infrared cluster is found to be associated with a dense molecular core (Tatematsu et al. 1993, Umemoto et al. 1993). The region was observed using the Nobeyama Millimeter Array (NMA) to elucidate the structure and cluster formation process within a core.

The magnetic evolution of the Taurus molecular clouds. I - Large-scale properties

1987 ◽  
Vol 321 ◽  
pp. 855 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark H. Heyer ◽  
Frederick J. Vrba ◽  
Ronald L. Snell ◽  
F. P. Schloerb ◽  
Stephen E. Strom ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Clouds ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Scale Properties

Radio observations of molecules in the interstellar gas

1981 ◽  
Vol 303 (1480) ◽  
pp. 469-486 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Clouds ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Heavy Atom ◽  
Linear Chain ◽  
Angular Size ◽  
Line Emission ◽  
Spectral Lines ◽  
Interstellar Gas ◽  
Interstellar Molecules ◽  
Branched Chains

Radio astronomers have succeeded since 1968 in identifying nearly 50 molecules in the dense concentrations of the interstellar gas now generally termed molecular clouds. Most interstellar molecules are stable compounds familiar to the terrestrial chemist, but nearly one-fifth are ions, radicals and acetylenic carbon chains so reactive in the laboratory that before being detected in Space they had rarely been observed or were entirely unknown. The heavy atom backbone of the known interstellar molecules is a linear chain of C, N, O or S (Si is found in two diatomic molecules) ; rings and branched chains are missing. The most readily observed spectral lines of most interstellar molecules are rotational transitions at millimetre wavelengths. These are generally excited by H 2 collisions, and depending on the H 2 number density, the levels can be either in rotational equilibrium, or far from it. Maser line emission from OH, H 2 0 , SiO and CH 3 OH - extremely intense, small sources typically much less than 1" in angular size, often polarized and sometimes time-dependent - are the most striking examples of nonequilibrium excitation. A number of rare isotopic species are observed in interstellar molecules, those ol C, N and O having been studied the most intensively. Isotopic ratios differing from those on Earth by two- or threefold apparently exist, and in all but one case can be attributed to stellar nucleosynthesis since the formation of the Solar System. Molecular clouds apparently constitute an appreciable fraction of the interstellar medium by mass and are the largest reservoir of matter in Nature subject to the chemical bond. They are of great astronomical interest because of their central role in star formation and galactic structure: it is possible that all stars form in molecular clouds, and as molecular clouds are largely restricted to the spiral arms, they provide a new and highly specific tracer of the large-scale structure of the galactic system.

scholarly journals The atomic hydrogen/molecular cloud association: an unavoidable relationship

1991 ◽  
Vol 147 ◽  
pp. 37-40
Author(s):  
G. Joncas
Keyword(s):  
Atomic Hydrogen ◽  
Molecular Clouds ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Young Stars ◽  
Physical Processes ◽  
Star Forming ◽  
Dark Clouds ◽  
Star Forming Regions ◽  
The Impact

The presence of HI in the interstellar medium is ubiquitous. HI is the principal actor in the majority of the physical processes at work in our Galaxy. Restricting ourselves to the topics of this symposium, atomic hydrogen is involved with the formation of molecular clouds and is one of the byproducts of their destruction by young stars. HI has different roles during a molecular cloud's life. I will discuss here a case of coexisting HI and H2 at large scale and the origin of HI in star forming regions. For completeness' sake, it should be mentionned that there are at least three other aspects of HI involvement: HI envelopes around molecular clouds, the impact of SNRs (see work on IC 443), and the role of HI in quiescent dark clouds (see van der Werf's work).

scholarly journals Magnetic Fields in Molecular Clouds

2004 ◽  
Vol 221 ◽  
pp. 83-96
Author(s):  
Tyler L. Bourke ◽  
Alyssa A. Goodman
Keyword(s):  
Star Formation ◽  
Magnetic Fields ◽  
Observational Data ◽  
Observational Studies ◽  
Molecular Clouds ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Angular Resolution ◽  
Protoplanetary Disks ◽  
High Angular Resolution ◽  
Dense Cores

Magnetic fields are believed to play an important role in the evolution of molecular clouds, from their large scale structure to dense cores, protostellar envelopes, and protoplanetary disks. How important is unclear, and whether magnetic fields are the dominant force driving star formation at any scale is also unclear. In this review we examine the observational data which address these questions, with particular emphasis on high angular resolution observations. Unfortunately the data do not clarify the situation. It is clear that the fields are important, but to what degree we don't yet know. Observations to date have been limited by the sensitivity of available telescopes and instrumentation. In the future ALMA and the SKA in particular should provide great advances in observational studies of magnetic fields, and we discuss which observations are most desirable when they become available.

scholarly journals Deterministic Self-Propagating Star Formation

1989 ◽  
Vol 120 ◽  
pp. 518-523
Author(s):  
Jan Palouš
Keyword(s):  
Star Formation ◽  
Simple Model ◽  
Molecular Cloud ◽  
Molecular Clouds ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Galactic Evolution ◽  
Cloud Formation ◽  
Rotating Disks ◽  
Atomic Gas ◽  
High Column

AbstractThe evolution of large scale expanding structures in differentially rotating disks is studied. High column densities in some places may eventually lead to molecular cloud formation and initiate also star-formation. After some time, multi-structured arms evolve, where regions of intensive star-formation are separated from each other by regions of atomic gas or molecular clouds. This is due to the deterministic nature and to the coherence of this process. A simple model of galactic evolution is introduced and the different behaviour of Sa, Sb, and Sc galaxies is shown.

scholarly journals The Supershell-Molecular Cloud Connection in the Milky Way and Beyond

2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (S292) ◽  
pp. 83-86
Author(s):  
J. R. Dawson ◽  
N. M. McClure-Griffiths ◽  
Y. Fukui ◽  
J. Dickey ◽  
T. Wong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Cloud ◽  
Molecular Clouds ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Milky Way ◽  
Observational Evidence ◽  
Cloud Formation ◽  
Stellar Feedback ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Global Contribution

AbstractThe role of large-scale stellar feedback in the formation of molecular clouds has been investigated observationally by examining the relationship between Hi and 12CO(J = 1−0) in supershells. Detailed parsec-resolution case studies of two Milky Way supershells demonstrate an enhanced level of molecularisation over both objects, and hence provide the first quantitative observational evidence of increased molecular cloud production in volumes of space affected by supershell activity. Recent results on supergiant shells in the LMC suggest that while they do indeed help to organise the ISM into over-dense structures, their global contribution to molecular cloud formation is of the order of only ∼ 10%.

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