arXiv subjects

Michael Chun-Yuan Chen

Publications and source records attributed to Michael Chun-Yuan Chen.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

The Green Bank Ammonia Survey: Data Release 2

We present an overview of the final data release (DR2) from the Green Bank Ammonia Survey (GAS). GAS is a Large Program at the Green Bank Telescope to map all Gould Belt star-forming regions with $A_\mathrm{V} \gtrsim 7$~mag visible from the northern hemisphere in emission from NH$_3$ and other key molecular tracers. This final release includes the data for all the regions observed: Heiles Cloud 2 and B18 in Taurus; Barnard 1, Barnard 1-E, IC348, NGC 1333, L1448, L1451, and Per7/34 in Perseus; L1688 and L1689 in Ophiuchus; Orion A (North and South) and Orion B in Orion; Cepheus, B59 in Pipe; Corona Australis (CrA) East and West; IC5146; and Serpens Aquila and MWC297 in Serpens. Similar to what was presented in GAS DR1, we find that the NH$_3$ emission and dust continuum emission from Herschel correspond closely. We find that the NH$_3$ emission is generally extended beyond the typical 0.1 pc length scales of dense cores, and we find that the transition between coherent core and turbulent cloud is a common result. This shows that the regions of coherence are common throughout different star forming regions, with a substantial fraction of the high column density regions displaying subsonic non-thermal velocity dispersions. We produce maps of the gas kinematics, temperature, and NH$_3$ column densities through forward modeling of the hyperfine structure of the NH$_3$ (1,1) and (2,2) lines. We show that the NH$_3$ velocity dispersion, $σ_v$, and gas kinetic temperature, $T_{\rm kin}$, vary systematically between the regions included in this release, with an increase in both the mean value and spread of $σ_v$ and $T_{\rm kin}$ with increasing star formation activity. The data presented in this paper are publicly available via \dataset[DOI: 10.11570/24.0091]{https://doi.org/10.11570/24.0091}.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2024

Filament Accretion and Fragmentation in the Perseus Molecular Cloud

Observations suggest that filaments in molecular clouds can grow by mass accretion while forming cores via fragmentation. Here we present one of the first large sample studies of filament accretion using velocity gradient measurements of star-forming filaments on the $\sim 0.05$ pc scale with NH$_3$ observations of the Perseus Molecular Cloud, primarily obtained as a part of the GBT Ammonia Survey (GAS). In this study, we find significant correlations between velocity gradient, velocity dispersion, mass per unit length, and the number of cores per unit length of the Perseus filaments. Our results suggest a scenario in which filaments not only grow through mass accretion but also form new cores continuously in the process well into the thermally supercritical regime. Such behavior is contrary to that expected from isolated filament models but consistent with how filaments form within a more realistic cloud environment, suggesting that the cloud environment plays a crucial role in shaping core formation and evolution in filaments. Furthermore, even though velocity gradients within filaments are not oriented randomly, we find no correlation between velocity gradient orientation and the filament properties we analyzed. This result suggests that gravity is unlikely the dominant mechanism imposing order on the $\sim 0.05$ pc scale for dense star-forming gas.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2024

Relative Alignments Between Magnetic Fields, Velocity Gradients, and Dust Emission Gradients in NGC 1333

Magnetic fields play an important role in shaping and regulating star formation in molecular clouds. Here, we present one of the first studies examining the relative orientations between magnetic ($B$) fields and the dust emission, gas column density, and velocity centroid gradients on the 0.02 pc (core) scales, using the BISTRO and VLA+GBT observations of the NGC 1333 star-forming clump. We quantified these relative orientations using the Project Rayleigh Statistic (PRS) and found preferential global parallel alignment between the $B$ field and dust emission gradients, consistent with large-scale studies with Planck. No preferential global alignments, however, are found between the $B$ field and velocity gradients. Local PRS calculated for subregions defined by either dust emission or velocity coherence further revealed that the $B$ field does not preferentially align with dust emission gradients in most emission-defined subregions, except in the warmest ones. The velocity-coherent structures, on the other hand, also showed no preferred $B$ field alignments with velocity gradients, except for one potentially bubble-compressed region. Interestingly, the velocity gradient magnitude in NGC 1333 ubiquitously features prominent ripple-like structures that are indicative of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves. Finally, we found $B$ field alignments with the emission gradients to correlate with dust temperature and anticorrelate with column density, velocity dispersion, and velocity gradient magnitude. The latter two anticorrelations suggest that alignments between gas structures and $B$ fields can be perturbed by physical processes that elevate velocity dispersion and velocity gradients, such as infall, accretions, and MHD waves.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2023

Infall of material onto the filaments in Barnard 5

Aims. We aim to study the structure and kinematics of the two filaments inside the subsonic core Barnard 5 in Perseus using high-resolution ($\approx$ 2400 au) NH3 data and a multi-component fit analysis. Methods. We used observations of NH3 (1,1) and (2,2) inversion transitions using the Very Large Array (VLA) and the Green Bank Telescope (GBT). We smoothed the data to a beam of 8'' to reliably fit multiple velocity components towards the two filamentary structures identified in B5. Results. Along with the core and cloud components, which dominate the flux in the line of sight, we detected two components towards the two filaments showing signs of infall. We also detected two additional components that can possibly trace new material falling into the subsonic core of B5. Conclusions. Following comparison with previous simulations of filament formation scenarios in planar geometry, we conclude that either the formation of the B5 filaments is likely to be rather cylindrically symmetrical or the filaments are magnetically supported. We also estimate infall rates of $1.6\times10^{-4}\,M_\odot\,yr^{-1}$ and $1.8\times10^{-4}\,M_\odot\,yr^{-1}$ (upper limits) for the material being accreted onto the two filaments. At these rates, the filament masses can change significantly during the core lifetime. We also estimate an upper limit of $3.5\times10^{-5}\,M_\odot\,yr^{-1}$ for the rate of possible infall onto the core itself. Accretion of new material onto cores indicates the need for a significant update to current core evolution models, where cores are assumed to evolve in isolation.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2023

Velocity-Coherent Substructure in TMC-1: Inflow and Fragmentation

Filamentary structures have been found nearly ubiquitously in molecular clouds and yet their formation and evolution is still poorly understood. We examine a segment of Taurus Molecular Cloud 1 (TMC-1) that appears as a single, narrow filament in continuum emission from dust. We use the Regularized Optimization for Hyper-Spectral Analysis (ROHSA), a Gaussian decomposition algorithm which enforces spatial coherence when fitting multiple velocity components simultaneously over a data cube. We analyze HC$_5$N (9-8) line emission as part of the Green Bank Ammonia Survey (GAS) and identify three velocity-coherent components with ROHSA. The two brightest components extend the length of the filament, while the third component is fainter and clumpier. The brightest component has a prominent transverse velocity gradient of $2.7 \pm 0.1$ km s$^{-1}$ pc$^{-1}$ that we show to be indicative of gravitationally induced inflow. In the second component, we identify regularly spaced emission peaks along its length. We show that the local minima between pairs of adjacent HC$_5$N peaks line up closely with submillimetre continuum emission peaks, which we argue is evidence for fragmentation along the spine of TMC-1. While coherent velocity components have been described as separate physical structures in other star-forming filaments, we argue that the two bright components identified in HC$_5$N emission in TMC-1 are tracing two layers in one filament: a lower density outer layer whose material is flowing under gravity towards the higher density inner layer of the filament.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2022

JCMT BISTRO Observations: Magnetic Field Morphology of Bubbles Associated with NGC 6334

We study the HII regions associated with the NGC 6334 molecular cloud observed in the sub-millimeter and taken as part of the B-fields In STar-forming Region Observations (BISTRO) Survey. In particular, we investigate the polarization patterns and magnetic field morphologies associated with these HII regions. Through polarization pattern and pressure calculation analyses, several of these bubbles indicate that the gas and magnetic field lines have been pushed away from the bubble, toward an almost tangential (to the bubble) magnetic field morphology. In the densest part of NGC 6334, where the magnetic field morphology is similar to an hourglass, the polarization observations do not exhibit observable impact from HII regions. We detect two nested radial polarization patterns in a bubble to the south of NGC 6334 that correspond to the previously observed bipolar structure in this bubble. Finally, using the results of this study, we present steps (incorporating computer vision; circular Hough Transform) that can be used in future studies to identify bubbles that have physically impacted magnetic field lines.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2022

Turbulence and Accretion: a High-resolution Study of the B5 Filaments

High-resolution observations of the Perseus B5 "core" have previously revealed that this subsonic region actually consists of several filaments that are likely in the process of forming a quadruple stellar system. Since subsonic filaments are thought to be produced at the $\sim 0.1$ pc sonic scale by turbulent compression, a detailed kinematic study is crucial to test such a scenario in the context of core and star formation. Here we present a detailed kinematic follow-up study of the B5 filaments at a 0.009 pc resolution using the VLA and GBT combined observations fitted with multi-component spectral models. Using precisely identified filament spines, we find a remarkable resemblance between the averaged width profiles of each filament and Plummer-like functions, with filaments possessing FWHM widths of $\sim 0.03$ pc. The velocity dispersion profiles of the filaments also show decreasing trends towards the filament spines. Moreover, the velocity gradient field in B5 appears to be locally well ordered ($\sim 0.04$ pc) but globally complex, with kinematic behaviors suggestive of inhomogeneous turbulent accretion onto filaments and longitudinal flows towards a local overdensity along one of the filaments.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2022

Velocity structure of the 50 pc-long NGC 6334 filamentary cloud: Hints of multiple compressions and their impact on the cloud properties?

[Abridged] The interstellar medium is observed to be organised in filamentary structures, as well as neutral (HI) and ionized (HII) bubbles. The expanding nature of these bubbles makes them shape their surroundings and possibly play a role in the formation and evolution of interstellar filaments. We present APEX $^{13}$CO and C$^{18}$O(2-1) observations of the NGC 6334 molecular cloud. We investigate the gas velocity structure along and across the 50 pc-long cloud and towards 75 identified velocity-coherent-filaments (VCFs). We measure a wealth of velocity gradients along the VCFs. We derive the column density and velocity power spectra of the VCFs. These power spectra are well represented with power laws showing similar slopes for both quantities (with a mean of about -2), albeit some differ by up to a factor of two. The position velocity diagrams perpendicular to three VCFs show the V-shaped velocity pattern, corresponding to a bent structure in velocity space with the filament at the tip of the V surrounded by an extended structure connected to it with a velocity gradient. This velocity structure is qualitatively similar to that resulting from numerical simulations of filament formation from large-scale compression from propagating shock fronts. In addition, the radial profiles perpendicular to these VCFs hint to small-scale internal impacts from neighbouring HII bubbles. The observed opposite curvature in velocity space towards the VCFs points to various origins of large-scale external compressions from propagating HI bubbles. This suggests the plausible importance of multiple HI compressions, separated in space and time, in the formation and evolution of molecular clouds and their star formation history. These latter atomic compressions due to past and distant star formation events are complemented by the impact of HII bubbles from present time and local star formation activity.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2021

Are massive dense clumps truly sub-virial? A new analysis using Gould Belt ammonia data

Dynamical studies of dense structures within molecular clouds often conclude that the most massive clumps contain too little kinetic energy for virial equilibrium, unless they are magnetized to an unexpected degree. This raises questions about how such a state might arise, and how it might persist long enough to represent the population of massive clumps. In an effort to re-examine the origins of this conclusion, we use ammonia line data from the Green Bank Ammonia Survey and Planck-calibrated dust emission data from Herschel to estimate the masses and kinetic and gravitational energies for dense clumps in the Gould Belt clouds. We show that several types of systematic error can enhance the appearance of low kinetic-to-gravitational energy ratios: insufficient removal of foreground and background material; ignoring the kinetic energy associated with velocity differences across a resolved cloud; and over-correcting for stratification when evaluating the gravitational energy. Using an analysis designed to avoid these errors, we find that the most massive Gould Belt clumps harbor virial motions, rather than sub-virial ones. As a byproduct, we present a catalog of masses, energies, and virial energy ratios for 85 Gould Belt clumps.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2020

The JCMT BISTRO Survey: Magnetic Fields Associated with a Network of Filaments in NGC 1333

We present new observations of the active star-formation region NGC 1333 in the Perseus molecular cloud complex from the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope B-Fields In Star-forming Region Observations (BISTRO) survey with the POL-2 instrument. The BISTRO data cover the entire NGC 1333 complex (~1.5 pc x 2 pc) at 0.02 pc resolution and spatially resolve the polarized emission from individual filamentary structures for the first time. The inferred magnetic field structure is complex as a whole, with each individual filament aligned at different position angles relative to the local field orientation. We combine the BISTRO data with low- and high- resolution data derived from Planck and interferometers to study the multiscale magnetic field structure in this region. The magnetic field morphology drastically changes below a scale of ~1 pc and remains continuous from the scales of filaments (~0.1 pc) to that of protostellar envelopes (~0.005 pc or ~1000 au). Finally, we construct simple models in which we assume that the magnetic field is always perpendicular to the long axis of the filaments. We demonstrate that the observed variation of the relative orientation between the filament axes and the magnetic field angles are well reproduced by this model, taking into account the projection effects of the magnetic field and filaments relative to the plane of the sky. These projection effects may explain the apparent complexity of the magnetic field structure observed at the resolution of BISTRO data toward the filament network.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2020

Ubiquitous $\rm NH_3$ supersonic component in L1688 coherent cores

Context : Star formation takes place in cold dense cores in molecular clouds. Earlier observations have found that dense cores exhibit subsonic non-thermal velocity dispersions. In contrast, CO observations show that the ambient large-scale cloud is warmer and has supersonic velocity dispersions. Aims : We aim to study the ammonia ($\rm NH_3$) molecular line profiles with exquisite sensitivity towards the coherent cores in L1688 in order to study their kinematical properties in unprecedented detail. Methods : We used $\rm NH_3$ (1,1) and (2,2) data from the first data release (DR1) in the Green Bank Ammonia Survey (GAS). We first smoothed the data to a larger beam of 1' to obtain substantially more extended maps of velocity dispersion and kinetic temperature, compared to the DR1 maps. We then identified the coherent cores in the cloud and analysed the averaged line profiles towards the cores. Results : For the first time, we detected a faint (mean $\rm NH_3$(1,1) peak brightness $<$0.25 K in $T_{MB}$), supersonic component towards all the coherent cores in L1688. We fitted two components, one broad and one narrow, and derived the kinetic temperature and velocity dispersion of each component. The broad components towards all cores have supersonic linewidths ($\mathcal{M}_S \ge 1$). This component biases the estimate of the narrow dense core component's velocity dispersion by $\approx$28% and the kinetic temperature by $\approx$10%, on average, as compared to the results from single-component fits. Conclusions : Neglecting this ubiquitous presence of a broad component towards all coherent cores causes the typical single-component fit to overestimate the temperature and velocity dispersion. This affects the derived detailed physical structure and stability of the cores estimated from $\rm NH_3$ observations.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2020

Velocity-coherent Filaments in NGC 1333: Evidence for Accretion Flow?

Recent observations of global velocity gradients across and along molecular filaments have been interpreted as signs of gas accreting onto and along these filaments, potentially feeding star-forming cores and proto-clusters. The behavior of velocity gradients in filaments, however, has not been studied in detail, particularly on small scales (< 0.1 pc). In this paper, we present MUFASA, an efficient, robust, and automatic method to fit ammonia lines with multiple velocity components, generalizable to other molecular species. We also present CRISPy, a Python package to identify filament spines in 3D images (e.g., position-position-velocity cubes), along with a complementary technique to sort fitted velocity components into velocity-coherent filaments. In NGC 1333, we find a wealth of velocity gradient structures on a beam-resolved scale of ~0.05 pc. Interestingly, these local velocity gradients are not randomly oriented with respect to filament spines and their perpendicular, i.e., radial, component decreases in magnitude towards the spine for many filaments. Together with remarkably constant velocity gradients on larger scales along many filaments, these results suggest a scenario in which gas falling onto filaments is progressively damped and redirected to flow along these filaments.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2019

CLOVER: Convnet Line-fitting Of Velocities in Emission-line Regions

When multiple star-forming gas structures overlap along the line-of-sight and emit optically thin emission at significantly different radial velocities, the emission can become non-Gaussian and often exhibits two distinct peaks. Traditional line-fitting techniques can fail to account adequately for these double-peaked profiles, providing inaccurate cloud kinematics measurements. We present a new method called Convnet Line-fitting Of Velocities in Emission-line Regions (CLOVER) for distinguishing between one-component, two-component, and noise-only emission lines using 1D convolutional neural networks trained with synthetic spectral cubes. CLOVER utilizes spatial information in spectral cubes by predicting on $3\times3$ pixel sub-cubes, using both the central pixel's spectrum and the average spectrum over the $3\times3$ grid as input. On an unseen set of 10,000 synthetic spectral cubes in each predicted class, CLOVER has classification accuracies of $\sim99\%$ for the one-component class and $\sim97\%$ for the two-component class. For the noise-only class, which is analogous to a signal-to-noise cutoff of four for traditional line-fitting methods, CLOVER has classification accuracy of $100\%$. CLOVER also has exceptional performance on real observations, correctly distinguishing between the three classes across a variety of star-forming regions. In addition, CLOVER quickly and accurately extracts kinematics directly from spectra identified as two-component class members. Moreover, we show that CLOVER is easily scalable to emission lines with hyperfine splitting, making it an attractive tool in the new era of large-scale NH$_3$ and N$_2$H$^+$ mapping surveys.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2019

KFPA Examinations of Young STellar Object Natal Environments (KEYSTONE): Hierarchical Ammonia Structures in Galactic Giant Molecular Clouds

We present initial results from the K-band focal plane array Examinations of Young STellar Object Natal Environments (KEYSTONE) survey, a large project on the 100-m Green Bank Telescope mapping ammonia emission across eleven giant molecular clouds at distances of $0.9-3.0$ kpc (Cygnus X North, Cygnus X South, M16, M17, MonR1, MonR2, NGC2264, NGC7538, Rosette, W3, and W48). This data release includes the NH$_3$ (1,1) and (2,2) maps for each cloud, which are modeled to produce maps of kinetic temperature, centroid velocity, velocity dispersion, and ammonia column density. Median cloud kinetic temperatures range from $11.4\pm2.2$ K in the coldest cloud (MonR1) to $23.0\pm6.5$ K in the warmest cloud (M17). Using dendrograms on the NH$_3$ (1,1) integrated intensity maps, we identify 856 dense gas clumps across the eleven clouds. Depending on the cloud observed, $40-100\%$ of the clumps are aligned spatially with filaments identified in H$_2$ column density maps derived from SED-fitting of dust continuum emission. A virial analysis reveals that 523 of the 835 clumps ($\sim63\%$) with mass estimates are bound by gravity alone. We find no significant difference between the virial parameter distributions for clumps aligned with the dust-continuum filaments and those unaligned with filaments. In some clouds, however, hubs or ridges of dense gas with unusually high mass and low virial parameters are located within a single filament or at the intersection of multiple filaments. These hubs and ridges tend to host water maser emission, multiple 70$μ$m-detected protostars, and have masses and radii above an empirical threshold for forming massive stars.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2019

Droplets I: Pressure-Dominated Sub-0.1 pc Coherent Structures in L1688 and B18

We present the observation and analysis of newly discovered coherent structures in the L1688 region of Ophiuchus and the B18 region of Taurus. Using data from the Green Bank Ammonia Survey (GAS), we identify regions of high density and near-constant, almost-thermal, velocity dispersion. Eighteen coherent structures are revealed, twelve in L1688 and six in B18, each of which shows a sharp "transition to coherence" in velocity dispersion around its periphery. The identification of these structures provides a chance to study the coherent structures in molecular clouds statistically. The identified coherent structures have a typical radius of 0.04 pc and a typical mass of 0.4 Msun, generally smaller than previously known coherent cores identified by Goodman et al. (1998), Caselli et al. (2002), and Pineda et al. (2010). We call these structures "droplets." We find that unlike previously known coherent cores, these structures are not virially bound by self-gravity and are instead predominantly confined by ambient pressure. The droplets have density profiles shallower than a critical Bonnor-Ebert sphere, and they have a velocity (VLSR) distribution consistent with the dense gas motions traced by NH3 emission. These results point to a potential formation mechanism through pressure compression and turbulent processes in the dense gas. We present a comparison with a magnetohydrodynamic simulation of a star-forming region, and we speculate on the relationship of droplets with larger, gravitationally bound coherent cores, as well as on the role that droplets and other coherent structures play in the star formation process.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2019

The JCMT BISTRO Survey: The Magnetic Field of the Barnard 1 Star-Forming Region

We present the POL-2 850 $μ$m linear polarization map of the Barnard 1 clump in the Perseus molecular cloud complex from the B-fields In STar-forming Region Observations (BISTRO) survey at the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope. We find a trend of decreasing polarization fraction as a function of total intensity, which we link to depolarization effects towards higher density regions of the cloud. We then use the polarization data at 850 $μ$m to infer the plane-of-sky orientation of the large-scale magnetic field in Barnard 1. This magnetic field runs North-South across most of the cloud, with the exception of B1-c where it turns more East-West. From the dispersion of polarization angles, we calculate a turbulence correlation length of $5.0 \pm 2.5$ arcsec ($1500$ au), and a turbulent-to-total magnetic energy ratio of $0.5 \pm 0.3$ inside the cloud. We combine this turbulent-to-total magnetic energy ratio with observations of NH$_3$ molecular lines from the Green Bank Ammonia Survey (GAS) to estimate the strength of the plane-of-sky component of the magnetic field through the Davis-Chandrasekhar-Fermi method. With a plane-of-sky amplitude of $120 \pm 60$ $μ$G and a criticality criterion $λ_c = 3.0 \pm 1.5$, we find that Barnard 1 is a supercritical molecular cloud with a magnetic field nearly dominated by its turbulent component.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2019

The JCMT BISTRO Survey: The Magnetic Field In The Starless Core $ρ$ Ophiuchus C

We report 850~$μ$m dust polarization observations of a low-mass ($\sim$12 $M_{\odot}$) starless core in the $ρ$ Ophiuchus cloud, Ophiuchus C, made with the POL-2 instrument on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) as part of the JCMT B-fields In STar-forming Region Observations (BISTRO) survey. We detect an ordered magnetic field projected on the plane of sky in the starless core. The magnetic field across the $\sim$0.1~pc core shows a predominant northeast-southwest orientation centering between $\sim$40$^\circ$ to $\sim$100$^\circ$, indicating that the field in the core is well aligned with the magnetic field in lower-density regions of the cloud probed by near-infrared observations and also the cloud-scale magnetic field traced by Planck observations. The polarization percentage ($P$) decreases with an increasing total intensity ($I$) with a power-law index of $-$1.03 $\pm$ 0.05. We estimate the plane-of-sky field strength ($B_{\mathrm{pos}}$) using modified Davis-Chandrasekhar-Fermi (DCF) methods based on structure function (SF), auto-correlation (ACF), and unsharp masking (UM) analyses. We find that the estimates from the SF, ACF, and UM methods yield strengths of 103 $\pm$ 46 $μ$G, 136 $\pm$ 69 $μ$G, and 213 $\pm$ 115 $μ$G, respectively. Our calculations suggest that the Ophiuchus C core is near magnetically critical or slightly magnetically supercritical (i.e. unstable to collapse). The total magnetic energy calculated from the SF method is comparable to the turbulent energy in Ophiuchus C, while the ACF method and the UM method only set upper limits for the total magnetic energy because of large uncertainties.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2017

The Green Bank Ammonia Survey: Observations of Hierarchical Dense Gas Structures in Cepheus-L1251

We use Green Bank Ammonia Survey observations of NH$_3$ (1,1) and (2,2) emission with 32'' FWHM resolution from a ~ 10 pc$^{2}$ portion of the Cepheus-L1251 molecular cloud to identify hierarchical dense gas structures. Our dendrogram analysis of the NH$_3$ data results in 22 top-level structures, which reside within 13 lower-level, parent structures. The structures are compact (0.01 pc $\lesssim R_{eff} \lesssim$ 0.1 pc) and are spatially correlated with the highest H$_2$ column density portions of the cloud. We also compare the ammonia data to a catalog of dense cores identified by higher-resolution (18.2'' FWHM) Herschel Space Observatory observations of dust continuum emission from Cepheus-L1251. Maps of kinetic gas temperature, velocity dispersion, and NH$_3$ column density, derived from detailed modeling of the NH$_3$ data, are used to investigate the stability and chemistry of the ammonia-identified and Herschel-identified structures. We show that the dust and dense gas in the structures have similar temperatures, with median $T_{dust}$ and $T_K$ measurements of 11.7 $\pm$ 1.1 K and 10.3 $\pm$ 2.0 K, respectively. Based on a virial analysis, we find that the ammonia-identified structures are gravitationally dominated, yet may be in or near a state of virial equilibrium. Meanwhile, the majority of the Herschel-identified dense cores appear to be not bound by their own gravity and instead confined by external pressure. CCS $(2_0-1_0)$ and HC$_5$N $(9-8)$ emission from the region reveal broader line widths and centroid velocity offsets when compared to the NH$_3$ (1,1) emission in some cases, likely due to these carbon-based molecules tracing the turbulent outer layers of the dense cores.

astro-ph.GA↗