arXiv subjects

Neal J. Evans II

Publications and source records attributed to Neal J. Evans II.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

The Milky Way Joins the Extragalactic World: I. PHANGS

Complete catalogs of molecular clouds in the Milky Way allow analysis of the molecular medium and the star formation properties of the Milky Way that closely follows the method used for nearby galaxies, in particular in the PHANGS project. The dependencies of the depletion time on other properties of molecular gas in the Milky Way are similar to those of other galaxies when analyzed in an analogous way. They exhibit a large scatter and relatively weak correlations. The strongest correlation is a decrease in depletion time with increasing velocity dispersion. We explore the effects of spatial resolution, sensitivity, cloud identificaton method, averaging method, and tracer choice on our results. Metallicity effects in converting observations to mass can have a substantial impact. Somewhat fortuitously, differences in conversion methods between PHANGS and the Milky Way do not affect the current comparison. Inadequate spatial resolution, resulting in unresolved cloud structure, has the most important effect on interpretation of both extragalactic observations and existing catalogs of Milky Way clouds.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2026

Trace the Self-Gravitating Gas Using CO Isotopologues

Recent studies have shown that the star formation rate (SFR) correlates tightly and linearly with the mass of gravitationally bound gas, which can be delineated from the power-law tail of the column-density probability distribution function ($N$-PDF) derived from dust emission observations. This relationship holds across four orders of magnitude within the Milky Way--spanning low-mass to high-mass star-forming regions and encompassing the extreme environment of the Central Molecular Zone. Building on this framework, we present a new approach for estimating the mass of gravitationally bound gas in molecular clouds using multi-line CO isotopologue observations. Our sample includes 16 molecular clouds with robust detections in $^{12}$CO, $^{13}$CO, and C$^{18}$O $J$ = 1-0, spanning both massive inner Galaxy clouds and nearby star-forming regions. We find that the $N$-PDFs derived from combined CO isotopologue data recover the characteristic log-normal plus power-law profiles seen in dust-based studies. The mass and spatial distribution of the self-gravitating structures estimated from both dust-based and CO-based methods agree well throughout the sample. This indicates that the CO isotopologue combination can robustly trace the self-gravitating component via the $N$-PDF method and provides a reliable, scalable, and velocity-resolved alternative to dust emission for identifying the star-forming gas in molecular clouds.

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arXiv2026

IPA: Morphology and Kinematics of Molecular Hydrogen Winds in Five Young Protostars across the Mass Spectrum Observed with JWST

Molecular winds may play a key role in governing angular momentum transport and accretion during the early evolution of protostars. We present the morphology and kinematic properties of the H$_2$ emission in five young, envelope-dominated, protostars across a broad bolometric luminosity range, from 0.2 to $10^4~L_{\odot}$, observed with the NIRSpec/IFU and MIRI/MRS onboard JWST as part of the Investigating Protostellar Accretion (IPA) program. A rich set of pure rotational lines of H$_2$, up to $v=0-0$ S(18), and a few ro-vibrational lines are detected in the winds, revealing bipolar structures. The H$_2$ lines show a stratified/onion-like structure morphologically and kinematically, where the lines with higher $E_{\rm up}$ show a higher degree of collimation and higher velocities. Additionally, the wind velocity scales with the $L_{\rm bol}$ of the host protostellar system. In 4 out of 5 protostars, H$_2$ emission fills the outflow cavity without showing pronounced limb brightening. We also report a tentative detection of H$_2$ wind rotation in IRAS 16253, which suggests a launch radius of $\sim4$ au and the magnetic lever arm parameter of $\sim5-10$. Taken together, these properties of the H$_2$ winds can be explained by the magnetohydrodynamic disk wind models. We detect a collimated, high-velocity H$_2$ jet toward HOPS 370, which is more evolved than the extremely young source HH 211, but is accreting at a high accretion rate. This suggests that the presence of collimated molecular jets in protostars is more closely connected to accretion rate than system age.

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arXiv2026

HETDEX Public Data Release 1: Source Catalog 2 and Data Cubes from ~90 sq deg of Integral-Field Optical Spectroscopy

The Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX) is a wide-field, integral-field spectroscopic survey designed to map the large-scale distribution of Lyman-alpha emitting galaxies (LAEs) at 1.88 < z < 3.52 and constrain dark energy at cosmic noon. Using the 10-m Hobby-Eberly Telescope and the Visible Integral-Field Replicable Unit (IFU) Spectrograph, HETDEX obtains >35,000 spectra per exposure over 3500-5500 {\AA} at R~800 with ~1.8 arcsec image quality, enabling an untargeted census of emission-line galaxies across 540 sq deg. We present HETDEX Public Data Release 1 (PDR1), comprising 431,713 IFU observations covering 86.67 sq deg of noncontiguous sky in the Spring (13h, +51{\deg}) and Fall (1.5h, 0{\deg}) fields, along with legacy regions (COSMOS, GOODS-N, NEP, SA22). PDR1 includes the HETDEX Public Source Catalog 2 (HPSC2), an expanded and reprocessed version of Mentuch Cooper et al. (2023) incorporating four additional years of data, improved quality control, and new machine learning classifiers. HPSC2 contains 426,654 LAEs, 491,411 [O II] emitters, 19,457 low-z galaxies, 18,303 active galactic nuclei, and 150,608 stars, providing coordinates, redshifts or stellar velocities, and 1D spectra for each source. Because the data cubes use local sky subtraction optimized for faint emission-line detection, they are not suited for absolute surface-brightness measurements or very extended nearby galaxies. Appendix materials include the full detection catalog, the 1.6 million-candidate LAE sample, and raw detection databases. All products are publicly accessible through the HETDEX data portal (https://hetdex.org/data-results/), including access to a public JupyterLab. HPSC2 is also publicly available via Zenodo (DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19581262).

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2026

CORINOS V: Radiative transfer effects in protostellar ice observations

Recent observations of protostars with the James Webb Space Telescope have revealed unprecedented chemical complexity from their ice absorption features. However, these spectra are likely influenced by radiative transfer effects, and there is little understanding of how this impacts our ability to identify, quantify, and interpret the observed ice features. We have developed a new modeling framework to investigate the radiative transfer through icy protostellar envelopes, and apply this to the IRAS 15398-3359 protostar observed by the JWST CORINOS program. The modeled H$_2$O and CO column densities are similar to previous empirical studies, but we require a high CO$_2$/H$_2$O ratio of 76% to match the optical depth of the 15 $\mu$m band. We use our modeled continuum to calculate a 6-10 $\mu$m optical depth spectrum, and see considerable differences compared to a simple polynomial continuum model, underscoring the challenges with quantifying trace ice species in this range. For this source, we find that the observed absorption predominantly originates along the viewing line of sight between 1000 - 2000 au, peaking at the transition from the outflow cavity to the envelope; the spectra are largely insensitive to absorption from ices in the outer envelope, which extends out to 20,000 au. Lastly, we show that depending on how the line of sight intersects the cavity, the apparent CO$_2$/H$_2$O and CO/H$_2$O column density ratios can be underestimated compared to the underlying ice abundance ratios. Together this provides important context for interpreting the ice constraints derived from JWST observations of protostars.

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arXiv2026

Investigating the Nested Structure of the Outflow from the Low Luminosity Protostar IRAS 16253-2429 using JWST and ALMA

Understanding the earliest stage of star and planet formation requires detailed observations to address the connection and interplay between the accretion, outflow and disk evolution. We present results from the observations of the low luminosity ($L_\mathrm{bol}\sim~0.2~L_\odot$) and mass (M$_*\sim$\,0.15~M$_\odot$) Class~0 protostar IRAS 16253$-$2429, conducted as part of the \textit{eDisk} ALMA large program and the JWST cycle-1 GO program \textit{IPA}. Observations reveal a wide hourglass-shaped continuum cavity traced in scattered light (at $\leq$~5~$\mu$m), with a brighter, extended northern side. We detect 15 pure rotational H$_2$ transitions (E$_\mathrm{up}$:~1015--21411~K), revealing a wide-angle molecular outflow. {The outflow width (as traced in H$_2$~0-0~S(11)) at the protostellar location measures $\leq$35 au, slightly larger than the dust and Keplerian disk diameters ($\sim$30 au) but wider than the 20--23~au jet width in [Fe II].} {The opening angle narrows from 40--35\arcdeg{} for the low-J H$_2$ lines (up to S(5)) and the cold gas component (ALMA $^{12}$CO) to $\sim$28--19\arcdeg{} for the high-J H$_2$ lines (S(7)--S(11)).} Position-velocity diagrams of H$_2$ reveal higher velocities for higher E$_{up}$, ranging from ~12.5 km~s$^{-1}$ for H$_2$~0-0~S(1) and S(2) to ~28.5 km~s$^{-1}$ for H$_2$~0-0~S(5)~and~S(7) with respect to the mean flow velocity. The nested excitation and velocity structure of the collimated jet and wide angle wind suggest a magnetohydrodynamic wind as a likely launching mechanism, similar to the findings in other protostars and Class II sources. The lower velocity mm CO may be gas from the infalling envelope accelerated outwards by the wide angle wind along the cavity walls.

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arXiv2026

Molecular Gas Morphological Analogues for the Milky Way

Complete catalogs of molecular clouds in the Milky Way allow analysis of the molecular medium and the star formation properties of the Milky Way that closely follows the method used for nearby galaxies. We explore whether the big dip in the radial distribution of molecular gas in the Milky Way is peculiar and find several other galaxies with similar patterns, all with similar morphological classifications of YClxxGnR, indicating a clearly defined, long bar leading to a grand-design spiral. This category is fairly rare among galaxies in the PHANGS sample, but all galaxies with this classification have some evidence for dips in the radial distribution of CO emission. The lengths of the bars correlate with the extents of the dips. The Milky Way and the other galaxies with dips have similar stellar masses and star formation rates, both lying near the high ends of the distributions for all PHANGS galaxies.

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arXiv2026

MAJORS II: HCO+& HCN Abundances in W40

We present observations of HCN and HCO$^+$ J = $3 - 2$ in the central $424'' \times 424''$ region of the W40 massive star forming region. The observations were taken as part of a pilot project for the MAJORS large program at the JCMT telescope. By incorporating prior knowledge of N(H$_2$) and $T_K$, assuming a constant density, and using the RADEX radiative transfer code we found that the HCN and HCO$^+$ abundances range from $X$(HCN) = $0.4-7.0 \times 10^{-8}$ and $X$(HCO$^+$) = $0.4-7.3 \times 10^{-9}$. Additional modelling using the NAUTILUS chemical evolution code, that takes H$_2$ density variations into account, however, suggests the HCN and HCO$^+$ abundances may be fairly constant. Careful modelling of three different positions finds $X$(HCN) = $1.3-1.7 \times 10^{-8}$, $X$(HCO$^+$) = $1.3-3.1 \times 10^{-9}$. Cross-comparison of the two models also provides a crude estimate of the gas density producing the HCN and HCO$^+$ emission, with H$_2$ densities in the range $5 \times 10^4 - 5 \times 10^5$ cm$^{-3}$, suggesting that the HCN and HCO$^+$ emission does indeed arise from dense gas. High UV intensity (e.g. $G_o >$ a few thousand) has no effect on the abundances in regions where the visual extinction is large enough to effectively shield the gas from the UV field. In regions where $A_V < 6$, however, the abundance of both species is lowered due to destructive reactions with species that are directly affected by the radiation field.

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arXiv2026

The Structure and Kinematics of Three Class 0 Protostellar Jets from JWST

We present observations of jets within 2000 au of three deeply embedded protostars using 2.9-27 micron observations with JWST. These observations show the morphologies and kinematics of the collimated jets from three protostars, the low-mass Class 0 protostars B335 and HOPS 153, and the intermediate-mass protostar HOPS 370. These jets are traced by shock-ionized fine-structure line emission observed with the JWST NIRSpec and MIRI IFUs. We find that [Fe II] emission traces the full extent of the inner 1000 to 2000 au of the jets, depending on distance to the protostar, while other ions mostly trace isolated shocked knots. The jets show evidence of wiggling motion in the plane of the sky as well as asymmetries between blue and red-shifted lobes. The widths of the jets increase non-monotonically with distance from the central protostar, with opening angles ranging from 2.1 degrees to < 10.1 degrees for the three protostars in the sample. The jets have total velocities ranging from 147 to 184 km/s after correcting for disk inclination. For B335, an 8-month gap between NIRSpec and MIRI MRS observations enabled measurement of the tangential velocity of a shocked knot; in combination with the radial velocity, this shows that the jet has a different inclination than the outflow cavity. We find multiple knots before and during a recent outburst in B335, although the knots were more frequent during the burst. The asymmetries between blue- and red-shifted lobes strongly suggest complex interactions between the circumstellar disks and magnetic fields.

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arXiv2025

CORINOS IV: Quantifying Baseline-Fitting Uncertainties in SO$_2$ Ice Measurements with JWST/MIRI

Sulfur dioxide (SO$_2$) ice has been tentatively detected in protostellar envelopes, but its reliability as a solid-state sulfur reservoir remains unclear. We present new measurements of SO$_2$ ice from 6.8-8.5 $\mu$m toward four Class 0 protostars observed with JWST's Mid-Infrared (MIRI) Medium Resolution Spectrometer, as part of the COMs ORigin Investigated by the Next-generation Observatory in Space (CORINOS) program. The sample spans a luminosity range from 1 $L_\odot$ (B335, IRAS 15398-3359) to 10 $L_\odot$ (L483, Ser-emb~7). To assess continuum placement uncertainty in absorption spectra, we apply randomized polynomial fits over the restricted region. We fit laboratory spectra from the Leiden Ice Database for Astrochemistry (LIDA) using the open-source Python library Omnifit. We detect the 7.7 $\mu$m CH$_4$ band in all sources and find its column density robust to baseline choice, providing a reference for evaluating the weaker SO$_2$ feature on its blue shoulder and quantifying baseline-related uncertainty. Three SO$_2$ laboratory ices were tested: pure SO$_2$ ice yields 0.3-1.2% of volatile sulfur may be locked in SO$_2$ ice (lower and upper limits); CH$_3$OH:SO$_2$ ice gives 0.02-0.18%, but with lower quality fitting. The best-fitting H$_2$O:SO$_2$ ice yields 0.2-0.9%, which we consider the most realistic. These ranges define plausible bounds on SO$_2$ ice abundances in our sample. We find evidence for SO$_2$ in Ser-emb 7, L483, and IRAS 15398-3359, but emphasize the noisy spectrum of B335 prevents a definitive detection. Comparing SO$_2$ ice abundances across the different environments, we assess how conditions influence role of SO$_2$ as a potential sulfur reservoir and implications for the longstanding ``missing sulfur'' problem.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2025

IPA. Accretion rate of a low-mass Class 0 protostar, measured via mid-infrared fluorescent OH emission

The earliest stages of star formation are highlighted by complex interactions between accretion, outflow, and radiative processes, which shape the chemical and physical environment of the emerging protostar. James Webb Space Telescope observations of the low-mass, low-luminosity Class 0 protostar IRAS 16253-2429 reveal a central compact source. This object exhibits a rich mid-infrared emission spectrum of OH pure rotational lines and $\rm CO_2$ ro-vibrational lines. Unusually for a young stellar object, it has no mid-infrared line emission from $\rm H_2O$ to match the other molecules. We demonstrate that the emitting OH molecules arise from UV photodissociation of $\rm H_2O$ in its second absorption band at $\lambda = 114-145$ nm, and that the OH emission is a fluorescent cascade starting with highest-excitation rotational states. This situation offers the opportunity of using the infrared OH spectrum to measure the UV flux from the central protostar. Thereby we determine the disk-star accretion rate to be $3 \times 10^{-10} \ M_\sun \ {\rm year^{-1}}$, and demonstrate that the system luminosity arises mostly from the protostar's photosphere rather than from accretion luminosity. The result is in accord with the measured outflow rate of IRAS 16253-2429 and lies within the outflow/accretion-flow rate trend often inferred for protostars; and with episodic accretion as the dominant mechanism by which this protostar has grown.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2025

ALMA-QUARKS: Few-Thousand-Year Hatching out of "Egg": The Supersonic Breakout of a Hypercompact H II Region from Its Parental Hot Core

The kinematic evolution of hypercompact H II (HC H II) regions around young high-mass stars remains poorly understood due to complex interactions with parental environs. We present ALMA QUARKS/ATOMS 1.3 mm/3 mm observations (the highest resolution $\sim0.01$ pc) of a deeply embedded HC H II region (diameter $\sim0.015$ pc, electron density $\sim2\times10^{5}$ cm$^{-3}$) exhibiting a striking $\gtrsim20$ km s$^{-1}$ global redshift seen in optically thin H30$\alpha$/H40$\alpha$ recombination lines relative to its parental hot molecular core within a hub-filament system. The 1.3 mm continuum data reveal a distinct 0.1-pc arc and a perpendicular 0.04-pc tail. We propose that this morphology arises from a dynamic champagne flow: the slow expansion of HC H II region into a pre-existing filament forms the arc and associated low-velocity (few km s$^{-1}$) SiO shocks. Meanwhile, in the opposite direction ionized gas escapes along a steep density gradient traced by the tail and high-velocity (20 km s$^{-1}$) SiO emission. We reject the bow shock scenario in which ionized gas co-moves with a runaway high-mass star because shocked gas in the arc aligns with the hub velocity, contradicting the bow shock prediction. Non-LTE radiative transfer modeling further rules out infall of ionized gas as the velocity shift origin. We conclude that this exceptional HC H II region is undergoing a few-thousand-year transition phase of "hatching out of the egg": the ionized gas of HC H II region has just broken out of its parental hot core and now is flowing outward supersonically. This work highlights how anisotropic density distributions induce supersonically anisotropic ionized flows that govern HC H II region evolution.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2025

Tails of Gravity: Persistence of Star Formation in the CMZ Environment

We characterize star-forming gas in six molecular clouds (Sgr B1-off, Sgr B2, Sgr C, the 20 km s$^{-1}$ and 50 km s$^{-1}$ molecular clouds, and the Brick) in the Galactic central molecular zone (CMZ), and compare their star-forming activities with those in molecular clouds outside the CMZ. Using multi-band continuum observations taken from ${\it Planck}$, ${\it Herschel}$, JCMT/SCUBA-2, and CSO/SHARC2, we derived 8.5" resolution column density maps for the CMZ clouds and evaluated the column density probability distribution functions (N-PDFs). With the archival Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) 1.3 mm dust continuum data, we further evaluated the mass of the most massive cores ($M_{\rm core}^{\rm ma x}$). We find that the N-PDFs of four of the selected CMZ clouds are well described by a piecewise log-normal + power-law function, while the N-PDFs of the remaining two can be approximated by log-normal functions. In the first four targets, the masses in the power-law component ($M_{\rm gas}^{\rm bound}$), $M_{\rm core}^{\rm max}$, and star formation rate (SFR) are correlated. These correlations are very similar to those derived from low-mass clouds in the Solar neighborhood and massive star-forming regions on the Galactic disk. These findings lead to our key hypotheses: (1) In the extreme environment of the CMZ, the power-law component in the N-PDF also represents self-gravitationally bound gas structures, and (2) evolution and star-forming activities of self-gravitationally bound gas structures may be self-regulated, insensitive to the exterior environment on $\gtrsim$5-10 pc scales.

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arXiv2025

The Colors of Ices: Measuring ice column density through photometry

Ices imprint strong absorption features in the near- and mid-infrared, but until recently they have been studied almost exclusively with spectroscopy toward small samples of bright sources. We show that JWST photometry alone can reveal and quantify interstellar ices, and we present a new open-source modeling tool, icemodels, to produce synthetic photometry of ices based on laboratory measurements. We provide reference tables indicating which filters are likely to be observably affected by ice absorption. Applying these models to NIRCam data of background stars behind several Galactic Center (GC) clouds (dust ridge clouds A [the Brick], C, and D), and validating against NIRSpec spectra of Galactic disk sources, we find clear signatures of CO, H$_2$O, and CO$_2$ ices and evidence for excess absorption in the F356W filter likely caused by CH-bearing species such as methanol. The ice ratios differ between the Galactic disk and Center, with GC clouds showing a higher H$_2$O fraction. A large ice abundance is observed in CO, H2O, and possibly complex molecules, which implies that there is substantial freezeout and therefore potential for ice-phase chemistry in non-star-forming gas. Accounting for all likely ices, we infer that $>25%$ of the total carbon is frozen into CO ice in the GC, which exceeds the entire solar-neighborhood carbon budget. By assuming the freezeout fraction is the same in GC and disk clouds, we obtain a metallicity measurement indicating that $Z_{GC}\gtrsim2.5Z_\odot$. These results demonstrate that photometric ice measurements are feasible with JWST and capable of probing the metallicity structure of the cold interstellar medium.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2025

A misaligned protostellar disk fed by gas streamers in a barred spiral-like massive dense core

High-mass stars, born in massive dense cores (MDCs), profoundly impact the cosmic ecosystem through feedback processes and metal enrichment, yet little is known about how MDCs assemble and transfer mass across scales to form high-mass young stellar objects (HMYSOs). Using multi-scale (40-2500 au) observations of an MDC hosting an HMYSO, we identify a coherent dynamical structure analogous to barred spiral galaxies: three 20,000 au spiral arms feed a 7,500 au central bar, which channels gas to a 2,000 au pseudodisk. Further accretion proceeds through the inner structures, including a Keplerian disk and an inner disk (100 au), which are thought to be driving a collimated bipolar outflow. This is the first time that these multi-scale structures (spiral arms, bar, streamers, envelope, disk, and outflow) have been simultaneously observed as a physically coherent structure within an MDC. Our discovery suggests that well-organized hierarchical structures play a crucial role during the gas accretion and angular momentum build-up of a massive disk.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2025

Gravitationally Bound Gas Determines Star Formation in the Galaxy

Stars form from molecular gas under complex conditions influenced by multiple competing physical mechanisms, such as gravity, turbulence, and magnetic fields. However, accurately identifying the fraction of gas actively involved in star formation remains challenging. Using dust continuum observations from the Herschel Space Observatory, we derived column density maps and their associated probability distribution functions (N-PDFs). Assuming the power-law component in the N-PDFs corresponds to gravitationally bound (and thus star-forming) gas, we analyzed a diverse sample of molecular clouds spanning a wide range of mass and turbulence conditions. This sample included 21 molecular clouds from the solar neighborhood ($d<$500 pc) and 16 high-mass star-forming molecular clouds. For these two groups, we employed the counts of young stellar objects (YSOs) and mid-/far-infrared luminosities as proxies for star formation rates (SFR), respectively. Both groups revealed a tight linear correlation between the mass of gravitationally bound gas and the SFR, suggesting a universally constant star formation efficiency in the gravitationally bound gas phase. The star-forming gas mass derived from threshold column densities ($N_{{\mbox {threshold}}}$) varies from cloud to cloud and is widely distributed over the range of $\sim$1--17$\times$10$^{21}$ cm$^{-2}$ based on N-PDF analysis. But in solar neighborhood clouds, it is in rough consistency with the traditional approach using $A_{\rm V}$ $\ge$ 8 mag. In contrast, in high turbulent regions (e.g., the Central Molecular Zone) where the classical approach fails, the gravitationally bound gas mass and SFR still follow the same correlation as other high-mass star-forming regions in the Milky Way. Our findings also strongly support the interpretation that gas in the power-law component of the N-PDF is undergoing self-gravitational collapse to form stars.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2025

Variation of Dense Gas Mass-Luminosity conversion factor with metallicity in the Milky Way

HCN and HCO$^+$ are the most common dense gas tracers used both in the Milky Way and external galaxies. The luminosity of HCN and HCO$^+$ $J = 1-0$ lines are converted to a dense gas mass by the conversion factor, $α_{Q}$. Traditionally, this $α_{Q}$ has been considered constant throughout the Galaxy and in other galaxies, regardless of the environment. We analyzed 17 outer Galaxy clouds and 5 inner Galaxy clouds with metallicities ranging from 0.38 Z$_{\odot}$ to 1.29 Z$_{\odot}$. Our analysis indicates that $α_{Q}$ is not constant; instead, it varies with metallicity. The metallicity-corrected $α_{Q}$ derived from the HCN luminosity of the entire cloud is almost three times higher in the outer Galaxy than in the inner galaxy. In contrast, HCO$^+$ seems less sensitive to metallicity. We recommend using the metallicity-corrected dense gas conversion factors $α^{'}_{\rm tot, Gas}(\rm HCN) = 19.5^{+5.6}_{-4.4} Z^{(-1.53 \pm 0.59)}$ and $α^{'}_{\rm tot, Gas}(\rm HCO^{+}) = 21.4^{+5.5}_{-4.4} Z^{(-1.32\pm0.55)}$ for extragalactic studies. Radiation from nearby stars has an effect on the conversion factor of similar magnitude as that of the metallicity. If we extend the metallicity-corrected scaling relation for HCN to the Central Molecular Zone, the value of $α(\rm HCN)$ becomes $1/3$ to $1/2$ of the local values. This effect could partially account for the low star formation rate per dense gas mass observed in the CMZ.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2025

CORINOS. III. Outflow Shocked Regions of the Low-mass Protostellar Source IRAS 15398-3359 with JWST and ALMA

While molecular outflows have been studied in details with radio interferometry, observations of the hotter gas in protostellar outflows at a comparable physical scale is often challenging. Combined with ALMA, JWST allows us to investigate the cold and hot gas with unprecedented spatial resolution and sensitivity. We present a detailed comparison between the gas distributions probed with ALMA and JWST in the primary outflow of IRAS 15398$-$3359. At 2000 au scale, the southwestern outflow shows four shell structures in 5--10 micron continuum, whereas the submillimeter H$_2$CO emission traces two of the four shells closest to the protostar. Submillimeter emission from CS, CCH, c-C$_3$H$_2$, and CH$_3$OH shows the same two shells, and the $^{12}$CO emission covers most of the outflow region. SO and SiO only trace a condensation at the edge of the shell closest to the protostar. None of these lines observed with ALMA show the outermost shell. At 500 au scale, we find hot H$_2$ gas inside the outflow cavity with JWST. The derived temperature of H$_2$ is 1147$\pm$198 K within a 0\farcs5 aperture at the protostar. The foreground mass column density of dust is (1.4--2.0)$\times$10$^{-3}$ g$\cdot$cm$^{-2}$ (A$_{\rm v}$ = 47--66 mag) in the outflow, using the dust model from Weingartner & Draine (2001). We also find an 8$^{\circ}$ difference between the directions toward the [Fe II] knot and the outermost shell in the MIRI image, which may be interpreted as the precession of the [Fe II] jet. The dynamical timescale of the [Fe II] knot is 10 yrs, suggesting a current event.

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