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您选择的条件: Qizhou Zhang
  • A massive Keplerian protostellar disk with flyby-induced spirals in the Central Molecular Zone

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: Accretion disks are an essential component in the paradigm of the formation of low-mass stars. Recent observations further identify disks surrounding low-mass pre-main-sequence stars perturbed by flybys. Whether disks around more massive stars evolve in a similar manner becomes an urgent question. We report the discovery of a Keplerian disk of a few solar masses surrounding a 32 solar-mass protostar in the Sagittarius C cloud around the Galactic Center. The disk is gravitationally stable with two embedded spirals. A combined analysis of analytical solutions and numerical simulations demonstrates that the most likely scenario to form the spirals is through external perturbations induced by a close flyby, and one such perturber with the expected parameters is identified. The massive, early O-type star embedded in this disk forms in a similar manner with respect to low-mass stars, in the sense of not only disk-mediated accretion, but also flyby-impacted disk evolution.

  • CMZoom III: Spectral Line Data Release

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: We present an overview and data release of the spectral line component of the SMA Large Program, \textit{CMZoom}. \textit{CMZoom} observed $^{12}$CO(2-1), $^{13}$CO(2-1) and C$^{18}$O(2-1), three transitions of H$_{2}$CO, several transitions of CH$_{3}$OH, two transitions of OCS and single transitions of SiO and SO, within gas above a column density of N(H$_2$)$\ge 10^{23}$\,cm$^{-2}$ in the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ; inner few hundred pc of the Galaxy). We extract spectra from all compact 1.3\,mm \emph{CMZoom} continuum sources and fit line profiles to the spectra. We use the fit results from the H$_{2}$CO 3(0,3)-2(0,2) transition to determine the source kinematic properties. We find $\sim 90$\% of the total mass of \emph{CMZoom} sources have reliable kinematics. Only four compact continuum sources are formally self-gravitating. The remainder are consistent with being in hydrostatic equilibrium assuming that they are confined by the high external pressure in the CMZ. Based on the mass and density of virially bound sources, and assuming star formation occurs within one free-fall time with a star formation efficiency of $10\% - 75\%$, we place a lower limit on the future embedded star-formation rate of $0.008 - 0.06$\,M$_{\odot}$\,yr$^{-1}$. We find only two convincing proto-stellar outflows, ruling out a previously undetected population of very massive, actively accreting YSOs with strong outflows. Finally, despite having sufficient sensitivity and resolution to detect high-velocity compact clouds (HVCCs), which have been claimed as evidence for intermediate mass black holes interacting with molecular gas clouds, we find no such objects across the large survey area.

  • ATOMS: ALMA Three-millimeter Observations of Massive Star-forming regions -- XV. Steady Accretion from Global Collapse to Core Feeding in Massive Hub-filament System SDC335

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: We present ALMA Band-3/7 observations towards "the Heart" of a massive hub-filament system (HFS) SDC335, to investigate its fragmentation and accretion. At a resolution of $\sim0.03$ pc, 3 mm continuum emission resolves two massive dense cores MM1 and MM2, with $383(^{+234}_{-120})$ $M_\odot$ (10-24% mass of "the Heart") and $74(^{+47}_{-24})$ $M_\odot$, respectively. With a resolution down to 0.01 pc, 0.87 mm continuum emission shows MM1 further fragments into six condensations and multi-transition lines of H$_2$CS provide temperature estimation. The relation between separation and mass of condensations at a scale of 0.01 pc favors turbulent Jeans fragmentation where the turbulence seems to be scale-free rather than scale-dependent. We use the H$^{13}$CO$^+$ (1-0) emission line to resolve the complex gas motion inside "the Heart" in position-position-velocity space. We identify four major gas streams connected to large-scale filaments, inheriting the anti-clockwise spiral pattern. Along these streams, gas feeds the central massive core MM1. Assuming an inclination angle of $45(\pm15)^{\circ}$ and a H$^{13}$CO$^+$ abundance of $5(\pm3)\times10^{-11}$, the total mass infall rate is estimated to be $2.40(\pm0.78)\times10^{-3}$ $M_\odot$ yr$^{-1}$, numerically consistent with the accretion rates derived from the clump-scale spherical infall model and the core-scale outflows. The consistency suggests a continuous, near steady-state, and efficient accretion from global collapse, therefore ensuring core feeding. Our comprehensive study of SDC335 showcases the detailed gas kinematics in a prototypical massive infalling clump and calls for further systematic and statistical analyses in a large sample.

  • ATOMS: ALMA Three-millimeter Observations of Massive Star-forming regions -- XV. Steady Accretion from Global Collapse to Core Feeding in Massive Hub-filament System SDC335

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: We present ALMA Band-3/7 observations towards "the Heart" of a massive hub-filament system (HFS) SDC335, to investigate its fragmentation and accretion. At a resolution of $\sim0.03$ pc, 3 mm continuum emission resolves two massive dense cores MM1 and MM2, with $383(^{+234}_{-120})$ $M_\odot$ (10-24% mass of "the Heart") and $74(^{+47}_{-24})$ $M_\odot$, respectively. With a resolution down to 0.01 pc, 0.87 mm continuum emission shows MM1 further fragments into six condensations and multi-transition lines of H$_2$CS provide temperature estimation. The relation between separation and mass of condensations at a scale of 0.01 pc favors turbulent Jeans fragmentation where the turbulence seems to be scale-free rather than scale-dependent. We use the H$^{13}$CO$^+$ (1-0) emission line to resolve the complex gas motion inside "the Heart" in position-position-velocity space. We identify four major gas streams connected to large-scale filaments, inheriting the anti-clockwise spiral pattern. Along these streams, gas feeds the central massive core MM1. Assuming an inclination angle of $45(\pm15)^{\circ}$ and a H$^{13}$CO$^+$ abundance of $5(\pm3)\times10^{-11}$, the total mass infall rate is estimated to be $2.40(\pm0.78)\times10^{-3}$ $M_\odot$ yr$^{-1}$, numerically consistent with the accretion rates derived from the clump-scale spherical infall model and the core-scale outflows. The consistency suggests a continuous, near steady-state, and efficient accretion from global collapse, therefore ensuring core feeding. Our comprehensive study of SDC335 showcases the detailed gas kinematics in a prototypical massive infalling clump and calls for further systematic and statistical analyses in a large sample.

  • A Low-mass Cold and Quiescent Core Population in a Massive Star Protocluster

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: Pre-stellar cores represent the initial conditions of star formation. Although these initial conditions in nearby low-mass star-forming regions have been investigated in detail, such initial conditions remain vastly unexplored for massive star-forming regions. We report the detection of a cluster of low-mass starless and pre-stellar core candidates in a massive star protocluster forming cloud, NGC6334S. With the ALMA observations at a $\sim$0.02 pc spatial resolution, we identified 17 low-mass starless core candidates that do not show any evidence of protostellar activity. These candidates present small velocity dispersions, high fractional abundances of NH$_{2}$D, high NH$_{3}$ deuterium fractionations, and are completely dark in the infrared wavelengths from 3.6 up to 70~$\mu$m. Turbulence is significantly dissipated and the gas kinematics are dominated by thermal motions toward these candidates. Nine out of the 17 cores are gravitationally bound, and therefore are identified as pre-stellar core candidates. The embedded cores of NGC6334S show a wide diversity in masses and evolutionary stages.

  • ATOMS:ALMA Three-millimeter Observations of Massive Star-forming regions -- III :Catalogues of candidate hot molecular cores and Hyper/Ultra compact HII regions

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: We have identified 453 compact dense cores in 3 mm continuum emission maps in the ATOMS (ALMA Three-millimeter Observations of Massive Star-forming regions) survey, and compiled three catalogues of high-mass star forming cores. One catalogue, referred to as H/UC-HII catalogue, includes 89 cores that enshroud hyper/ultra compact (H/UC) HII regions as characterized by associated compact H40alpha emission. A second catalogue, referred to as pure s-cHMC, includes 32 candidate Hot Molecular Cores (HMCs) showing rich spectra (N>20lines) of complex organic molecules (COMs) but not associated with H/UC-HII regions. The third catalogue, referred to as pure w-cHMC, includes 58 candidate HMCs with relatively low levels of COM richness and not associated with H/UC-HII regions. These three catalogues of dense cores provide an important foundation for future studies of the early stages of high-mass star formation across the Milky Way. We also find that nearly half of H/UC-HII cores are candidate HMCs. From the number counts of COM-containing and H/UC-HII cores, we suggest that the duration of high-mass protostellar cores showing chemically rich features is at least comparable to the lifetime of H/UC-HII regions. For cores in the H/UC-HII catalogue, the width of the H40alpha line increases as the core size decreases, suggesting that the non-thermal dynamical and/or pressure line-broadening mechanisms dominate on the smaller scales of the H/UC-HII cores.

  • Convergent Filaments Contracting Towards an Intermediate-mass Prestellar Core

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: Filamentary structures are closely associated with star-forming cores, but their detailed physical connections are still not clear. We studied the dense gas in the region of OMC-3 MMS-7 in Orion A molecular cloud using the molecular lines observed with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and the Submillimeter Array (SMA). The ALMA N$_2$H$^+$ (1-0) emission has revealed three dense filaments intersected at the center, coincident with the central core MMS-7, which has a mass of $3.6\,M_\odot$. The filaments and cores are embedded in a parental clump with total mass of $29\,M_\odot$. The N$_2$H$^+$ velocity field exhibits a noticeable increasing trend along the filaments towards the central core MMS-7 with a scale of $v-v_{\rm lsr} \simeq 1.5$ ${\rm km\, s^{-1}}$ over a spatial range of $\sim$20 arcsec ($8\times 10^3$ AU), corresponding to a gradient of $40\,{\rm km\, s^{-1}}\,{\rm pc}^{-1}$. This feature is most likely to indicate an infall motion towards the center. The derived infall rate ($8\times 10^{-5}\,M_\odot$ year$^{-1}$) and timescale ($3.6\times 10^5$ years) are much lower than that in a spherical free-fall collapse and more consistent with the contraction of filament structures. The filaments also exhibit a possible fragmentation, but it does not seem to largely interrupt the gas structure or the infall motion towards the center. MMS-7 thus provides an example of filamentary infall into an individual prestellar core. The filament contraction could be less intense but more steady than the global spherical collapse, and may help generate an intermediate- or even high-mass star.

  • Clustered Formation of Massive Stars within an Ionized Rotating Disk

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: We present ALMA observations with a 800 au resolution and radiative-transfer modelling of the inner part ($r\approx6000$ au) of the ionized accretion flow around a compact star cluster in formation at the center of the luminous ultra-compact (UC) HII region G10.6-0.4. We modeled the flow with an ionized Keplerian disk with and without radial motions in its outer part, or with an external Ulrich envelope. The MCMC fits to the data give total stellar masses $M_\star$ from 120 to $200~M_\odot$, with much smaller ionized-gas masses $M_\mathrm{ion-gas} = 0.2$ to $0.25~M_\odot$. The stellar mass is distributed within the gravitational radius $R_g\approx 1000$ to 1500 au, where the ionized gas is bound. The viewing inclination angle from the face-on orientation is $i = 49$ to $56~\deg$. Radial motions at radii $r > R_g$ converge to $v_{r,0} \approx 8.7$ km/s, or about the speed of sound of ionized gas, indicating that this gas is marginally unbound at most. From additional constraints on the ionizing-photon rate and far-IR luminosity of the region, we conclude that the stellar cluster consists of a few massive stars with $M_\mathrm{star} = 32$ to $60~M_\odot$, or one star in this range of masses accompanied by a population of lower-mass stars. Any active accretion of ionized gas onto the massive (proto)stars is residual. The inferred cluster density is very large, comparable to that reported at similar scales in the Galactic Center. Stellar interactions are likely to occur within the next Myr.

  • Calibrating the Davis-Chandrasekhar-Fermi method with numerical simulations: uncertainties in estimating the magnetic field strength from statistics of field orientations

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: The Davis-Chandrasekhar-Fermi (DCF) method is widely used to indirectly estimate the magnetic field strength from the plane-of-sky field orientation. In this work, we present a set of 3D MHD simulations and synthetic polarization images using radiative transfer of clustered massive star-forming regions. We apply the DCF method on the synthetic polarization maps to investigate its reliability in high-density molecular clumps and dense cores where self-gravity is significant. We investigate the validity of the assumptions of the DCF method step by step and compare the model and estimated field strength to derive the correction factors for the estimated uniform and total (rms) magnetic field strength at clump and core scales. The correction factors in different situations are catalogued. We find the DCF method works well in strong field cases. However, the magnetic field strength in weak field cases could be significantly overestimated by the DCF method when the turbulent magnetic energy is smaller than the turbulent kinetic energy. We investigate the accuracy of the angular dispersion function (ADF, a modified DCF method) method on the effects that may affect the measured angular dispersion and find that the ADF method correctly accounts for the ordered field structure, the beam-smoothing, and the interferometric filtering, but may not be applicable to account for the signal integration along the line of sight in most cases. Our results suggest that the DCF methods should be avoided to be applied below $\sim$0.1 pc scales if the effect of line-of-sight signal integration is not properly addressed.

  • An ALMA study of outflow parameters of protoclusters: outflow feedback to maintain the turbulence

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: With the aim of understanding the role of outflows in star formation, we performed a statistical study of the physical parameters of outflows in eleven massive protoclusters associated with ultra-compact HII regions. A total of 106 outflow lobes are identified in these protoclusters using the ALMA CO (3-2), HCN (4-3) and HCO+ (4-3) line observations. Although the position angles of outflow lobes do not differ in these three tracers, HCN and HCO+ tend to detect lower terminal velocity of the identified outflows compared to CO. The majority of the outflows in our targets are young with typical dynamical time-scales of 10^2-10^4 years, and are mostly composed of low-mass outflows along with at least one high-mass outflow in each target. An anti-correlation of outflow rate with dynamical time-scale indicates that the outflow rate possibly decreases with time. Also, a rising trend of dynamical time-scale with the mass of the associated core hints that the massive cores might have longer accretion histories than the low mass cores. Estimation of different energies in these protoclusters shows that outflows studied here cannot account for the generation of the observed turbulence, but can sustain the turbulence at the current epoch as the energy injection rate from the outflows is similar to the estimated dissipation rate.

  • Planck Galactic Cold Clumps at High Galactic Latitude-A Study with CO Lines

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: Gas at high Galactic latitude is a relatively little-noticed component of the interstellar medium. In an effort to address this, forty-one Planck Galactic Cold Clumps at high Galactic latitude (HGal; $|b|>25^{\circ}$) were observed in $^{12}$CO, $^{13}$CO and C$^{18}$O J=1-0 lines, using the Purple Mountain Observatory 13.7-m telescope. $^{12}$CO (1-0) and $^{13}$CO (1-0) emission was detected in all clumps while C$^{18}$O (1-0) emission was only seen in sixteen clumps. The highest and average latitudes are $71.4^{\circ}$ and $37.8^{\circ}$, respectively. Fifty-one velocity components were obtained and then each was identified as a single clump. Thirty-three clumps were further mapped at 1$^\prime$ resolution and 54 dense cores were extracted. Among dense cores, the average excitation temperature $T_{\mathrm{ex}}$ of $^{12}$CO is 10.3 K. The average line widths of thermal and non-thermal velocity dispersions are $0.19$ km s$^{-1}$ and $0.46$ km s$^{-1}$ respectively, suggesting that these cores are dominated by turbulence. Distances of the HGal clumps given by Gaia dust reddening are about $120-360$ pc. The ratio of $X_{13}$/$X_{18}$ is significantly higher than that in the solar neighbourhood, implying that HGal gas has a different star formation history compared to the gas in the Galactic disk. HGal cores with sizes from $0.01-0.1$ pc show no notable Larson's relation and the turbulence remains supersonic down to a scale of slightly below $0.1$ pc. None of the HGal cores which bear masses from 0.01-1 $M_{\odot}$ are gravitationally bound and all appear to be confined by outer pressure.

  • Core mass function of a single giant molecular cloud complex with ~10^4 cores

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: Similarity in shape between the initial mass function (IMF) and the core mass functions (CMFs) in star-forming regions prompts the idea that the IMF originates from the CMF through a self-similar core-to-star mass mapping process. To accurately determine the shape of the CMF, we create a sample of 8,431 cores with the dust continuum maps of the Cygnus X giant molecular cloud complex, and design a procedure for deriving the CMF considering the mass uncertainty, binning uncertainty, sample incompleteness, and the statistical errors. The resultant CMF coincides well with the IMF for core masses from a few $M_{\odot}$ to the highest masses of 1300 $M_{\odot}$ with a power-law of ${\rm d}N/{\rm d}M\propto M^{-2.30\pm0.04}$, but does not present an obvious flattened turnover in the low-mass range as the IMF does. More detailed inspection reveals that the slope of the CMF steepens with increasing mass. Given the numerous high-mass star-forming activities of Cygnus X, this is in stark contrast with the existing top-heavy CMFs found in high-mass star-forming clumps. We also find that the similarity between the IMF and the mass function of cloud structures is not unique at core scales, but can be seen for cloud structures of up to several pc scales. Finally, our SMA observations toward a subset of the cores do not present evidence for the self-similar mapping. The latter two results indicate that the shape of the IMF may not be directly inherited from the CMF.

  • The DR21(OH) Trident -- Resolving the Massive Ridge into Three Entangled Fibers As the Initial Condition of Cluster Formation

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: DR21(OH) ridge, the central part of a high-mass star and cluster forming hub-filament system, is resolved spatially and kinematically into three nearly parallel fibers (f1, f2, and f3) with a roughly north-south orientation, using the observations of molecular transitions of H$^{13}$CO$^+$ (1-0), N$_2$H$^+$ (1-0), and NH$_2$D (1$_{1,1}$-1$_{0,1}$) with the Combined Array for Research in Millimeter Astronomy. These fibers are all mildly supersonic ($\sigma_{\rm V}$ about 2 times the sound speed), having lengths around 2 pc and widths about 0.1 pc, and they entangle and conjoin in the south where the most active high-mass star formation takes place. They all have line masses 1 - 2 orders of magnitude higher than their low-mass counterparts and are gravitationally unstable both radially and axially. However, only f1 exhibits high-mass star formation all the way along the fiber, yet f2 and f3 show no signs of significant star formation in their northern parts. A large velocity gradient increasing from north to south is seen in f3, and can be well reproduced with a model of free-fall motion toward the most massive and active dense core in the region, which corroborates the global collapse of the ridge and suggests that the disruptive effects of the tidal forces may explain the inefficiency of star formation in f2 and f3. On larger scales, some of the lower-density, peripheral filaments are likely to be the outer extensions of the fibers, and provide hints on the origin of the ridge.

  • Magnetic fields in the early stages of massive star formation as revealed by ALMA

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: We present 1.3 mm ALMA dust polarization observations at a resolution of $\sim$0.02 pc of three massive molecular clumps, MM1, MM4, and MM9, in the infrared dark cloud G28.34+0.06. With the sensitive and high-resolution continuum data, MM1 is resolved into a cluster of condensations. The magnetic field structure in each clump is revealed by the polarized emission. We found a trend of decreasing polarized emission fraction with increasing Stokes $I$ intensities in MM1 and MM4. Using the angular dispersion function method (a modified Davis-Chandrasekhar-Fermi method), the plane-of-sky magnetic field strength in two massive dense cores, MM1-Core1 and MM4-Core4, are estimated to be $\sim$1.6 mG and $\sim$0.32 mG, respectively. \textbf{The ordered magnetic energy is found to be smaller than the turbulent energy in the two cores, while the total magnetic energy is found to be comparable to the turbulent energy.} The total virial parameters in MM1-Core1 and MM4-Core4 are calculated to be $\sim$0.76 and $\sim$0.37, respectively, suggesting that massive star formation does not start in equilibrium. Using the polarization-intensity gradient-local gravity method, we found that the local gravity is closely aligned with intensity gradient in the three clumps, and the magnetic field tends to be aligned with the local gravity in MM1 and MM4 except for regions near the emission peak, which suggests that the gravity plays a dominant role in regulating the gas collapse. Half of the outflows in MM4 and MM9 are found to be aligned within 10$^{\circ}$ of the condensation-scale ($<$0.05 pc) magnetic field, indicating that the magnetic field could play an important role from condensation to disk scale in the early stage of massive star formation. We also found that the fragmentation in MM1-Core1 cannot be solely explained by thermal Jeans fragmentation or turbulent Jeans fragmentation.

  • Multi-scale physical properties of NGC 6334 as revealed by local relative orientations between magnetic fields, density gradients, velocity gradients, and gravity

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: We present ALMA dust polarization and molecular line observations toward 4 clumps (I(N), I, IV, and V) in the massive star-forming region NGC 6334. In conjunction with large-scale dust polarization and molecular line data from JCMT, Planck, and NANTEN2, we make a synergistic analysis of relative orientations between magnetic fields ($\theta_{\mathrm{B}}$), column density gradients ($\theta_{\mathrm{NG}}$), local gravity ($\theta_{\mathrm{LG}}$), and velocity gradients ($\theta_{\mathrm{VG}}$) to investigate the multi-scale (from $\sim$30 pc to 0.003 pc) physical properties in NGC 6334. We find that the relative orientation between $\theta_{\mathrm{B}}$ and $\theta_{\mathrm{NG}}$ changes from statistically more perpendicular to parallel as column density ($N_{\mathrm{H_2}}$) increases, which is a signature of trans-to-sub-Alfv\'{e}nic turbulence at complex/cloud scales as revealed by previous numerical studies. Because $\theta_{\mathrm{NG}}$ and $\theta_{\mathrm{LG}}$ are preferentially aligned within the NGC 6334 cloud, we suggest that the more parallel alignment between $\theta_{\mathrm{B}}$ and $\theta_{\mathrm{NG}}$ at higher $N_{\mathrm{H_2}}$ is because the magnetic field line is dragged by gravity. At even higher $N_{\mathrm{H_2}}$, the angle between $\theta_{\mathrm{B}}$ and $\theta_{\mathrm{NG}}$ or $\theta_{\mathrm{LG}}$ transits back to having no preferred orientation or statistically slightly more perpendicular, suggesting that the magnetic field structure is impacted by star formation activities. A statistically more perpendicular alignment is found between $\theta_{\mathrm{B}}$ and $\theta_{\mathrm{VG}}$ throughout our studied $N_{\mathrm{H_2}}$ range, which indicates a trans-to-sub-Alfv\'{e}nic state at small scales as well. The normalised mass-to-flux ratio derived from the polarization-intensity gradient (KTH) method increases with $N_{\mathrm{H_2}}$.

  • ATOMS: ALMA Three-millimeter Observations of Massive Star-forming regions -- VIII. A search for hot cores by using C$_2$H$_5$CN, CH$_3$OCHO and CH$_3$OH lines

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: Hot cores characterized by rich lines of complex organic molecules are considered as ideal sites for investigating the physical and chemical environments of massive star formation. We present a search for hot cores by using typical nitrogen- and oxygen-bearing complex organic molecules (C$_2$H$_5$CN, CH$_3$OCHO and CH$_3$OH), based on ALMA Three-millimeter Observations of Massive Star-forming regions (ATOMS). The angular resolutions and line sensitivities of the ALMA observations are better than 2 arcsec and 10 mJy/beam, respectively. A total of 60 hot cores are identified with 45 being newly detected, in which the complex organic molecules have high gas temperatures ($>$ 100 K) and small source sizes ($<$ 0.1 pc). So far this is the largest sample of hot cores observed with similar angular resolution and spectral coverage. The observations have also shown nitrogen and oxygen differentiation in both line emission and gas distribution in 29 hot cores. Column densities of CH$_3$OH and CH$_3$OCHO increase as rotation temperatures rise. The column density of CH$_3$OCHO correlates tightly with that of CH$_3$OH. The pathways for production of different species are discussed. Based on the spatial position difference between hot cores and UC~H{\sc ii} regions, we conclude that 24 hot cores are externally heated while the other hot cores are internally heated. The observations presented here will potentially help establish a hot core template for studying massive star formation and astrochemistry.

  • Magnetically regulated collapse in the B335 protostar? II. Observational constraints on gas ionization and magnetic field coupling

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: Non-ideal magnetohydrodynamic effects that rule the coupling of the magnetic field to the circumstellar gas during the low-mass star formation process depend heavily on the local physical conditions, such as the ionization fraction of the gas. The purpose of this work is to observationally characterize the level of ionization of the circumstellar gas at small envelope radii and investigate its relation to the efficiency of the coupling between the star-forming gas and the magnetic field in the Class 0 protostar B335. We have obtained molecular line emission maps of B335 with ALMA, which we use to measure the deuteration fraction of the gas, its ionization fraction, and the cosmic-ray ionization rate, at envelope radii $\lesssim$1000 au. We find large fractions of ionized gas, $\chi_{e} \simeq 1-8 \times 10^{-6}$. Our observations also reveal an enhanced ionization that increases at small envelope radii, reaching values up to $\zeta_{CR} \simeq 10^{-14}$~s$^{-1}$ at a few hundred au from the central protostellar object. We show that this extreme ionization rate can be attributed to the presence of cosmic rays accelerated close to the protostar. We report the first resolved map of the cosmic-ray ionization rate at scales $\lesssim 1000$~au in a solar-type Class 0 protostar, finding remarkably high values. Our observations suggest that local acceleration of cosmic rays, and not the penetration of interstellar Galactic cosmic rays, may be responsible for the gas ionization in the inner envelope, potentially down to disk forming scales. If confirmed, our findings imply that protostellar disk properties may also be determined by local processes setting the coupling between the gas and the magnetic field, and not only by the amount of angular momentum available at large envelope scales and the magnetic field strength in protostellar cores.

  • Magnetic fields in star formation: a complete compilation of all the DCF estimations

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: The Davis-Chandrasekhar-Fermi (DCF) method provides an indirect way to estimate the magnetic field strength from statistics of magnetic field orientations. We compile all the previous DCF estimations from polarized dust emission observations and re-calculate the magnetic field strength of the selected samples with the new DCF correction factors in Liu et al. (2021). We find the magnetic field scales with the volume density as $B \propto n^{0.57}$. However, the estimated power-law index of the observed $B-n$ relation has large uncertainties and may not be comparable to the $B-n$ relation of theoretical models. A clear trend of decreasing magnetic viral parameter (i.e., increasing mass-to-flux ratio in units of critical value) with increasing column density is found in the sample, which suggests the magnetic field dominates the gravity at lower densities but cannot compete with the gravity at higher densities. This finding also indicates that the magnetic flux is dissipated at higher column densities due to ambipolar diffusion or magnetic recennection, and the accumulation of mass at higher densities may be by mass flows along the magnetic field lines. Both sub-Alfv\'{e}nic and super-Alfv\'{e}nic states are found in the sample, with the average state being approximately trans-Alfv\'{e}nic.

  • The ALMA Survey of 70 $\mu \rm m$ Dark High-mass Clumps in Early Stages (ASHES). VII: Chemistry of Embedded Dense Cores

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: We present a study of chemistry toward 294 dense cores in 12 molecular clumps using the data obtained from the ALMA Survey of 70 $\mu \rm m$ dark High-mass clumps in Early Stages (ASHES). We identified 97 protostellar cores and 197 prestellar core candidates based on the detection of outflows and molecular transitions of high upper energy levels ($E_{u}/k > 45$ K). The detection rate of the N$_{2}$D$^{+}$ emission toward the protostellar cores is 38%, which is higher than 9% for the prestellar cores, indicating that N$_{2}$D$^{+}$ does not exclusively trace prestellar cores. The detection rates of the DCO$^{+}$ emission are 35% for the prestellar cores and 49% for the protostellar cores, which are higher than those of N$_{2}$D$^{+}$, implying that DCO$^{+}$ appears more frequently than N$_{2}$D$^{+}$ in both prestellar and protostellar cores. Both N$_{2}$D$^{+}$ and DCO$^{+}$ abundances appear to decrease from the prestellar to protostellar stage. The DCN, C$_{2}$D and $^{13}$CS emission lines are rarely seen in the dense cores of early evolutionary phases. The detection rate of the H$_{2}$CO emission toward dense cores is 52%, three times higher than that of CH$_{3}$OH (17%). In addition, the H$_{2}$CO detection rate, abundance, line intensities, and line widths increase with the core evolutionary status, suggesting that the H$_{2}$CO line emission is sensitive to protostellar activity.

  • ALMA observations of NGC 6334S. II. Subsonic and Transonic Narrow Filaments in a High-mass Star Formation Cloud

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: We present a study of narrow filaments toward a massive infrared dark cloud, NGC 6334S, using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). Thirteen gas filaments are identified using the H$^{13}$CO$^{+}$ line, while a single continuum filament is revealed by the continuum emission. The filaments present a compact radial distribution with a median filament width of $\sim$0.04 pc narrower than the previously proposed `quasi-universal' 0.1~pc filament width. The higher spatial resolution observations and higher-density gas tracer tend to identify even narrower and lower mass filaments. The filament widths are roughly twice the size of embedded cores. The gas filaments are largely supported by thermal motions. The nonthermal motions are predominantly subsonic and transonic in both identified gas filaments and embedded cores, which may imply that stars are likely born in environments of low turbulence. A fraction of embedded objects show a narrower velocity dispersion compared with their corresponding natal filaments, which may indicate that the turbulent dissipation is taking place in these embedded cores. The physical properties (mass, mass per unit length, gas kinematics, and width) of gas filaments are analogous to those of narrow filaments found in low- to high-mass star-forming regions. The more evolved sources are found to be farther away from the filaments, a situation that may have resulted from the relative motions between the YSOs and their natal filaments.