Dense molecular clumps associated with the Large Magellanic Cloud supergiant shells LMC 4 and LMC 5
- Department of Astronomy, School of Science, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 133-0033 (Japan)
- Nobeyama Radio Observatory, 462-2 Nobeyama Minamimaki-mura, Minamisaku-gun, Nagano 384-1305 (Japan)
- Department of Physical Science, Osaka Prefecture University, Gakuen 1-1, Sakai, Osaka 599-8531 (Japan)
- National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, 2-21-1 Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588 (Japan)
- Australia Telescope National Facility, CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science, P.O. Box 76, Epping, NSW 1710 (Australia)
- Joetsu University of Education, Yamayashiki-machi, Joetsu, Niigata 943-8512 (Japan)
- Graduate School of Informatics and Engineering, The University of Electro-Communications, Chofu, Tokyo 182-8585 (Japan)
- College of Science, Ibaraki University, Bunkyo 2-1-1, Mito 310-8512 (Japan)
- Department of Physics, Faculty of Science and Technology, Keio University, 3-14-1 Hiyoshi, Yokohama, Kanagawa 223-8522 (Japan)
- Department of Astrophysics, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8602 (Japan)
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. {sup 12}CO (J = 3-2, 1-0) and {sup 13}CO(J = 1-0) observations with the ASTE and Mopra telescopes have been carried out toward 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(H{sub 2})) of the clumps are distributed from low to high density (10{sup 3}-10{sup 5} cm{sup –3}) and their kinetic temperatures (T {sub 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 Hα, young stellar object candidates, and IR emission. We found that the N48 region is located in the high column density H I 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(H{sub 2}) and T {sub 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.
- OSTI ID:
- 22370138
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 796, 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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