arXiv subjects

Min Fang

Publications and source records attributed to Min Fang.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources

arXiv2019

CO~($J=1-0$) Observations toward Filamentary Molecular Clouds in the Galactic Region with $l = [169\arcdeg.75, 174\arcdeg.75], b = [-0\arcdeg.75, 0\arcdeg.5]$

We present observations of the CO isotopologues ($^{12}$CO, $^{13}$CO, and C$^{18}$O) toward the Galactic region with $169\arcdeg.75 \leqslant l \leqslant 174\arcdeg.75$ and $-0\arcdeg.75 \leqslant b \leqslant 0\arcdeg.5$, using the Purple Mountain Observatory 13.7~m millimeter-wavelength telescope. Based on the $^{13}$CO~($J = 1-0$) data, we find five molecular clouds within the velocity range between $-$25 and 8~km~s$^{-1}$ that are all characterized by conspicuous filamentary structures. We have identified eight filaments with a length of 6.38--28.45~pc, a mean H$_2$ column density of 0.70$\times$10$^{21}$--6.53$\times$10$^{21}$~cm$^{-2}$, and a line mass of 20.24--161.91~$M_\sun$ pc$^{-1}$, assuming a distance of $\sim$1.7~kpc. Gaussian fittings to the inner parts of the radial density profiles lead to a mean FWHM width of 1.13$\pm$0.01~pc. The velocity structures of most filaments present continuous distributions with slight velocity gradients. We find that turbulence is the dominant internal pressure to support the fragmentation of filaments instead of thermal pressure. Most filaments have virial parameters smaller than 2; thus, they are gravitationally bound. Four filaments have an LTE line mass close to the virial line mass. We further extract dense clumps using the $^{13}$CO data and find that 64$\%$ of the clumps are associated with the filaments. According to the complementary IR data, most filaments have associated Class~II young stellar objects. Class~I objects are mainly found to be located in the filaments with a virial parameter close to 1. Within two virialized filaments, $^{12}$CO outflows have been detected, indicating ongoing star-forming activity therein.

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arXiv2019

High-resolution Infrared Spectrograph for Exoplanet Characterization with the Keck and Thirty Meter Telescopes

HISPEC (High-resolution Infrared Spectrograph for Exoplanet Characterization) is a proposed diffraction-limited spectrograph for the W.M. Keck Observatory, and a pathfinder for the MODHIS facility project (Multi-Object Diffraction-limited High-resolution Infrared Spectrograph) on the Thirty Meter Telescope. HISPEC/MODHIS builds on diffraction-limited spectrograph designs which rely on adaptively corrected single-mode fiber feeds. Seeing-limited high-resolution spectrographs, by virtue of the conservation of beam etendue, grow in volume following a D^3 power law (D is the telescope diameter), and are subject to daunting challenges associated with their large size. Diffraction-limited spectrographs fed by single mode fibers are decoupled from the telescope input, and are orders of magnitude more compact and have intrinsically stable line spread functions. Their efficiency is directly proportional to the performance of the adaptive optics (AO) system. AO technologies have matured rapidly over the past two decades and are baselined for future extremely large telescopes. HISPEC/MODHIS will take R>100,000 spectra of a few objects in a 10" field-of-view sampled at the diffraction limit (~10-50 mas), simultaneously from 0.95 to 2.4 microns (y-K). The scientific scope ranges from exoplanet infrared precision radial velocities, spectroscopy of transiting, close-in, and directly imaged exoplanets (atmospheric composition and dynamics, RM effect, spin measurements, Doppler imaging), brown dwarf characterization, stellar physics/chemistry, proto-planetary disk kinematics/composition, Solar system, extragalactic science, and cosmology. HISPEC/MODHIS features a compact, cost-effective design optimized to fully exploit the existing Keck-AO and future TMT-NFIRAOS infrastructures and boost the scientific reach of Keck Observatory and TMT soon after first light.

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arXiv2019

Double-peaked OI profile: a likely signature of the gaseous ring around KH 15D

KH 15D is a well-known spectroscopic binary because of its unique and dramatic photometric variability. The variability is explained by a circumbinary dust ring but the ring itself was never directly detected. We present a new interpretation of the double-peaked [O~{\scriptsize I}]\,$λ$6300 profiles as originating from the hot disk surface of KH 15D. By modeling these profiles, we measure emitting radii between $\sim$0.5--5 au, basically a gaseous ring very similar in radial extent to the dust ring inferred from modeling the system's photometric variability. We also discuss the possibility that external photoevaporation driven by UV photons from the nearby massive star HD~47887 has truncated the outer edge of the disk to the observed value.

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arXiv2019

A SiO J = 5 - 4 Survey Toward Massive Star Formation Regions

We performed a survey in the SiO $J=5\rightarrow4$ line toward a sample of 199 Galactic massive star-forming regions at different evolutionary stages with the SMT 10 m and CSO 10.4 m telescopes. The sample consists of 44 infrared dark clouds (IRDCs), 86 protostellar candidates, and 69 young \HII\ regions. We detected SiO $J=5\rightarrow4$ line emission in 102 sources, with a detection rate of 57\%, 37\%, and 65\% for IRDCs, protostellar candidates, and young \HII\ regions, respectively. We find both broad line with Full Widths at Zero Power (FWZP) $>$ 20 \kms and narrow line emissons of SiO in objects at various evolutionary stages, likely associated with high-velocity shocks and low-velocity shocks, respectively. The SiO luminosities do not show apparent differences among various evolutionary stages in our sample. We find no correlation between the SiO abundance and the luminosity-to-mass ratio, indicating that the SiO abundance does not vary significantly in regions at different evolutionary stages of star formation.

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arXiv2018

IRAM and Gaia views of multi-episodic star formation in IC1396A: The origin and dynamics of the Class 0 protostar at the edge of an HII region

(Abridged) IC1396A is a cometary globule containing the Class 0 source IC1396A-PACS-1. We use IRAM 30m and Gaia DR2 data to explore the star-formation history of IC1396A and investigate the possibilities of triggered star formation. IRAM and Herschel continuum data reveal dust temperatures and column densities. Heterodyne data reveal the velocity structure of the gas. Gaia DR2 proper motions for the stars complete the kinematics of the region. IC1396A-PACS-1 shows molecular emission similar to a hot corino with warm carbon chain chemistry, and is surrounded by gas at velocities significantly different from the velocities of the Tr37 cluster. Combining the velocity, column density, and temperature information and Gaia DR2 kinematics, we confirm that IC1396A has suffered various episodes of star formation. IC1396A-PACS-1 is probably the last intermediate-mass protostar that will form within IC1396A, showing evidence of triggering by radiative driven implosion. Chemical signatures place IC1396A-PACS-1 among the youngest protostars known. Gaia DR2 data reveal velocities in the plane of the sky $\sim$4km/s for IC1396A with respect to Tr37. The total velocity difference (8 km/s) between the Tr37 cluster and IC1396A is too small for IC1396A to have undergone substantial rocket acceleration, which imposes constraints on the distance to the ionizing source in time and the possibilities of triggered star formation. The three stellar populations in the globule reveal that objects located within relatively close distances ($<$0.5pc) can be formed in various episodes within a $\sim$1-2 Myr period. We expect substantial differences in initial conditions for the resulting objects and their protoplanetary disks, which may affect their evolution. Finally, evidence for short-range feedback from the embedded protostars and, in particular, the A-type star V390 Cep is also observed.

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arXiv2018

Kinematic links and the co-evolution of MHD winds, jets, and inner disks from a high-resolution optical [OI] survey

We present a survey of optical [OI] emission at 6300 Å toward 65 TTauri stars at the spectral resolution of $\sim7$ km/s. Past work identified a highly blueshifted velocity component (HVC) tracing microjets, and a less blueshifted low-velocity-component (LVC) attributed to winds. We focus here on the LVC kinematics to investigate links between winds, jets, accretion, and disk dispersal. We track the behavior of four types of LVC components: a broad and narrow component ("BC" and "NC") in LVCs that are decomposed into two Gaussians, which typically have an HVC, and the single-Gaussian LVC profiles separated into those that have an HVC ("SCJ") and those that do not ("SC"). LVC centroid velocities and line widths correlate with HVC equivalent width and accretion luminosity, suggesting that LVC/winds and HVC/jets are kinematically linked and connected to accretion. The deprojected HVC velocity correlates with accretion luminosity, showing that faster jets come with higher accretion. BC and NC kinematics correlate and their blueshifts are maximum at $\sim 35^{\circ}$, suggesting a conical wind geometry with this semi-opening angle. Only SCs include $n_{13-31}$ up to $\sim3$ and their properties correlate with this infrared index, showing that [OI] emission recedes to larger radii as the inner dust is depleted, tracing less dense/hot gas and a decrease in wind velocity. All together, these findings support a scenario where optically thick, accreting inner disks launch radially-extended MHD disk winds that feed jets, and where inner disk winds recede to larger radii and jets disappear in concert with dust depletion.

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arXiv2018

Star-forming content of the giant molecular filaments in the Milky Way

Observations have discovered numerous giant molecular filaments (GMFs) in the Milky Way. However, their role in the Galactic star formation and Galaxy-scale evolution of dense gas is still unknown. We investigate systematically the star-forming content of all currently known GMFs. This allows us to estimate the star formation rates (SFRs) of the GMFs and to establish relationships between the SFRs and the GMF properties. We identify and classify the young stellar object (YSO) population of each GMF using multi-wavelength photometry from near- to far-infrared. We estimate the total SFRs assuming a universal and fully sampled initial mass function and luminosity function. We uniformly estimate the physical properties of 57 GMFs. The GMFs show correlations between the 13CO line width, mass, and size, similar to Larson's relations. We identify 36 394 infrared excess sources in 57 GMFs and obtain SFRs for 46 GMFs. The median SFR surface density (Sigma_SFR) and star formation efficiency (SFE) of GMFs are 0.62 Msun Myr-1 pc-2 and 1%, similar to the nearby star-forming clouds. The star formation rate per free-fall time of GMFs is between 0.002-0.05 with the median value of 0.02. We also find a strong correlation between SFR and dense gas mass that is defined as gas mass above a visual extinction of 7 mag, which suggests that the SFRs of the GMFs scale similarly with dense gas as those of nearby molecular clouds. We also find a strong correlation between the mean SFR per unit length and dense gas mass per unit length. The origin of this scaling remains unknown, calling for further studies that can link the structure of GMFs to their SF activity and explore the differences between GMFs and other molecular clouds

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arXiv2018

A New Look at T Tauri Star Forbidden Lines: MHD Driven Winds from the Inner Disk

Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) and photoevaporative winds are thought to play an important role in the evolution and dispersal of planet-forming disks. We report the first high-resolution ($Δv\sim$6\kms) analysis of [S II] $λ$4068, [O I] $λ$5577, and [O I] $λ$6300 lines from a sample of 48 T Tauri stars. Following Simon et al. (2016), we decompose them into three kinematic components: a high-velocity component (HVC) associated with jets, and a low-velocity narrow (LVC-NC) and broad (LVC-BC) components. We confirm previous findings that many LVCs are blueshifted by more than 1.5 kms$^{-1}$ thus most likely trace a slow disk wind. We further show that the profiles of individual components are similar in the three lines. We find that most LVC-BC and NC line ratios are explained by thermally excited gas with temperatures between 5,000$-$10,000 K and electron densities $\sim10^{7}-10^{8}$ cm$^{-3}$. The HVC ratios are better reproduced by shock models with a pre-shock H number density of $\sim10^{6}-10^{7}$ cm$^{-3}$. Using these physical properties, we estimate $\dot{M}_{\rm wind}/\dot{M}_{\rm acc}$ for the LVC and $\dot{M}_{\rm jet}/\dot{M}_{\rm acc}$ for the HVC. In agreement with previous work, the mass carried out in jets is modest compared to the accretion rate. With the likely assumption that the NC wind height is larger than the BC, the LVC-BC $\dot{M}_{\rm wind}/\dot{M}_{\rm acc}$ is found to be higher than the LVC-NC. These results suggest that most of the mass loss occurs close to the central star, within a few au, through an MHD driven wind. Depending on the wind height, MHD winds might play a major role in the evolution of the disk mass.

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arXiv2018

A large-scale survey of CO and its isotopologues toward the Rosette molecular cloud

Using the PMO-13.7m millimeter telescope at Delingha in China, we have conducted a large-scale simultaneous survey of $^{12}$CO, $^{13}$CO, and C$^{18}$O J=1-0 emission toward the Rosette molecular cloud (RMC) region with a sky coverage of 3.5 $\times$ 2.5 deg$^2$. The majority of the emission in the region comes from the RMC complex with velocities lying in the range from -2 km s$^{-1}$ to 20.5 km s$^{-1}$. Beyond this velocity range, 73 molecular clumps are identified with kinematic distances from 2.4 kpc to 11 kpc. Based on the spatial and velocity distribution, nine individual clouds, C1-C9, have been identified for the RMC complex. It appears that the C3 cloud is different from other clouds in the RMC complex in view of its characteristic velocity, excitation temperature, and velocity dispersion. Most of the young stellar clusters in the region are located in positions of both high column density and high excitation temperature. Seven new molecular filaments are discovered in the RMC complex. Evidence for cloud-cloud collision is found in the region of young stellar clusters REFL9 and PouF, showing that these young stellar clusters probably result from a cloud-cloud collision. The abundance ratios of $^{13}$CO to C$^{18}$O in the region have a mean value of 13.7 which is 2.5 times larger than the solar system value, showing that UV photons from the nearby OB clusters have strong influence on the chemistry of clouds in the RMC complex.

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arXiv2018

Re-visiting the extended Schmidt law: the important role of existing stars in regulating star formation

We revisit the proposed extended Schmidt law (Shi et al. 2011) which points that the star formation efficiency in galaxies depends on the stellar mass surface density, by investigating spatially-resolved star formation rates (SFRs), gas masses and stellar masses of star formation regions in a vast range of galactic environments, from the outer disks of dwarf galaxies to spiral disks and to merging galaxies as well as individual molecular clouds in M33. We find that these regions are distributed in a tight power-law as Sigma_SFR ~(Sigma_star^0.5 Sigma_gas )^1.09, which is also valid for the integrated measurements of disk and merging galaxies at high-z. Interestingly, we show that star formation regions in the outer disks of dwarf galaxies with Sigma_SFR down to 10^(-5) Msun/yr/kpc^2, which are outliers of both Kennicutt-Schmidt and Silk-Elmegreen law, also follow the extended Schmidt law. Other outliers in the Kennicutt-Schmidt law, such as extremely-metal poor star-formation regions, also show significantly reduced deviations from the extended Schmidt law. These results suggest an important role for existing stars in helping to regulate star formation through the effect of their gravity on the mid-plane pressure in a wide range of galactic environments.

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arXiv2017

CO~($J = 1-0$) Observations of a Filamentary Molecular Cloud in the Galactic Region Centered at $l = 150\arcdeg, b = 3.5\arcdeg$

We present large-field (4.25~$\times$~3.75 deg$^2$) mapping observations toward the Galactic region centered at $l = 150\arcdeg, b = 3.5\arcdeg$ in the $J = 1-0$ emission line of CO isotopologues ($^{12}$CO, $^{13}$CO, and C$^{18}$O), using the 13.7 m millimeter-wavelength telescope of the Purple Mountain Observatory. Based on the $^{13}$CO observations, we reveal a filamentary cloud in the Local Arm at a velocity range of $-$0.5 to 6.5~km~s$^{-1}$. This molecular cloud contains 1 main filament and 11 sub-filaments, showing the so-called "ridge-nest" structure. The main filament and three sub-filaments are also detected in the C$^{18}$O line. The velocity structures of most identified filaments display continuous distribution with slight velocity gradients. The measured median excitation temperature, line width, length, width, and linear mass of the filaments are $\sim$9.28~K, 0.85~km~s$^{-1}$, 7.30~pc, 0.79~pc, and 17.92~$M_\sun$~pc$^{-1}$, respectively, assuming a distance of 400~pc. We find that the four filaments detected in the C$^{18}$O line are thermally supercritical, and two of them are in the virialized state, and thus tend to be gravitationally bound. We identify in total 146 $^{13}$CO clumps in the cloud, about 77$\%$ of the clumps are distributed along the filaments. About 56$\%$ of the virialized clumps are found to be associated with the supercritical filaments. Three young stellar object (YSO) candidates are also identified in the supercritical filaments, based on the complementary infrared (IR) data. These results indicate that the supercritical filaments, especially the virialized filaments, may contain star-forming activities.

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arXiv2017

NGC 1980 is not a foreground population of Orion: Spectroscopic survey of young stars with low extinction in Orion A

We perform a spectroscopic survey of the foreground population in Orion A with MMT/Hectospec. We use these data, along with archival spectroscopic data and photometric data, to derive spectral types, extinction values, and masses for 691 stars. Using the Spitzer Space Telescope data, we characterize the disk properties of these sources. We identify 37 new transition disk (TD) objects, one globally depleted disk candidate, and 7 probable young debris disks. We discover an object with a mass less than 0.018-0.030 M$_{\odot}$, which harbors a flaring disk. Using the H$α$ emission line, we characterize the accretion activity of the sources with disks, and confirm that fraction of accreting TDs is lower than that of optically thick disks (46$\pm$7% versus 73$\pm$9%, respectively). Using kinematic data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and APOGEE INfrared Spectroscopy of Young Nebulous Clusters program (IN-SYNC), we confirm that the foreground population shows similar kinematics to their local molecular clouds and other young stars in the same regions. Using the isochronal ages, we find that the foreground population has a median age around 1-2 Myr, which is similar to the one of other young stars in Orion A. Therefore, our results argue against the presence of a large and old foreground cluster in front of Orion A.

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arXiv2017

Molecular clouds in the extreme outer Galaxy between $l=34.75^{\circ}$ to $45.25^{\circ}$

We present the result of an unbiased CO survey in Galactic range of 34.75$^{\circ}\leq$l$\leq$ 45.25$^{\circ}$ and -5.25$^{\circ}\leq$b$\leq$ 5.25$^{\circ}$, and velocity range beyond the Outer arm. A total of 168 molecular clouds (MCs) are identified within the Extreme Outer Galaxy~(EOG) region, and 31 of these MCs are associated with 13CO emission. However, none of them show significant C18O emission under current detection limit. The typical size and mass of these MCs are 5~pc and 3$\times$10$^{3}M_{\sun}$, implying the lack of large and massive MCs in the EOG region. Similar to MCs in the outer Galaxy, the velocity dispersions of EOG clouds are also correlated with their sizes, however, are well displaced below the scaling relationship defined by the inner Galaxy MCs. These MCs with a median Galactocentric radius of 12.6 kpc, show very different distributions from those of the MCs in the Outer arm published in our previous paper, while roughly follow the Outer Scutum-Centaurus arm defined by Dame & Thaddeus 2011. This result may provide a robust evidence for the existence of the Outer Scutum-Centaurus arm. The lower limit of the total mass of this segment is about 2.7$\times$10$^5$ $M_{\sun}$, which is about one magnitude lower than that of the Outer arm. The mean thickness of gaseous disk is about 1.45$^{\circ}$ or 450~pc, and the scale height is about 1.27$^{\circ}$ or 400~pc above the $b=0^{\circ}$ plane. The warp traced by CO emission is very obvious in the EOG region and its amplitude is consistent with the predictions by other warp models using different tracers, such as dust, HI and stellar components of our Galaxy.

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arXiv2017

L1188: a promising candidate of cloud-cloud collision triggering the formation of the low- and intermediate-mass stars

We present a new large-scale (4 square degrees) simultaneous $^{12}$CO, $^{13}$CO, and C$^{18}$O ($J$=1$-$0) mapping of L1188 with the PMO 13.7-m telescope. Our observations have revealed that L1188 consists of two nearly orthogonal filamentary molecular clouds at two clearly separated velocities. Toward the intersection showing large velocity spreads, we find several bridging features connecting the two clouds in velocity, and an open arc structure which exhibits high excitation temperatures, enhanced $^{12}$CO and $^{13}$CO emission, and broad $^{12}$CO line wings. This agrees with the scenario that the two clouds are colliding with each other. The distribution of young stellar object (YSO) candidates implies an enhancement of star formation in the intersection of the two clouds. We suggest that a cloud-cloud collision happened in L1188 about 1~Myr ago, possibly triggering the formation of low- and intermediate-mass YSOs in the intersection.

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arXiv2016

Millimeter Spectral Line Mapping Observations Toward Four Massive Star Forming HII Regions

We present spectral line mapping observations toward four massive star-forming regions (Cepheus A, DR21S, S76E and G34.26+0.15), with the IRAM 30 meter telescope at 2 mm and 3 mm bands. Totally 396 spectral lines from 51 molecules, one helium recombination line, ten hydrogen recombination lines, and 16 unidentified lines were detected in these four sources. An emission line of nitrosyl cyanide (ONCN, 14$_{0,14}$-13$_{0,13}$) was detected in G34.26+0.15, as first detection in massive star-forming regions. We found that the $c$-C$_{3}$H$_{2}$ and NH$_{2}$D show enhancement in shocked regions as suggested by evidences of SiO and/or SO emission. Column density and rotational temperature of CH$_{3}$CN were estimated with the rotational diagram method for all four sources. Isotope abundance ratios of $^{12}$C/$^{13}$C were derived using HC$_{3}$N and its $^{13}$C isotopologue, which were around 40 in all four massive star-forming regions and slightly lower than the local interstellar value ($\sim$65). $^{14}$N/$^{15}$N and $^{16}$O/$^{18}$O abundance ratios in these sources were also derived using double isotopic method, which were slightly lower than that in local interstellar medium. Except for Cep A, $^{33}$S/$^{34}$S ratio in the other three targets were derived, which were similar to that in the local interstellar medium. The column density ratios of N(DCN)/N(HCN) and N(DCO$^{+}$)/N(HCO$^{+}$) in these sources were more than two orders of magnitude higher than the elemental [D]/[H] ratio, which is 1.5$\times$10$ ^{-5}$. Our results show the later stage sources, G34.26+0.15 in particular, present more molecular species than earlier stage ones. Evidence of shock activity is seen in all stages studied.

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arXiv2016

A candidate planetary-mass object with a photoevaporating disk in Orion

In this work, we report the discovery of a candidate planetary-mass object with a photoevaporating protoplanetary disk, Proplyd 133-353, which is near the massive star $θ^{1}$ Ori C at the center of the Orion Nebula Cluster (ONC). The object was known to have extended emission pointing away from $θ^{1}$ Ori C, indicating ongoing external photoevaporation. Our near-infrared spectroscopic data suggests that the central source of Proplyd 133-353 is substellar ($\sim$M9.5), might have a mass probably less than 13 Jupiter mass and an age younger than 0.5 Myr. Proplyd 133-353 shows a similar ratio of X-ray luminosity to stellar luminosity to other young stars in the ONC with a similar stellar luminosity, and has a similar proper motion to the mean one of confirmed ONC members. We propose that Proplyd 133-353 was formed in a very low-mass dusty cloud near $θ^{1}$ Ori C as a second-generation of star formation, which can explain both its young age and the presence of its disk.

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arXiv2016

Interaction between the Supernova Remnant HB 3 and the Nearby Star-Forming Region W3

We performed millimeter observations in CO lines toward the supernova remnant (SNR) HB 3. Substantial molecular gas around -45 km s^-1 is detected in the conjunction region between the SNR HB 3 and the nearby W3 complex. This molecular gas is distributed along the radio continuum shell of the remnant. Furthermore, the shocked molecular gas indicated by line wing broadening features is also distributed along the radio shell and inside it. By both morphological correspondence and dynamical evidence, we confirm that the SNR HB 3 is interacting with the -45 km s^-1 molecular cloud (MC), in essence, with the nearby H II region/MC complex W3. The red-shifted line wing broadening features indicate that the remnant is located at the nearside of the MC. With this association, we could place the remnant at the same distance as the W3/W4 complex, which is 1.95 +- 0.04 kpc. The spatial distribution of aggregated young stellar object candidates (YSOc) shows a correlation to the shocked molecular strip associated with the remnant. We also find a binary clump of CO at (l = 132.94 deg, b = 1.12 deg) around -51.5 km s^-1 inside the projected extent of the remnant, and it is associated with significant mid-infrared (mid-IR) emission. The binary system also has a tail structure resembling the tidal tails of interacting galaxies. According to the analysis of CO emission lines, the larger clump in this binary system is about stable, and the smaller clump is significantly disturbed.

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arXiv2016

The Distant Outer Gas Arm Between l=35d and l=45d

The Galactic plane has been mapped from l=34.75d to 45.25d and b=-5.25d to 5.25d in the CO (J=1-0) emission with the 13.7 m telescope of the Purple Mountain Observatory. The unbiased survey covers a large area of 100 square degrees sampled every 30" with a velocity resolution of ~0.2km/s. In this paper, we present the result of an unbiased CO survey of this longitude and latitude range in the velocity range from -60km/s to -10km/s. Over 500 molecular clouds (MCs) are picked out from the 12CO emission, and 131 of these MCs are associated with 13CO emission.The distant MCs, which lie beyond the solar circle and are mostly concentrated in the Galactic plane, trace the large-scale molecular gas structure over 10 degrees of Galactic azimuth. We suggest that the CO emission of the segment is from the Outer Arm. The physical mid-plane traced by the Outer Arm seems to be slightly displaced from the IAU-defined plane on a large scale, which could be explained by the warped plane at large Galactocentric distances of >~10 kpc and the apparent tilted mid-plane to the projected IAU-defined plane caused by the Sun's z-height above the disk for distances near and within the Solar circle. If the inner plane of our Galaxy is flat, we can derive an upper limit of the Sun's offset of ~17.1 pc above the physical mid-plane of the Milky Way. We also discuss the correlations between the physical parameters of the distant MCs, which is quite consistent with the result of other studies of this parameter.

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