A study of the relation between star formation and molecular clumps on subparsec scales in 30 Doradus

Journal Article · Tue Nov 01 04:00:00 EDT 2016 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.3847/0004-637X/831/1/32· OSTI ID:22868545

Nayak, O. ^[1]; Meixner, M.; Koekemoer, A.; Panagia, N.; Sabbi, E. ^[2]; Indebetouw, R. ^[3]; Marchi, G. De ^[4]

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1. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 N. Charles St., Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States)
2. Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States)
3. Department of Astronomy, University of Virginia, P.O. Box 3818, Charlottesville, VA 22903 (United States)
4. European Space Agency, Space Science Department, Keplerlaan 1, 2200 AG Noordwijk (Netherlands)

We present {sup 12}CO and {sup 13}CO molecular gas data observed by ALMA, massive early-stage young stellar objects (YSOs) identified by applying color–magnitude cuts to Spitzer and Herschel photometry, and low-mass late-stage YSOs identified via Hα excess. Using dendrograms, we derive properties for the molecular cloud structures. This is the first time a dendrogram analysis has been applied to extragalactic clouds. The majority of clumps have a virial parameter equal to unity or less. The size–linewidth relations of {sup 12}CO and {sup 13}CO show the clumps in this study have a larger linewidth for a given size (by factors of 3.8 and 2.5, respectively) in comparison to several, but not all, previous studies. The larger linewidths in 30 Doradus compared to typical Milky Way quiescent clumps are probably due to the former’s highly energetic environmental conditions. The slopes of the size–linewidth relations of {sup 12}CO, 0.65 ± 0.04, and {sup 13}CO, 0.97 ± 0.12, are on the higher end but consistent within 3σ of those of previous studies. Massive star formation occurs in clumps with high masses (>1.83 × 10{sup 2} M {sub ⊙}), high linewidths (v > 1.18 km s{sup −1}), and high mass densities (>6.67 × 10{sup 2} M {sub ⊙} pc{sup −2}). The majority of embedded, massive YSOs are associated with a clump; however, the majority of more evolved, low-mass YSOs are not.

• OSTI ID: 22868545
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 831; ISSN ASJOAB; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
CARBON MONOXIDE
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
DENSITY
LINE WIDTHS
MASS
MILKY WAY
PHOTOMETRY
PROTOSTARS
STAR EVOLUTION
STARS