arXiv subjects

Mordecai-Mark Mac Low

Publications and source records attributed to Mordecai-Mark Mac Low.

186 records · Page 11Linked to original sources

arXiv1997

Structure and Dynamics of Magnetized Interstellar Clouds: Super-Alfvenic Turbulence?

This review summarizes the argument for molecular clouds being dominated by turbulence, most likely super-Alfvenic turbulence. Five lines of observational evidence are given: molecular linewidths and line shapes, nonequilibrium chemical abundances, fractal cloud shapes, measurements of the dispersion of dust extinction through clouds, and Zeeman measurements of the field strength. Recent models by Padoan & Nordlund are summarized, that show that super-Alfvenic turbulence appears consistent with these observations. I then present recent computations of my own, with numerical resolution as high as 256^3 zones, confirming the basic picture proposed by Padoan & Nordlund, but showing that the decay timescales they quote are actually too long. My computations show that decaying turbulence loses its kinetic energy with a ~1/t dependence on time regardless of whether the turbulence is subsonic, supersonic, isothermal, adiabatic, unmagnetized or magnetized. Finally, the implications for star formation and turbulence theory are discussed.

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arXiv1997

X-Rays from Superbubbles in the Large Magellanic Cloud. V. The H II Complex N11

The large H II complex N11 in the Large Magellanic Cloud contains OB associations at several different stages in their life histories. We have obtained ROSAT PSPC and HRI X-ray observations, Curtis Schmidt CCD images, echelle spectra in H-alpha and [N II] lines, and IUE interstellar absorption line observations of this region. The central bubble of N11 has an X-ray luminosity a factor of only 3-7 brighter than predicted for an energy-conserving superbubble, making this the first detection of X-ray emission from a superbubble without a strong X-ray excess. The region N11B contains an extremely young OB association analogous to the central association of the Carina nebula, apparently still embedded in its natal molecular cloud. We find that N11B emits diffuse X-ray emission, probably powered by stellar winds. Finally, we compare the tight cluster HD32228 in N11 to R136 in 30 Dor. The latter is a strong X-ray source, while the former is not detected, showing that strong X-ray emission from compact objects is not a universal property of such tight clusters.

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arXiv1997

The formation of C-shocks: structure and signatures

Shock waves in molecular clouds should evolve into continuous or C-type structures due to the magnetic field and ion-neutral friction. We here determine whether and how this is achieved through plane-parallel numerical simulations using an extended version of ZEUS. We first describe and test the adapted code against analytical results, laying the necessary foundations for subsequent works on supersonic ambipolar diffusion, including C-type jets and shock instability. The evolution away from jump shocks toward the numerous steady C-shock sub-types is then investigated. The evolution passes through four stages, which possess distinctive observational properties. The time scales and length scales cover broad ranges. Specific results are included for shock types including switch, absorber, neutralised, oblique, transverse and intermediate. Only intermediate Type II shocks and `slow shocks', including switch-off shocks, remain as J-type under the low ion levels assumed. Other shocks transform via a steadily growing neutral precursor to a diminishing jump. For neutralised shocks, this takes the form of an extended long-lived ramp. Molecular hydrogen emission signatures are presented. After the jump speed has dropped to under 25 km/s, a non-dissociative jump section can dominate the spectra for a long period. This produces a high-excitation spectrum. Once the jump has further weakened, to < 8 km/s, the fully developed ion front is responsible for brisk progress towards a constant C-type excitation. The time scale for emission-line variations is ~(6 /n_i) yr, where n_i is the pre-shock ion number density.

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arXiv1997

Nonlinear Development and Observational Consequences of Wardle C-Shock Instabilities

We compute the nonlinear development of the instabilities in C-shocks first described by Wardle, using a version of the ZEUS code modified to include a semi-implicit treatment of ambipolar diffusion. We find that, in three dimensions, thin sheets parallel to the shock velocity and perpendicular to the magnetic field lines form. High resolution, two-dimensional models show that the sheets are confined by the Brandenburg & Zweibel ambipolar diffusion singularity, forcing them to numerically unresolvable thinness. Hot and cold regions form around these filaments, disrupting the uniform temperature structure characteristic of a steady-state C-shock. This filamentary region steadily grows as the shock progresses. We compare steady-state to unstable C-shocks, showing excitation diagrams, line ratios, and line profiles for molecular hydrogen lines visible in the K-band, with the Infrared Space Observatory, and with NICMOS on the Hubble Space Telescope.

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arXiv1996

The OMC-1 molecular hydrogen outflow as a fragmented stellar wind bubble

We present new images of the OMC-1 molecular hydrogen outflow, made using long-slit spectroscopy in order to accurately subtract the underlying continuum emission. These images reveal an extremely clumpy, quasi-spherical inner shell that breaks up at larger radii into bow-shocks and trailing wakes in the north-west, as originally described by Allen & Burton (1993); a fainter counter-finger to the south-east is newly discovered in the present data. While the outflow appears to be broadly bipolar, this is probably due to an interaction between an initially spherical wind from the source and a large-scale density enhancement surrounding it, rather than direct collimation imposed close to the source. The clumpy appearance of the inner shell confirms the prediction of the recent model of Stone, Xu, & Mundy (1995), in which a spherical and time-varying wind fragments a swept-up shell, producing high-velocity shrapnel, which in turn drives bow-shocks into the surrounding gas, resulting in the observed "fingers". As an alternative to the single varying source proposed by Stone et al., we speculate that several young sources in the BN-KL cluster may have been responsible for first sweeping up the shell and then fragmenting it.

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arXiv1996

An Interstellar Conduction Front Within a Wolf-Rayet Ring Nebula Observed with the GHRS

With the High Resolution Spectrograph aboard the Hubble Space Telescope we obtained high signal-to-noise (S/N > 200 - 600 per 17 km/s resolution element) spectra of narrow absorption lines toward the Wolf-Rayet star HD 50896. The ring nebula S308 that surrounds this star is thought to be caused by a pressure-driven bubble bounded by circumstellar gas (most likely from a red supergiant or luminous blue variable progenitor) pushed aside by a strong stellar wind. Our observation has shown for the first time that blueshifted (approximately 70 km/s relative to the star) absorption components of C IV and N V arise in a conduction front between the hot interior of the bubble and the cold shell of swept-up material. These lines set limits on models of the conduction front. Nitrogen in the shell appears to be overabundant by a factor ~10. The P Cygni profiles of N V and C IV are variable, possibly due to a suspected binary companion to HD 50896.

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