arXiv subjects

Tetsuhiro Minamidani

Publications and source records attributed to Tetsuhiro Minamidani.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2018

CO observations of the molecular gas in the galactic HII region Sh2-48; Evidence for cloud-cloud collision as a trigger of high-mass star formation

Sh2-48 is a Galactic HII region located at 3.8 kpc with an O9.5-type star identified at its center. As a part of the FOREST Unbiased Galactic plane Imaging survey using the Nobeyama 45-m telescope (FUGIN) project, we obtained the CO J=1-0 dataset for a large area of Sh2-48 at a spatial resolution of 21"(~0.4 pc), which we used to find a molecular cloud with a total molecular mass of ~3.8x10^4 Mo associated with Sh2-48. The molecular cloud has a systematic velocity shift within a velocity range ~42-47 km/s . On the lower velocity side the CO emission spatially corresponds with the bright 8 μm filament at the western rim of Sh2-48, while the CO emission at higher velocities is separated at the eastern and western sides of the 8μm filament. This velocity change forms V-shaped, east-west-oriented feature on the position-velocity diagram. We found that these lower and higher-velocity components are, unlike the infrared and radio continuum data, physically associated with Sh2-48. To interpret the observed V-shaped velocity distribution, we assessed a cloud-cloud collision scenario and found from a comparison between the observations and simulations that the velocity distribution is an expected outcome of a collision between a cylindrical cloud and a spherical cloud, with the cylindrical cloud corresponding to the lower-velocity component, and the two separated components in the higher-velocity part interpretable as the collision-broken remnants of the spherical cloud. Based on the consistency of the ~1.3Myr estimated formation timescale of the HII region with that of the collision, we concluded that the high-mass star formation in Sh2-48 was triggered by the collision.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2018

Large-scale CO J=1-0 observations of the giant molecular cloud associated with the infrared ring N35 with the Nobeyama 45-m telescope

We report an observational study of the giant molecular cloud (GMC) associated with the Galactic infrared ring-like structure N35 and two nearby HII regions G024.392+00.072 (HII region A) and G024.510-00.060 (HII region B), using the new CO J=1-0 data obtained as a part of the FOREST Unbiased Galactic Plane Imaging survey with the Nobeyama 45-m telescope (FUGIN) project at a spatial resolution of 21". Our CO data revealed that the GMC, with a total molecular mass of 2.1x10^6Mo, has two velocity components over ~10-15km/s. The majority of molecular gas in the GMC is included in the lower-velocity component (LVC) at ~110-114km/s, while the higher-velocity components (HVCs) at ~118-126km/s consist of three smaller molecular clouds which are located near the three HII regions. The LVC and HVCs show spatially complementary distributions along the line-of-sight, despite large velocity separations of ~5-15km/s, and are connected in velocity by the CO emission with intermediate intensities. By comparing the observations with simulations, we discuss a scenario where collisions of the three HVCs with LVC at velocities of ~10-15km/s can provide an interpretation of these two observational signatures. The intermediate velocity features between the LVC and HVCs can be understood as broad bridge features, which indicate the turbulent motion of the gas at the collision interfaces, while the spatially complementary distributions represent the cavities created in the LVC by the HVCs through the collisions. Our model indicates that the three HII regions were formed after the onset of the collisions, and it is therefore suggested that the high-mass star formation in the GMC was triggered by the collisions.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2018

Survey Observations to Study Chemical Evolution from High-mass Starless Cores to High-mass Protostellar Objects I: HC3N and HC5N

We carried out survey observations of HC$_{3}$N and HC$_{5}$N in the 42$-$45 GHz band toward 17 high-mass starless cores (HMSCs) and 35 high-mass protostellar objects (HMPOs) with the Nobeyama 45 m radio telescope. We have detected HC$_{3}$N from 15 HMSCs and 28 HMPOs, and HC$_{5}$N from 5 HMSCs and 14 HMPOs, respectively. The average values of the column density of HC$_{3}$N are found to be ($5.7 \pm 0.7$)$\times 10^{12}$ and ($1.03 \pm 0.12$)$\times 10^{13}$ cm$^{-2}$ in HMSCs and HMPOs, respectively. The average values of the fractional abundance of HC$_{3}$N are derived to be ($6.6 \pm 0.8$)$\times 10^{-11}$ and ($3.6 \pm 0.5$)$\times 10^{-11}$ in HMSCs and HMPOs, respectively. We find that the fractional abundance of HC$_{3}$N decreases from HMSCs to HMPOs using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. On the other hand, its average value of the column density slightly increases from HMSCs to HMPOs. This may imply that HC$_{3}$N is newly formed in dense gas in HMPO regions. We also investigate the relationship between the column density of HC$_{3}$N in HMPOs and the luminosity-to-mass ratio ($L/M$), a physical evolutional indicator. The column density of HC$_{3}$N tends to decrease with increasing the $L/M$ ratio, which suggests that HC$_{3}$N is destroyed by the stellar activities.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2017

FOREST Unbiased Galactic plane Imaging survey with the Nobeyama 45-m telescope (FUGIN) : Molecular clouds toward W33 ; possible evidence for a cloud-cloud collision triggering O star formation

We observed molecular clouds in the W33 high-mass star-forming region associated with compact and extended HII regions using the NANTEN2 telescope as well as the Nobeyama 45-m telescope in the $J=$1-0 transitions of $^{12}$CO, $^{13}$CO, and C$^{18}$O as a part of the FOREST Unbiased Galactic plane Imaging survey with the Nobeyama 45-m telescope (FUGIN) legacy survey. We detected three velocity components at 35 km s$^{-1}$, 45 km s$^{-1}$, and 58 km s$^{-1}$. The 35 km s$^{-1}$ and 58 km s$^{-1}$ clouds are likely to be physically associated with W33 because of the enhanced $^{12}$CO $J=$ 3-2 to $J=$1-0 intensity ratio as $R_{\rm 3-2/1-0} > 1.0$ due to the ultraviolet irradiation by OB stars, and morphological correspondence between the distributions of molecular gas and the infrared and radio continuum emissions excited by high-mass stars. The two clouds show complementary distributions around W33. The velocity separation is too large to be gravitationally bound, and yet not explained by expanding motion by stellar feedback. Therefore, we discuss that a cloud-cloud collision scenario likely explains the high-mass star formation in W33.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2017

FOREST Unbiased Galactic plane Imaging survey with the Nobeyama 45-m telescope (FUGIN) I: Project Overview and Initial Results

The FOREST Unbiased Galactic plane Imaging survey with the Nobeyama 45-m telescope (FUGIN) project is one of the legacy projects using the new multi-beam FOREST receiver installed on the Nobeyama 45-m telescope. This project aims to investigate the distribution, kinematics, and physical properties of both diffuse and dense molecular gas in the Galaxy at once by observing 12CO, 13CO, and C18O J=1-0 lines simultaneously. The mapping regions are a part of the 1st quadrant (10d < l < 50d, |b| < 1d) and the 3rd quadrant (198d < l <236d, |b| < 1d) of the Galaxy, where spiral arms, bar structure, and the molecular gas ring are included. This survey achieves the highest angular resolution to date (~20") for the Galactic plane survey in the CO J=1-0 lines, which makes it possible to find dense clumps located farther away than the previous surveys. FUGIN will provide us with an invaluable dataset for investigating the physics of the galactic interstellar medium (ISM), particularly the evolution of interstellar gas covering galactic scale structures to the internal structures of giant molecular clouds, such as small filament/clump/core. We present an overview of the FUGIN project, observation plan, and initial results, which reveal wide-field and detailed structures of molecular clouds, such as entangled filaments that have not been obvious in previous surveys, and large-scale kinematics of molecular gas such as spiral arms.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2017

ALMA observations of N83C in the early stage of star formation in the Small Magellanic Cloud

We have performed Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observations in $^{12}$CO($J=2-1$), $^{13}$CO($J=2-1$), C$^{18}$O($J=2-1$), $^{12}$CO($J=3-2$), $^{13}$CO($J=3-2$), and CS($J=7-6$) lines toward the active star-forming region N83C in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), whose metallicity is $\sim$ 1/5 of the Milky Way (MW). The ALMA observations first reveal sub-pc scale molecular structures in $^{12}$CO($J=2-1$) and $^{13}$CO($J=2-1$) emission. We found strong CO peaks associated with young stellar objects (YSOs) identified by the $Spitzer$ Space Telescope, and also found that overall molecular gas is distributed along the edge of the neighboring HII region. We derived a gas density of $\sim 10^4$ cm$^{-3}$ in molecular clouds associated with YSOs based on the virial mass estimated from $^{12}$CO($J=2-1$) emission. This high gas density is presumably due to the effect of the HII region under the low-metallicity (accordingly small-dust content) environment in the SMC; far-UV radiation from the HII region can easily penetrate and photo-dissociate the outer layer of $^{12}$CO molecules in the molecular clouds, and thus only the innermost parts of the molecular clouds are observed even in $^{12}$CO emission. We obtained the CO-to-H$_2$ conversion factor $X_{\rm CO}$ of $7.5 \times 10^{20}$ cm$^{-2}$ (K km s$^{-1}$)$^{-1}$ in N83C based on virial masses and CO luminosities, which is four times larger than that in the MW, 2 $\times 10^{20}$ cm$^{-2}$ (K km s$^{-1}$)$^{-1}$. We also discuss the difference in the nature between two high-mass YSOs, each of which is associated with a molecular clump with a mass of about a few $\times 10^3 M_{\odot}$.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2017

FOREST Unbiased Galactic plane Imaging survey with the Nobeyama 45-m telescope (FUGIN) 2: Possible evidence for formation of NGC~6618 cluster in M17 by cloud-cloud collision

We present $^{12}$CO $J=$1--0, $^{13}$CO $J=$1--0 and C$^{18}$O $J=$1--0 images of the M17 giant molecular clouds obtained as part of FUGIN (FOREST Ultra-wide Galactic Plane Survey InNobeyama) project. The observations cover the entire area of M17 SW and M17 N clouds at the highest angular resolution ($\sim$19$"$) to date which corresponds to $\sim$ 0.15 pc at the distance of 2.0 kpc. We find that the region consists of four different velocity components: very low velocity (VLV) clump, low velocity component (LVC), main velocity component (MVC), and high velocity component (HVC). The LVC and the HVC have cavities. UV photons radiated from NGC 6618 cluster penetrate into the N cloud up to $\sim$ 5 pc through the cavities and interact with molecular gas. This interaction is correlated with the distribution of YSOs in the N cloud. The LVC and the HVC are distributed complementary after that the HVC is displaced by 0.8 pc toward the east-southeast direction, suggesting that collision of the LVC and the HVC create the cavities in both clouds. The collision velocity and timescale are estimated to be 9.9 km s$^{-1}$ and $1.1 \times 10^{5}$ yr, respectively. The high collision velocity can provide the mass accretion rate up to 10$^{-3}$ $M_{\solar}$ yr$^{-1}$, and the high column density ($4 \times 10^{23}$ cm$^{-2}$) might result in massive cluster formation. The scenario of cloud-cloud collision likely well explains the stellar population and its formation history of NGC 6618 cluster proposed by Hoffmeister et al. (2008).

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2017

Observations of Cyanopolyynes toward Four High-Mass Star-Forming Regions Containing Hot Cores

We carried out line survey observations at the 26-30 GHz band toward the four high-mass star-forming regions containing hot cores, G10.30-0.15, G12.89+0.49, G16.86-2.16, and G28.28-0.36, with the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope. We have detected HC5N from all of the sources, and HC7N from the three sources, except for G10.30-0.15. We further conducted observations of HC5N at the 42-46 GHz and 82-103 GHz bands toward the three sources, G12.89+0.49, G16.86-2.16, and G28.28-0.36, with the Nobeyama 45 m radio telescope. The rotational lines of HC5N with the high excitation energies (Eu/k=63-100 K), which are hardly excited in the cold dark clouds, have been detected from the three sources. The rotational temperatures of HC5N are found to be 13-20 K in the three sources. The detection of the lines with the high excitation energies and the derived rotational temperatures indicate that HC5N exists in the warm gas within 0.07-0.1 pc radii around massive young stellar objects. The column densities of HC5N in the three sources are derived to be (2.0+-2.8)*10^(13) cm-2 . We compare the ratios between N(HC5N) the column density of HC5N and W(CH3OH) the integrated intensity of the thermal CH3OH emission line among the three high-mass star-forming regions. We found a possibility of the chemical differentiation in the three high-mass star-forming regions; G28.28-0.36 shows the largest N (HC5N)/W (CH3OH) ratio of > 8.0*10^(14) in units of (K km s-1 )-1 cm-2 , while G12.89+0.49 and G16.86-2.16 show the smaller values (~2*10^(13) ).

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2017

Discovery of a distant molecular cloud in the extreme outer Galaxy with the Nobeyama 45-m telescope

We report the discovery of the molecular cloud whose kinematic distance is the largest in the Galaxy at the present moment, named G213.042$+$0.003, at $l =$ 213.042$^\circ$ and $b =$ 0.003$^\circ$ in the $^{12}$CO($J =$ 1-0) line using the Nobeyama 45-m telescope and a multi-beam receiver BEARS. This molecular cloud is located at the heliocentric distance of 21$_{-7}^{+12}$ kpc and Galactocentric distance of 29$_{-7}^{+12}$ kpc, which are estimated as the kinematic distances with the Galactic parameters obtained by Reid et al. (2014, ApJ, 783, 130). Its major and minor diameters and line width were measured to be 4.0$_{-1.3}^{+2.3}$ pc, 3.0$_{-1.0}^{+1.7}$ pc, and 1.5 km s$^{-1}$, respectively. The cloud mass was estimated to be 2.5$_{-1.4}^{+3.7}$ $\times$ 10$^2$ $M_\odot$ using the CO-to-H$_2$ conversion factor of 5.6 $\times$ 10$^{20}$ cm$^{-2}$ (K km s$^{-1}$)$^{-1}$ obtained in far outer Galaxy.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2017

The 1.1 mm Continuum Survey of the Small Magellanic Cloud: Physical Properties and Evolution of the Dust-selected Clouds

The first 1.1 mm continuum survey toward the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) was performed using the AzTEC instrument installed on the ASTE 10-m telescope. This survey covered 4.5 deg$^2$ of the SMC with $1σ$ noise levels of $5-12$ mJy beam$^{-1}$, and 44 extended objects were identified. The 1.1 mm extended emission has good spatial correlation with $Herschel$ 160 $\mathrm{μm}$, indicating that the origin of the 1.1 mm extended emission is thermal emission from a cold dust component. We estimated physical properties using the 1.1 mm and filtered $Herschel$ data (100, 160, 250, 350, and 500 $\mathrm{μm}$). The 1.1 mm objects show dust temperatures of $17-45$ K and gas masses of $4\times10^3-3\times10^5~M_\odot$, assuming single-temperature thermal emission from the cold dust with an emissivity index, $β$, of 1.2 and a gas-to-dust ratio of 1000. These physical properties are very similar to those of giant molecular clouds (GMCs) in our galaxy and the Large Magellanic Cloud. The 1.1 mm objects also displayed good spatial correlation with the $Spitzer$ 24 $\mathrm{μm}$ and CO emission, suggesting that the 1.1 mm objects trace the dense gas regions as sites of massive star formation. The dust temperature of the 1.1 mm objects also demonstrated good correlation with the 24 $\mathrm{μm}$ flux connected to massive star formation. This supports the hypothesis that the heating source of the cold dust is mainly local star-formation activity in the 1.1 mm objects. The classification of the 1.1 mm objects based on the existence of star-formation activity reveals the differences in the dust temperature, gas mass, and radius, which reflects the evolution sequence of GMCs.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2016

The Brightness Temperature of the Quiet Solar Chromosphere at 2.6 mm

The absolute brightness temperature of the Sun at millimeter wavelengths is an important diagnostic of the solar chromosphere. Because the Sun is so bright, measurement of this property usually involves the operation of telescopes under extreme conditions and requires a rigorous performance assessment of the telescope. In this study, we establish solar observation and calibration techniques at 2.6-mm wavelength for the Nobeyama 45-m telescope and derive the absolute solar brightness temperature accurately. We tune the superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) receiver by inducing different bias voltages onto the SIS mixer to prevent saturation. Then, we examine the linearity of the receiver system by comparing outputs derived from different tuning conditions. Further, we measure the lunar filled beam efficiency of the telescope using the New Moon, and then derive the absolute brightness temperature of the Sun. The derived solar brightness temperature is 7700+-310 K at 115 GHz. The telescope beam pattern is modeled as a summation of three Gaussian functions and derived using the solar limb. The real shape of the Sun is determined via deconvolution of the beam pattern from the observed map. Such well-calibrated single-dish observations are important for high-resolution chromospheric studies because they provide the absolute temperature scale missing from interferometer observations.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2016

Kinematic Structure of Molecular Gas around High-mass Star YSO, Papillon Nebula, in N159 East in the Large Magellanic Cloud

We present the ALMA Band 3 and Band 6 results of 12CO(2-1), 13$CO(2-1), H30alpha recombination line, free-free emission around 98 GHz, and the dust thermal emission around 230 GHz toward the N159 East Giant Molecular Cloud (N159E) in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). LMC is the nearest active high-mass star forming face-on galaxy at a distance of 50 kpc and is the best target for studing high-mass star formation. ALMA observations show that N159E is the complex of filamentary clouds with the width and length of ~1 pc and 5 pc - 10 pc, respectively. The total molecular mass is 0.92 x 10^5 Msun from the 13CO(2-1) intensity. N159E harbors the well-known Papillon Nebula, a compact high-excitation HII region. We found that a YSO associated with the Papillon Nebula has the mass of 35 Msun and is located at the intersection of three filamentary clouds. It indicates that the formation of the high-mass YSO was induced by the collision of filamentary clouds. Fukui et al. 2015 reported a similar kinematic structure toward a YSO in the N159 West region which is another YSO that has the mass larger than 35 Msun in these two regions. This suggests that the collision of filamentary clouds is a primary mechanism of high-mass star formation. We found a small molecular hole around the YSO in Papillon Nebula with sub-pc scale. It is filled by free-free and H30alpha emission. Temperature of the molecular gas around the hole reaches ~ 80 K. It indicates that this YSO has just started the distruction of parental molecular cloud.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2015

High-mass star formation triggered by collision between CO filaments in N159 West in the Large Magellanic Cloud

We have carried out 13CO(J=2-1) observations of the active star-forming region N159 West in the LMC with ALMA. We have found that the CO distribution at a sub-pc scale is highly elongated with a small width. These elongated clouds called "filaments" show straight or curved distributions with a typical width of 0.5-1.0pc and a length of 5-10pc. All the known infrared YSOs are located toward the filaments. We have found broad CO wings of two molecular outflows toward young high-mass stars in N159W-N and N159W-S, whose dynamical timescale is ~10^4 yrs. This is the first discovery of protostellar outflow in external galaxies. For N159W-S which is located toward an intersection of two filaments we set up a hypothesis that the two filaments collided with each other ~10^5 yrs ago and triggered formation of the high-mass star having ~37 Mo. The colliding clouds show significant enhancement in linewidth in the intersection, suggesting excitation of turbulence in the shocked interface layer between them as is consistent with the magneto-hydro-dynamical numerical simulations (Inoue & Fukui 2013). This turbulence increases the mass accretion rate to ~6x10^-4 Mo yr^-1, which is required to overcome the stellar feedback to form the high-mass star.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2014

Dense Molecular Clumps associated with the LMC Supergiant Shells LMC 4 \& LMC 5

We investigate the effects of Supergiant Shells (SGSs) and their interaction on dense molecular clumps by observing the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) star forming regions N48 and N49, which are located between two SGSs, LMC 4 and LMC 5. $^{12}$CO ($J$=3-2, 1-0) and $^{13}$CO ($J$=1-0) observations with the ASTE and Mopra telescopes have been carried out towards these regions. A clumpy distribution of dense molecular clumps is revealed with 7 pc spatial resolution. Large velocity gradient analysis shows that the molecular hydrogen densities ($n({\rm H}_2)$) of the clumps are distributed from low to high density ($10^3$-$10^5$ cm$^{-3}$) and their kinetic temperatures ($T_{\rm kin}$) are typically high (greater than $50$ K). These clumps seem to be in the early stages of star formation, as also indicated from the distribution of H$α$, young stellar object candidates, and IR emission. We found that the N48 region is located in the high column density HI envelope at the interface of the two SGSs and the star formation is relatively evolved, whereas the N49 region is associated with LMC 5 alone and the star formation is quiet. The clumps in the N48 region typically show high $n({\rm H}_2)$ and $T_{\rm kin}$, which are as dense and warm as the clumps in LMC massive cluster-forming areas (30 Dor, N159). These results suggest that the large-scale structure of the SGSs, especially the interaction of two SGSs, works efficiently on the formation of dense molecular clumps and stars.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2014

Enhancement of CO(3-2)/CO(1-0) Ratios and Star Formation Efficiencies in Supergiant HII Regions

We present evidence that super giant HII regions (GHRs) and other disk regions of the nearby spiral galaxy, M33, occupy distinct locations in the correlation between molecular gas, $Σ_{\rm H_2}$, and the star formation rate surface density, $Σ_{\rm SFR}$. This result is based on wide field and high sensitivity CO(3-2) observations at 100 pc resolution. Star formation efficiencies (SFE), defined as $Σ_{\rm SFR}$/$Σ_{\rm H_2}$, in GHRs are found to be about 1 dex higher than in other disk regions. The CO(3-2)/CO(1-0) integrated intensity ratio is also higher than the average over the disk. Such high SFE and CO(3-2)/CO(1-0) can reach the values found in starburst galaxies, which suggests that GHRs may be the elements building up a larger scale starburst region. Three possible contributions to high SFEs in GHR are investigated: (1) the $I_{CO}$-$N({\rm H_2})$ conversion factor, (2) the dense gas fraction traced by CO(3-2)/CO(1-0), and (3) the initial mass function (IMF). We conclude that these starburst-like properties in GHRs can be interpreted by a combination of both a top-heavy IMF and a high dense gas fraction, but not by changes in the $I_{CO}$-$N({\rm H_2})$ conversion factor.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2013

Detection of an ultra-bright submillimeter galaxy behind the Small Magellanic Cloud

We report the discovery of a new ultra-bright submillimeter galaxy (SMG) behind the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). This SMG is detected as a 43.3+-8.4 mJy point source (MM J01071-7302, hereafter MMJ0107) in the 1.1 mm continuum survey of the SMC by AzTEC on the ASTE telescope. MMJ0107 is also detected in the radio (843 MHz), Herschel/SPIRE, Spitzer MIPS 24 μm, all IRAC bands, Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, and near-infrared (J, H, KS). We find an optical (U, B, V) source, which might be the lensing object, at a distance of 1.4 arcsec from near-infrared and IRAC sources. Photometric redshift estimates for the SMG using representative spectral energy distribution templates show the redshifts of 1.4-3.9. We estimate total far-infrared luminosity of (0.3-2.2)x10^14 μ^-1 L_sun and a star formation rate of 5600-39, 000 μ^-1 M_sun yr^-1, where μ is the gravitational magnification factor. This apparent extreme star formation activity is likely explained by a highly magnified gravitational lens system.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2012

GMC Evolutions in the Nearby Spiral Galaxy M33

We present a Giant Molecular Cloud (GMC) catalog toward M33, containing 71 GMCs in total, based on wide field and high sensitivity CO(J=3-2) observations with a spatial resolution of 100 pc using the ASTE 10 m telescope. Employing archival optical data, we identify 75 young stellar groups (YSGs) from the excess of the surface stellar density, and estimate their ages by comparing with stellar evolution models. A spatial comparison among the GMCs, YSGs, and HII regions enable us to classify GMCs into four categories: Type A showing no sign of massive star formation (SF), Type B being associated only with HII regions, Type C with both HII regions and <10 Myr-old YSGs and Type-D with both HII regions and 10--30 Myr YSGs. Out of 65 GMCs (discarding those at the edges of the observed fields), 1 (1%), 13 (20%), 29 (45%), and 22 (34%) are Types A, B, C, and D, respectively. We interpret these categories as stages in a GMC evolutionary sequence. Assuming that the timescale for each evolutionary stage is proportional to the number of GMCs, the lifetime of a GMC with a mass >10^5 Mo is estimated to be 20--40 Myr. In addition, we find that the dense gas fraction as traced by the CO(J=3-2)/CO(J=1-0) ratio is enhanced around SF regions. This confirms a scenario where dense gas is preferentially formed around previously generated stars, and will be the fuel for the next stellar generation. In this way, massive SF gradually propagates in a GMC until gas is exhausted.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2010

Dense Clumps in Giant Molecular Clouds in the Large Magellanic Cloud: Density and Temperature Derived from $^{13}$CO($J=3-2$) Observations

In order to precisely determine temperature and density of molecular gas in the Large Magellanic Cloud, we made observations of optically thin $^{13}$CO($J=3-2$) transition by using the ASTE 10m telescope toward 9 peaks where $^{12}$CO($J=3-2$) clumps were previously detected with the same telescope. The molecular clumps include those in giant molecular cloud (GMC) Types I (with no signs of massive star formation), II (with HII regions only), and III (with HII regions and young star clusters). We detected $^{13}$CO($J=3-2$) emission toward all the peaks and found that their intensities are 3 -- 12 times lower than those of $^{12}$CO($J=3-2$). We determined the intensity ratios of $^{12}$CO($J=3-2$) to $^{13}$CO($J=3-2$), $R^{12/13}_{3-2}$, and $^{13}$CO($J=3-2$) to $^{13}$CO($J=1-0$), $R^{13}_{3-2/1-0}$, at 45$\arcsec$ resolution. These ratios were used for radiative transfer calculations in order to estimate temperature and density of the clumps. The parameters of these clumps range kinetic temperature $T\mathrm{_{kin}}$ = 15 -- 200 K, and molecular hydrogen gas density $n(\mathrm{H_2})$ = 8$\times 10^2$ -- 7$\times 10^3$ cm$^{-3}$. We confirmed that the higher density clumps show higher kinetic temperature and that the lower density clumps lower kinetic temperature at a better accuracy than in the previous work. The kinetic temperature and density increase generally from a Type I GMC to a Type III GMC. We interpret that this difference reflects an evolutionary trend of star formation in molecular clumps. The $R^{13}_{3-2/1-0}$ and kinetic temperature of the clumps are well correlated with H$α$ flux, suggesting that the heating of molecular gas $n(\mathrm{H_2})$ = $10^3$ -- $10^4$ cm$^{-3}$ can be explained by stellar FUV photons.

astro-ph.GA↗