THE FREE-FALL TIME OF FINITE SHEETS AND FILAMENTS
- Currently at Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia, CSIC, E-1808, Granada (Spain)
- Centro de Radioastronomia y Astrofisica, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Campus Morelia Apartado Postal 3-72, 58090 Morelia, Michoacan (Mexico)
Molecular clouds often exhibit filamentary or sheet-like shapes. We compute the free-fall time ({tau}{sub ff}) for finite, uniform, self-gravitating circular sheets and filamentary clouds of small but finite thickness, so that their volume density {rho} can still be defined. We find that, for thin sheets, the free-fall time is larger than that of a uniform sphere with the same volume density by a factor proportional to {radical}A, where the aspect ratio A is given by A = R/h, R being the sheet's radius and h is its thickness. For filamentary clouds, the aspect ratio is defined as A=L/R, where L is the filament's half-length and R is its (small) radius, and the modification factor is more complicated, although in the limit of large A it again reduces to nearly {radical}A. We propose that our result for filamentary shapes naturally explains the ubiquitous configuration of clumps fed by filaments observed in the densest structures of molecular clouds. Also, the longer free-fall times for non-spherical geometries in general may contribute toward partially alleviating the 'star formation conundrum', namely, the star formation rate in the Galaxy appears to be proceeding in a timescale much larger than the total molecular mass in the Galaxy divided by its typical free-fall time. If molecular clouds are in general formed by thin sheets and long filaments, then their relevant free-fall time may have been systematically underestimated, possibly by factors of up to one order of magnitude.
- OSTI ID:
- 22004244
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 744, Issue 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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