arXiv subjects

Gan Luo

Publications and source records attributed to Gan Luo.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2025

First Search for Pulsed CH Maser Emission Stimulated by a Pulsar

We present the first search for pulsed CH maser emission potentially stimulated by PSR J1644$-$4559, conducted using the ultra-wide-bandwidth low-frequency receiver on Murriyang, CSIRO's Parkes Radio Telescope. Observations targeted three CH $Λ$-doublet transitions at 3264, 3335, and 3349 MHz, with a variability timescale of 78 ms. We detected ten CH emission features at 3335 and 3349 MHz, and seven features at 3264 MHz, during both pulsar-ON and pulsar-OFF phases. The observed velocities align with the OH emission and absorption reported by a previous study, suggesting a close spatial association between CH and OH molecules. The derived column densities for CH clouds within the Parkes beam range from $0.05$ to $9.8 \times 10^{13}$ cm$^{-2}$, indicating that these clouds are likely in diffuse and translucent states. Upper limits for CH column densities within the pulsar beam ranged from $0.3$ to $9.8 \times 10^{13}$ cm$^{-2}$. Comparison of these column densities suggests that CH clouds may exhibit clumpiness and substructure. No significant stimulated emission feature was detected in the optical depth spectra. Additionally, as part of our search for pulsed stimulated emission, we investigated the potential CH absorption of the pulsar signal and found none, in agreement with astrophysical expectations. The upper limits for the potential maser amplification factors towards PSR J1644$-$4559 at 3264, 3335, and 3349 MHz are 1.014, 1.009, and 1.009, respectively. This study demonstrates the feasibility of detecting pulsed CH maser emission in the interstellar medium stimulated by pulsar photons.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2025

Inadequate turbulent support in low-metallicity molecular clouds

The dynamic properties of molecular clouds are set by the interplay of their self-gravity, turbulence, external pressure and magnetic fields. Extended surveys of Galactic molecular clouds typically find that their kinetic energy ($E_{\rm k}$) counterbalances their self-gravitational energy ($E_{\rm g}$), setting their virial parameter $α_{\rm vir}=2E_{\rm k}/|E_{\rm g}|\approx1$. However, past studies either have been biased by the use of optically-thick lines or have been limited within the solar neighborhood and the inner Galaxy (Galactocentric radius $R_{\rm gc}<R_{\rm gc,\odot} \approx 8$ kpc). Here we present sensitive mapping observations of optically thin $^{13}$CO lines towards molecular clouds in the low-metallicity Galactic outer disk ($R_{\rm gc}\sim9-24$ kpc). By combining archival data from the inner Galaxy and four nearby metal-poor dwarf galaxies, we reveal a systematic trend of $α_{\rm vir}$, which declines from supervirial dynamic states in metal-rich clouds to extremely subvirial dynamic states in metal-poor clouds. In these metal-poor environments, turbulence alone is insufficient to counterbalance the self-gravity of a cloud. A cloud-volumetric magnetic field may replace turbulence as the dominant cloud-supporting mechanism in low-metallicity conditions, for example, the outermost galactic disks, dwarf galaxies and galaxies in the early Universe, which would then inevitably impact the initial conditions for star formation in such environments.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2024

A new measurement of the Galactic $^{12}$C/$^{13}$C gradient from sensitive HCO$^+$ absorption observations

We present a new constraint on the Galactic $^{12}$C/$^{13}$C gradient with sensitive HCO$^+$ absorption observations against strong continuum sources. The new measurements suffer less from beam dilution, optical depths, and chemical fractionation, allowing us to derive the isotopic ratios precisely. The measured $^{12}$C/$^{13}$C ratio in the Solar neighborhood (66$\pm$5) is consistent with those obtained from CH$^+$. Two measurements toward the Galactic Center are 42.2$\pm$1.7 and 37.5$\pm$6.5. Though the values are a factor of 2$\sim$3 higher than those derived from dense gas tracers (e.g., H$_2$CO, complex organic molecules) toward Sagittarius (Sgr) B2 regions, our results are consistent with the absorption measurements from c-C$_3$H$_2$ toward Sgr B2 ($\sim$40), and those from CH$^+$ toward Sgr A$^*$ and Sgr B2(N) ($>$30). We calculate a new Galactic $^{12}$C/$^{13}$C gradient of (6.4$\pm$1.9)$R_{\rm GC}$/kpc+(25.9$\pm$10.5), and find an increasing trend of $^{12}$C/$^{13}$C gradient obtained from high-density to low-density gas tracers, suggesting opacity effects and chemical fractionation may have a strong impact on the isotopic ratios observed at high-density regions.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2024

A new analytic approach to infer the cosmic-ray ionization rate in hot molecular cores from HCO$^+$, N$_2$H$^+$, and CO observations

The cosmic-ray ionization rate ($ζ_2$) is one of the key parameters in star formation, since it regulates the chemical and dynamical evolution of molecular clouds by ionizing molecules and determining the coupling between the magnetic field and gas. However, measurements of $ζ_2$ in dense clouds (e.g., $n_{\rm H} \geq 10^4$ cm$^{-3}$) are difficult and sensitive to the model assumptions. The aim is to find a convenient analytic approach that can be used in high-mass star-forming regions (HMSFRs), especially for warm gas environments such as hot molecular cores (HMCs). We propose a new analytic approach to calculate $ζ_2$ through HCO$^+$, N$_2$H$^+$, and CO measurements. Our method gives a good approximation, to within $50$\%, of $ζ_2$ in dense and warm gas (e.g., $n_{\rm H} \geq 10^4$ cm$^{-3}$, $T = 50, 100$ K) for $A_{\rm V} \geq 4$ mag and $t \geq 2\times10^4$ yr at Solar metallicity. The analytic approach gives better results for higher densities. However, it starts to underestimate the CRIR at low metallicity ($Z = 0.1Z_\odot$) and high CRIR ($ζ_2 \geq 3\times10^{-15}$ s$^{-1}$). By applying our method to the OMC-2 FIR4 envelope and the L1157-B1 shock region, we find $ζ_2$ values of $(1.0\pm0.3)\times10^{-14}$ s$^{-1}$ and $(2.2\pm0.4)\times10^{-16}$ s$^{-1}$, consistent with those previously reported. We calculate $ζ_2$ toward a total of 82 samples in HMSFRs, finding that the average value of $ζ_2$ toward all HMC samples ($ζ_2$ = (7.4$\pm$5.0)$\times$10$^{-16}$ s$^{-1}$) is more than an order of magnitude higher than the theoretical prediction of cosmic-ray attenuation models, favoring the scenario that locally accelerated cosmic rays in embedded protostars should be responsible for the observed high $ζ_2$.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2024

The CO-dark molecular gas in the cold HI arc

The CO-dark molecular gas (DMG), which refers to the molecular gas not traced by CO emission, is crucial for the evolution of the interstellar medium (ISM). While the gas properties of DMG have been widely explored in the Solar neighborhood, whether or not they are similar in the outer disk regions of the Milky Way is still not well understood. In this Letter, we confirm the existence of DMG toward a cold HI arc structure at 13 kpc away from the Galactic center with both OH emission and HI narrow self-absorption (HINSA). This is the first detection of HINSA in the outer disk region, in which the HINSA fraction ($N_{\rm HINSA}$/$N_{\rm H_2}$ = 0.022$\pm$0.011) is an order of magnitude higher than the average value observed in nearby evolved dark clouds, but is consistent with that of the early evolutionary stage of dark clouds. The inferred H$_2$ column density from both extinction and OH emission ($N_{\rm H_2} \approx 10^{20}$ cm$^{-2}$) is an order of magnitude higher than previously estimated. Although the ISM environmental parameters are expected to be different between the outer Galactic disk regions and the Solar neighborhood, we find that the visual extinction ($A_{\rm V}$ = 0.19$\pm$0.03 mag), H$_2$-gas density ($n_{\rm H_2} = 91\pm46$ cm$^{-3}$), and molecular fraction (58\%$\pm$28\%) of the DMG are rather similar to those of nearby diffuse molecular clouds. The existence of DMG associated with the expanding HI supershell supports a scenario where the expansion of supershells may trigger the formation of molecular clouds within a crossing timescale of the shock wave ($\sim$10$^6$ yr).

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2023

$α$-enhanced Astrochemistry: the Carbon cycle in extreme galactic conditions

Astrochemistry has been widely developed as a power tool to probe physical properties of the interstellar medium (ISM) in various conditions of the Milky Way (MW) Galaxy, and in near and distant galaxies. Most current studies conventionally apply linear scaling to all elemental abundances based on the gas-phase metallicity. However, these elements, including carbon and oxygen, are enriched differentially by stellar nucleosynthesis and the overall galactic chemical evolution, evident from $α$-enhancement in multiple galactic observations such as starbursts, high-redshift star-forming galaxies, and low-metallicity dwarfs. We perform astrochemical modeling to simulate the impact of an $α$-enhanced ISM gas cloud on the abundances of the three phases of carbon (C$^+$, C, CO) dubbed as `the carbon cycle'. The ISM environmental parameters considered include two cosmic-ray ionization rates ($ζ_{\rm CR}=10^{-17}$ and $10^{-15}\,{\rm s}^{-1}$), two isotropic FUV radiation field strengths ($χ/χ_0=1$ and $10^2$), and (sub-)linear dust-to-gas relations against metallicity, mimicking the ISM conditions of different galaxy types. In galaxies with [C/O] $<$ 0, CO, C and C$^+$ all decrease in both abundances and emission, though with differential biases. The low-$J$ CO emission is found to be the most stable tracer for the molecular gas, while C and C$^+$ trace H$_2$ gas only under limited conditions, in line with recent discoveries of [CI]-dark galaxies. We call for caution when using [CII]~$158μ$m and [CI](1-0) as alternative H$_2$-gas tracers for both diffuse and dense gas with non-zero [C/O] ratios.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2023

Temporal and Spectral Properties of the Persistent Radio Source Associated with FRB 20190520B with the VLA

Among more than 800 known fast radio bursts (FRBs), only two, namely FRB 20121102A and FRB 20190520B, are confirmed to be associated with a persistent radio sources (PRS). Here we report evidence of apparent temporal variability in the PRS associated with the bursting FRB 20190520B based on the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) observations taken in 2020 and 2021. Based on the analysis of epoch-to-epoch variability of the PRS at L, S, C, and X band in 1-12 GHz, we detected not only overall marginal variability but also a likely radio flux decrease ($\sim$ 3.2 $σ$) between the observations taken in 2020 and 2021 at 3 GHz. Assuming no spectral variation in the PRS during these observations, we found the evidence for an overall broadband radio flux decrease by about 20 percent between the 2020 and the 2021 observations, suggesting that the PRS probably evolves on the yearly time scale. If we attribute the marginal variability at 3 GHz as intrinsic or due to scintillation, the size of potential variable component of the PRS is constrained to be sub-parsec. On the other hand, the size of the PRS can be also constrained to be larger than about 0.22 parsec from the averaged radio spectrum and the integrated radio luminosity in the 1-12 GHz band based on equipartition and self-absorption arguments. We discuss potential origins of the PRS and suggest that an accreting compact object origin might be able to explain the PRS's temporal and spectral properties. Confirmation of variability or flux decline of the PRS would be critical to our understanding of the PRS and its relation to the bursting source.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2023

Abundance ratios of OH/CO and HCO+/CO as probes of the cosmic ray ionization rate in diffuse clouds

The cosmic-ray ionization rate (CRIR, $ζ_2$) is one of the key parameters controlling the formation and destruction of various molecules in molecular clouds. However, the current most commonly used CRIR tracers, such as H$_3^+$, OH$^+$, and H$_2$O$^+$, are hard to detect and require the presence of background massive stars for absorption measurements. In this work, we propose an alternative method to infer the CRIR in diffuse clouds using the abundance ratios of OH/CO and HCO$^+$/CO. We have analyzed the response of chemical abundances of CO, OH, and HCO$^+$ on various environmental parameters of the interstellar medium in diffuse clouds and found that their abundances are proportional to $ζ_2$. Our analytic expressions give an excellent calculation of the abundance of OH for $ζ_2$ $\leq$10$^{-15}$ s$^{-1}$, which are potentially useful for modelling chemistry in hydrodynamical simulations. The abundances of OH and HCO$^+$ were found to monotonically decrease with increasing density, while the CO abundance shows the opposite trend. With high-sensitivity absorption transitions of both CO (1--0) and (2--1) lines from ALMA, we have derived the H$_2$ number densities ($n_{\rm H_2}$) toward 4 line-of-sights (LOSs); assuming a kinetic temperature of $T_{\rm k}=50\,{\rm K}$, we find a range of (0.14$\pm$0.03--1.2$\pm$0.1)$\times$10$^2$ cm$^{-3}$}. By comparing the observed and modelled HCO$^+$/CO ratios, we find that $ζ_2$ in our diffuse gas sample is in the { range of $1.0_{-1.0}^{+14.8}$ $\times$10$^{-16}- 2.5_{-2.4}^{+1.4}$ $\times$10$^{-15}$ s$^{-1}$. This is $\sim$2 times higher than the average value measured at higher extinction, supporting an attenuation of CRs as suggested by theoretical models.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2022

Coarse particulate matter air quality in East Asia: implications for fine particulate nitrate

Coarse particulate matter (PM) is a serious air pollution problem in East Asia. Analysis of air quality network observations in the North China Plain and the Seoul Metropolitan Area shows that it is mainly anthropogenic and has decreased by 21% over 2015-2019. This anthropogenic coarse PM is generally not included in air quality models but scavenges nitric acid to suppress the formation of fine particulate (PM2.5) nitrate, a major contributor to PM2.5 pollution. Including it in the GEOS-Chem model decreases simulated PM2.5 nitrate to improve agreement with observations. Decreasing anthropogenic coarse PM over 2015-2019 directly increases PM2.5 nitrate in summer, offsetting the effect of other emission controls, while in winter it increases the sensitivity of PM2.5 nitrate to ammonia and sulfur dioxide emissions. Our work implies the need for stronger ammonia and nitrogen oxides emission controls to improve PM2.5 air quality as coarse PM continues to decrease.

physics.ao-ph↗

arXiv2022

Dependence of Chemical Abundance on the Cosmic Ray Ionization Rate in IC 348

Ions (e.g., H$_3^+$, H$_2$O$^+$) have been used extensively to quantify the cosmic-ray ionization rate (CRIR) in diffuse sightlines. However, measurements of CRIR in low-to-intermediate density gas environments are rare, especially when background stars are absent. In this work, we combine molecular line observations of CO, OH, CH, and HCO$^+$ in the star-forming cloud IC~348, and chemical models to constrain the value of CRIR and study the response of the chemical abundances distribution. The cloud boundary is found to have an $A_{\rm V}$ of approximately 4 mag. From the interior to the exterior of the cloud, the observed $^{13}$CO line intensities drop by an order of magnitude. The calculated average abundance of $^{12}$CO (assuming $^{12}$C/$^{13}$C = 65) is (1.2$\pm$0.9) $\times$10$^{-4}$, which increases by a factor of 6 from the interior to the outside regions. The average abundance of CH (3.3$\pm$0.7 $\times$ 10$^{-8}$) is in good agreement with previous findings in diffuse and translucent clouds ($A_{\rm V}$ $<$ 5 mag). However, we did not find a decline in CH abundance in regions of high extinction ($A_{\rm V}\simeq$8 mag) as previously reported in Taurus. By comparing the observed molecular abundances and chemical models, we find a decreasing trend of CRIR as $A_{\rm V}$ increases. The inferred CRIR of $ζ_{cr}$ = (4.7$\pm$1.5) $\times$ 10$^{-16}$ s$^{-1}$ at low $A_{\rm V}$ is consistent with H$^+_3$ measurements toward two nearby massive stars.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2021

The role of neutral hydrogen in setting the abundances of molecular species in the Milky Way's diffuse interstellar medium. II. Comparison between observations and theoretical models

We compare observations of HI from the Very Large Array (VLA) and the Arecibo Observatory and observations of HCO$^+$ from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and the Northern Extended Millimeter Array (NOEMA) in the diffuse ($A_V\lesssim1$) interstellar medium (ISM) to predictions from a photodissociation region (PDR) chemical model and multi-phase ISM simulations. Using a coarse grid of PDR models, we estimate the density, FUV radiation field, and cosmic ray ionization rate (CRIR) for each structure identified in HCO$^+$ and HI absorption. These structures fall into two categories. Structures with $T_s<40~\mathrm{K}$, mostly with $N(\mathrm{HCO^+})\lesssim10^{12}~\mathrm{cm^{-2}}$, are consistent with modest density, FUV radiation field, and CRIR models, typical of the diffuse molecular ISM. Structures with spin temperature $T_s>40~\mathrm{K}$, mostly with $N(\mathrm{HCO^+})\gtrsim10^{12}~\mathrm{cm^{-2}}$, are consistent with high density, FUV radiation field, and CRIR models, characteristic of environments close to massive star formation. The latter are also found in directions with a significant fraction of thermally unstable HI. In at least one case, we rule out the PDR model parameters, suggesting that alternative mechanisms (e.g., non-equilibrium processes like turbulent dissipation and/or shocks) are required to explain the observed HCO$^+$ in this direction. Similarly, while our observations and simulations of the turbulent, multi-phase ISM agree that HCO$^+$ formation occurs along sightlines with $N(\mathrm{HI})\gtrsim10^{21}~\mathrm{cm^{-2}}$, the simulated data fail to explain HCO$^+$ column densities $\gtrsim\rm{few}\times10^{12}~\mathrm{cm^{-2}}$. Since a majority of our sightlines with HCO$^+$ had such high column densities, this likely indicates that non-equilibrium chemistry is important for these lines of sight.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2021

Precise Measurements of CH Maser Emission and Its Abundance in Translucent Clouds

We present high-sensitivity CH 9 cm ON/OFF observations toward 18 extra-galactic continuum sources that have been detected with OH 18 cm absorption in the Millennium survey with the Arecibo telescope. CH emission was detected toward six of eighteen sources. The excitation temperature of CH has been derived directly through analyzing all detected ON and OFF velocity components. The excitation temperature of CH 3335 MHz transition ranges from $-54.5$ to $-0.4$ K and roughly follows a log-normal distribution peaking within [$-$5, 0] K, which implies overestimation by 20% to more than ten times during calculating CH column density by assuming the conventional value of $-60$ or $-10$ K. Furthermore, the column density of CH would be underestimated by a factor of $1.32\pm 0.03$ when adopting local thermal equilibrium (LTE) assumption instead of using the CH three hyperfine transitions. We found a correlation between the column density of CH and OH following log$N$(CH) = (1.80$\pm$ 0.49) log$N$(OH) $-11.59 \pm 6.87$. The linear correlation between the column density of CH and H$_2$ is consistent with that derived from visible wavelengths studies, confirming that CH is one of the best tracers of H$_2$ component in diffuse molecular gas.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2021

The role of neutral hydrogen in setting the abundances of molecular species in the Milky Way's diffuse interstellar medium. I. Observational constraints from ALMA and NOEMA

We have complemented existing observations of HI absorption with new observations of HCO$^+$, C$_2$H, HCN, and HNC absorption from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and the Northern Extended Millimeter Array (NOEMA) in the direction of 20 background radio continuum sources with $4^\circ \leq |b| \leq 81^\circ$ to constrain the atomic gas conditions that are suitable for the formation of diffuse molecular gas. We find that these molecular species form along sightlines where $A_V \gtrsim 0.25$, consistent with the threshold for the HI-to-H$_2$ transition at solar metallicity. Moreover, we find that molecular gas is associated only with structures that have an HI optical depth $> 0.1$, a spin temperature $< 80$ K, and a turbulent Mach number $\gtrsim 2$. We also identify a broad, faint component to the HCO$^+$ absorption in a majority of sightlines. Compared to the velocities where strong, narrow HCO$^+$ absorption is observed, the HI at these velocities has a lower cold neutral medium (CNM) fraction and negligible CO emission. The relative column densities and linewidths of the different molecular species observed here are similar to those observed in previous experiments over a range of Galactic latitudes, suggesting that gas in the solar neighborhood and gas in the Galactic plane are chemically similar. For a select sample of previously-observed sightlines, we show that the absorption line profiles of HCO$^+$, HCN, HNC, and C$_2$H are stable over periods of $\sim 3$ years and $\sim 25$ years, likely indicating that molecular gas structures in these directions are at least $\gtrsim 100$ AU in size

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2021

Convergent Filaments Contracting Towards an Intermediate-mass Prestellar Core

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.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2020

OH Evolution in Molecular Clouds

We have conducted OH 18 cm survey toward 141 molecular clouds in various environments, including 33 optical dark clouds, 98 Planck Galactic cold clumps (PGCCs) and 10 Spitzer dark clouds with the Arecibo telescope. The deviations from local thermal equilibrium are common for intensity ratios of both OH main lines and satellite lines. Line intensity of OH 1667 MHz is found to correlate linearly with visual extinction $A\rm_V$ when $A\rm_V$ is less than 3 mag. It was converted into OH column density by adopting excitation temperature derived from Monte Carlo simulations with one sigma uncertainty. The relationship between OH abundance $X$(OH) relative to H$_2$ and $A\rm_V$ is found to follow an empirical formula, \begin{equation} \nonumber \frac{X(\textrm{OH})}{10^{-7}} = 1.3^{+0.4}_{-0.4} + 6.3^{+0.5}_{-0.5}\times \textrm{exp}(-\frac{A_\textrm{V}}{2.9^{+0.6}_{-0.6}}). \end{equation} Linear correlation is found between OH and $^{13}$CO intensity. Besides, nonthermal velocity dispersions of OH and $^{13}$CO are closely correlated. These results imply tight chemical evolution and spatial occupation between OH and $^{13}$CO. No obvious correlation is found between column density and nonthermal velocity dispersion of OH and HI Narrow Self-Absorption (HINSA), indicating different chemical evolution and spatial volume occupation between OH and HINSA. Using the age information of HINSA analysis, OH abundance $X$(OH) is found to increase linearly with cloud age, which is consistent with previous simulations. Fourteen OH components without corresponding CO emission were detected, implying the effectiveness of OH in tracing the `CO-dark' molecular gas.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2020

Filament Intersections and Cold Dense Cores in Orion A North

We studied the filament structures and dense cores in OMC-2,3 region in Orion A North molecular cloud using the high-resolution N2H+ (1-0) spectral cube observed with the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA). The filament network over a total length of 2 pc is found to contain 170 intersections and 128 candidate dense cores. The dense cores are all displaced from the infrared point sources (possible young stars), and the major fraction of cores (103) are located around the intersections. Towards the intersections, there is also an increasing trend for the total column density Ntot as well as the the power-law index of the column-density Probability Distribution Function (N-PDF), suggesting that the intersections would in general have more significant gas assembly than the other part of the filament paths. The virial analysis shows that the dense cores mostly have virial mass ratio of alpha_vir=M_vir/M_gas<1.0, suggesting them to be bounded by the self gravity. In the mean time, only about 23 percent of the cores have critical mass ratio of alpha_crit=M_crit/M_gas<1.0, suggesting them to be unstable against core collapse. Combining these results, it shows that the major fraction of the cold starless and possible prestellar cores in OMC-2,3 are being assembled around the intersections, and currently in a gravitationally bound state. But more extensive core collapse and star formation may still require continuous core-mass growth or other perturbatio

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2019

Revealing The CO X-factor In Dark Molecular Gas through Sensitive ALMA Absorption Observations

Carbon-bearing molecules, particularly CO, have been widely used as tracers of molecular gas in the interstellar medium (ISM). In this work, we aim to study the properties of molecules in diffuse, cold environments, where CO tends to be under-abundant and/or sub-thermally excited. We performed one of the most sensitive (down to $\mathrm{τ_{rms}^{CO} \sim 0.002}$ and $\mathrm{τ_{rms}^{HCO^+} \sim 0.0008}$) sub-millimeter molecular absorption line observations towards 13 continuum sources with the ALMA. CO absorption was detected in diffuse ISM down to $\mathrm{A_v< 0.32\,mag}$ and \hcop was down to $\mathrm{A_v < 0.2\,mag}$, where atomic gas and dark molecular gas (DMG) starts to dominate. Multiple transitions measured in absorption toward 3C454.3 allow for a direct determination of excitation temperatures $\mathrm{T_{ex}}$ of 4.1\,K and 2.7\,K, for CO and for \hcop, respectively, which are close to the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and provide explanation for their being undercounted in emission surveys. A stronger linear correlation was found between $\mathrm{N_{HCO^+}}$ and $\mathrm{N_{H_2}}$ (Pearson correlation coefficient P $\sim$ 0.93) than that of $\mathrm{N_{CO}}$ and $\mathrm{N_{H_2}}$ (P $\sim$ 0.33), suggesting \hcop\ being a better tracer of H$_2$ than CO in diffuse gas. The derived CO-to-\h2 conversion factor (the CO X-factor) of (14 $\pm$ 3) $\times$ 10$^{20}$ cm$^{-2}$ (K \kms)$^{-1}$ is approximately 6 times larger than the average value found in the Milky Way.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2019

Sulfur-bearing molecules in Orion KL

We present an observational study of the sulfur (S)-bearing species towards Orion KL at 1.3 mm by combining ALMA and IRAM-30\,m single-dish data. At a linear resolution of $\sim$800 au and a velocity resolution of 1 $\mathrm{km\, s^{-1}\, }$, we have identified 79 molecular lines from 6 S-bearing species. In these S-bearing species, we found a clear dichotomy between carbon-sulfur compounds and carbon-free S-bearing species in various characteristics, e.g., line profiles, spatial morphology, and molecular abundances with respect to $\rm H_2$. Lines from the carbon-sulfur compounds (i.e., OCS, $^{13}$CS, H$_2$CS) exhibit spatial distributions concentrated around the continuum peaks and extended to the south ridge. The full width at half maximum (FWHM) linewidth of these molecular lines is in the range of 2 $\sim$ 11 $\mathrm{km\, s^{-1}\, }$. The molecular abundances of OCS and H$_2$CS decrease slightly from the cold ($\sim$68 K) to the hot ($\sim$176 K) regions. In contrast, lines from the carbon-free S-bearing species (i.e., SO$_2$, $^{34}$SO, H$_2$S) are spatially more extended to the northeast of mm4, exhibiting broader FWHM linewidths (15 $\sim$ 26 $\mathrm{km\, s^{-1}\, }$). The molecular abundances of carbon-free S-bearing species increase by over an order of magnitude as the temperature increase from 50 K to 100 K. In particular, $\mathrm{^{34}SO/^{34}SO_2}$ and $\mathrm{OCS/SO_2}$ are enhanced from the warmer regions ($>$100 K) to the colder regions ($\sim$50 K). Such enhancements are consistent with the transformation of SO$_2$ at warmer regions and the influence of shocks.

astro-ph.SR↗