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The recent data collected by Herschel have confirmed that interstellar structures with a filamentary shape are ubiquitously present in the Milky Way. Filaments are thought to be formed by several physical mechanisms acting from large Galactic scales down to subparsec fractions of molecular clouds, and they might represent a possible link between star formation and the large-scale structure of the Galaxy. In order to study this potential link, a statistically significant sample of filaments spread throughout the Galaxy is required. In this work, we present the first catalogue of 32 059 candidate filaments automatically identified in the Herschel Infrared Galactic plane Survey (Hi-GAL) of the entire Galactic plane. For these objects, we determined morphological (length l a and geometrical shape) and physical (average column density |$N_{\rm H_{2}}$| and average temperature T) properties. We identified filaments with a wide range of properties: 2 ≤ l a ≤ 100 arcmin, |$10^{20} \le N_{\rm H_{2}} \le 10^{23}$|  cm−2 and 10 ≤ T ≤ 35 K. We discuss their association with the Hi-GAL compact sources, finding that the most tenuous (and stable) structures do not host any major condensation. We also assign a distance to ∼18 400 filaments, for which we determine mass, physical size, stability conditions and Galactic distribution. When compared with the spiral arms structure, we find no significant difference between the physical properties of on-arm and inter-arm filaments. We compare our sample with previous studies, finding that our Hi-GAL filament catalogue represents a significant extension in terms of Galactic coverage and sensitivity. This catalogue represents a unique and important tool for future studies devoted to understanding the filament life-cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mass function of molecular cloud clumps and cores is widely used to compare the results of numerical simulations with the observations adopting different prescriptions for star formation. However, our ability to test different theories relies critically on our ability to measure it accurately and interpret it confidently. From an observational perspective, mass functions are subject to uncertainties due to differences in the sample selection, data reduction, and analysis techniques. To reduce these and other biasing effects, in this work we discuss methods to construct clusters or groups of sources extracted from the Hi-GAL survey, which allows us to look at large clump populations in various clouds with different physical conditions. We then construct the clump mass function of each separate group, and we fit the clump mass functions with the two most widely used functional forms, power law, and lognormal. The best-fitting parameters show no correlation with distance and positional parameters of the groups, and the mass spectra appear to have similar shapes and overall widths, though with different intrinsic mass scales. The statistical invariance of the shape of the CMF suggests that no significant differences exist in the early phases between regions dominated by low- and high-mass star formation. Finally, we found that high-mass star formation is more likely to happen in groups where the range of clump mass is shifted towards the high-mass end. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context. Investigating the relationship between radio and infrared emission of Hii regions may help shed light on the nature of the ionizing stars and the formation mechanism of early-type stars in general. Aims. We have taken advantage of recent unbiased surveys of the Galactic plane such as Herschel/Hi-GAL and VLA/CORNISH to study a bona fide sample of young Hii regions located in the Galactic longitude range 10°-65° by comparing the mid- and far-IR continuum emission to the radio free-free emission at 5 GHz. Methods. We have identified the Hi-GAL counterparts of 230 CORNISH Hii regions and reconstructed the spectral energy distributions of 204 of these by complementing the Hi-GAL fluxes with ancillary data at longer and shorter wavelengths. Using literature data, we obtained a kinematical distance estimate for 200 Hii regions with Hi-GAL counterparts and determined their luminosities by integrating the emission of the corresponding spectral energy distributions. We have also estimated the mass of the associated molecular clumps from the (sub)millimeter flux densities. Results. Our main finding is that for ~1/3 of the Hii regions the Lyman continuum luminosity appears to be greater than the value expected for a zero-age main-sequence star with the same bolometric luminosity. This result indicates that a considerable fraction of young, embedded early-type stars presents a "Lyman excess" possibly due to UV photons emitted from shocked material infalling onto the star itself and/or a circumstellar disk. Finally, by comparing the bolometric and Lyman continuum luminosities with the mass of the associated clump, we derive a star formation efficiency of 5%. Conclusions. The results obtained suggest that accretion may still be present during the early stages of the evolution of Hii regions, with important effects on the production of ionizing photons and thus on the circumstellar environment. More reliable numerical models describing the accretion process onto massive stars are required to shed light on the origin of the observed Lyman excess. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context. Maser lines from different molecular species, including water, hydroxyl, and methanol, are common observational phenomena associated with massive star-forming regions. In particular, since its discovery, the 6.7 GHz methanol maser has been recognized as one of the clearest signposts in the formation of young high-mass stars. Aims. The methanol maser thus appears as an ideal tool for studying the early phases of massive star formation. However, it is difficult to establish the exact start of the methanol maser phase, and it would then be interesting to detect and study low flux-density methanol masers (i.e., ≲0.1 Jy or even ≪0.1 Jy), in order to determine if they can be used effectively to mark a specific evolutionary phase in high-mass star formation. Methods. Past surveys have been unable to systematically detect many low flux-density methanol masers, and thus we do not yet know how many such masers exist in the Galaxy and what their physical nature is. A large sample of massive cores can now be found in the Herschel infrared GALactic Plane Survey (Hi-GAL), which we have used to search for methanol and excited OH masers toward a sample of starless and protostellar high-mass clumps using the Arecibo telescope. Results. Out of a sample of 107 observed Hi-GAL sources, we detected a total of 37 methanol masers, with 22 sources being new and weak (median peak flux density 0.07 Jy) detections, in the Galactic longitude range 32.̊ 0,59.̊8. We also detected 12 6.035 GHz OH maser regions, with 9 new detections. Our survey covers a similar range of source distances to the “Arecibo Methanol Maser Galactic Plane Survey” (or AMGPS, Pandian et al. 2007), but the methanol masers detected by us are clearly shifted toward lower integrated flux densities. Conclusions. The newly detected methanol masers mostly have low luminosity (assuming isotropic emission), and except for some sources, their weakness is not due to distance effects or positional offsets. No specific correlation is found with the physical parameters of the Hi-GAL clumps, except for sources with both CH3OH and OH masers, which tend to have higher mass and luminosity. The intensity of the methanol masers correlates well with the velocity range of the maser emission, which suggests that the low brightness of these masers is related to the number of maser spots in the emitting region and to their evolution with time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context. Stars form in dense, dusty clumps of molecular clouds, but little is known about their origin, their evolution, and their detailed physical properties. In particular, the relationship between the mass distribution of these clumps (also known as the "clump mass function", or CMF) and the stellar initial mass function (IMF) is still poorly understood. Aims. To better understand how the CMF evolve toward the IMF and to discern the "true" shape of the CMF, large samples of bona-fide pre- and proto-stellar clumps are required. Two such datasets obtained from the Herschel infrared GALactic Plane Survey (Hi-GAL) have been described in Paper I. Robust statistical methods are needed to infer the parameters describing the models used to fit the CMF and to compare the competing models themselves. Methods. In this paper, we apply Bayesian inference to the analysis of the CMF of the two regions discussed in Paper I. First, we determine the posterior probability distribution for each of the fitted parameters. Then, we carry out a quantitative comparison of the models used to fit the CMF. Results. We have compared several methods of sampling posterior distributions and calculating global likelihoods, and we have also analyzed the impact of the choice of priors and the influence of various constraints on the statistical conclusions for the values of model parameters. We find that both parameter estimation and model comparison depend on the choice of parameter priors. Conclusions. Our results confirm our earlier conclusion that the CMFs of the two Hi-GAL regions studied here have very similar shapes but different mass scales. Furthermore, the lognormal model appears to better describe the CMF measured in the two Hi-GAL regions studied here. However, this preliminary conclusion is dependent on the choice of parameter priors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context. G29.9-60.02 is a high-mass star-forming cloud observed at 70, 160, 250, 350, and 500 μm as part of the Herschel survey of the Galactic plane (Hi-GAL) during the science demonstration phase. Aims. We wish to conduct a far-infrared study of the sources associated with this star-forming region by estimating their physical properties and evolutionary stage, and investigating the clump mass function, the star formation efficiency and rate in the cloud. Methods. We have identified the Hi-GAL sources associated with the cloud, searched for possible counterparts at centimeter and infrared wavelengths, fitted their spectral energy distribution and estimated their physical parameters. Results. A total of 198 sources have been detected in all 5 Hi-GAL bands, 117 of which are associated with 24 μm emission and 87 of which are not associated with 24 μm emission. We called the former sources 24 μm-bright and the latter ones 24 μm-dark. The [70–160] color of the 24 μm-dark sources is smaller than that of the 24 μm-bright ones. The 24 μm-dark sources have lower Lbol and Lbol/Menv than the 24 μm-bright ones for similar Menv, which suggests that they are in an earlier evolutionary phase. The G29-SFR cloud is associated with 10 NVSS sources and with extended centimeter continuum emission well correlated with the 70 μm emission. Most of the NVSS sources appear to be early B or late O-type stars. The most massive and luminous Hi-GAL sources in the cloud are located close to the G29-UC region, which suggests that there is a privileged area for massive star formation toward the center of the G29-SFR cloud. Almost all the Hi-GAL sources have masses well above the Jeans mass but only 5% have masses above the virial mass, which indicates that most of the sources are stable against gravitational collapse. The sources with Menv > Mvirial and that should be undergoing collapse and forming stars are preferentially located at ≲4' of the G29-UC region, which is the most luminous source in the cloud. The overall SFE of the G29-SFR cloud ranges from 0.7 to 5%, and the SFR ranges from 0.001 to 0.008 M⊙ yr-1, consistent with the values estimated for Galactic Hii regions. The mass spectrum of the sources with masses above 300 M⊙, well above the completeness limit, can be well-fitted with a power law of slope α = 2.15 ± 0.30, consistent with the values obtained for the whole l = 30°, associated with high-mass star formation, and l = 59°, associated with low- to intermediate-mass star formation, Hi-GAL SDP fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context. Stars form in dense, dusty clumps of molecular clouds, but little is known about their origin and evolution. In particular, the relationship between the mass distribution of these clumps (also known as the clump mass function or CMF) and the stellar initial mass function (IMF), is still poorly understood. Aims. To discern the "true" shape of the CMF and to better understand how the CMF may evolve toward the IMF, large samples of bona-fide pre- and proto-stellar clumps are required. The sensitive observations of the Herschel Space Observatory (HSO) are now allowing us to look at large clump populations in various clouds with different physical conditions. Methods. We analyze two fields in the Galactic plane mapped by HSO during its science demonstration phase (SDP), as part of the more complete and unbiased Herschel infrared GALactic Plane Survey (Hi-GAL). These fields underwent a source-extraction and flux-estimation pipeline, which allowed us to obtain a sample with thousands of clumps. Starless and proto-stellar clumps were separated using both color and positional criteria to find those coincident with MIPS 24 μm sources. We describe the probability density functions of the power-law and lognormal models that were used to fit the CMFs. For the lognormal model we applied several statistical techniques to the data and compared their results. Results. The CMFs of the two SDP fields show very similar shapes, but very different mass scales. This similarity is confirmed by the values of the best-fit parameters of either the power-law or lognormal model. The power-law model leads to almost identical CMF slopes, whereas the lognormal model shows that the CMFs have similar widths. Conclusions. The similar CMF shape but different mass scale represents an evidence that the overall process of star formation in the two regions is very different. When comparing with the IMF, we find that the width of the IMF is narrower than the measured widths of the CMF in the two SDP fields. This may suggest that an additional mass selection occurs in later stages of gravitational collapse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context. Starless cores represent a very early stage of the star formation process, before collapse results in the formation of a central protostar or a multiple system of protostars. Aims. We use spectral line observations of a sample of cold dust cores, previously detected with the BLAST telescope in the Vela-D molecular cloud, to perform a more accurate physical and kinematical analysis of the sources. Methods. We present a 3-mm and 1.3-cm survey conducted with the Mopra 22-m and Parkes 64-m radio telescopes of a sample of 40 cold dust cores, including both starless and proto-stellar sources. 20 objects were also mapped using molecular tracers of dense gas. To trace the dense gas we used the molecular species NH3, N2H+, HNC, HCO+, H13CO+, HCNand H13CN, where some of them trace the more quiescent gas, while others are sensitive to more dynamical processes. Results. The selected cores have a wide variety of morphological types and also show physical and chemical variations, which may be associated to different evolutionary phases. We find evidence of systematic motions in both starless and proto-stellar cores and we detect line wings in many of the proto-stellar cores. Our observations probe linear distances in the sources ≳0.1 pc, and are thus sensitive mainly to molecular gas in the envelope of the cores. In this region we do find that, for example, the radial profile of the N2H+(1-0) emission falls off more quickly than that of C-bearing molecules such as HNC(1-0), HCO+(1-0) and HCN(1-0). We also analyze the correlation between several physical and chemical parameters and the dynamics of the cores. Conclusions. Depending on the assumptions made to estimate the virial mass, we find that many starless cores have masses below the self-gravitating threshold, whereas most of the proto-stellar cores have masses which are near or above the self-gravitating critical value. An analysis of the median properties of the starless and proto-stellar cores suggests that the transition from the pre- to the proto-stellar phase is relatively fast, leaving the core envelopes with almost unchanged physical parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Preliminary site testing datasets suggest that Dome C in Antarctica is one of the best sites on Earth for astronomical observations in the 200 to 500-μm regime, i.e. for far-infrared (FIR) and submillimetre (submm) astronomy. We present an overview of potential science cases that could be addressed with a large telescope facility at Dome C. This paper also includes a presentation of the current knowledge about the site characterics in terms of atmospheric transmission, stability, sky noise and polar constraints on telescopes. Current and future site testing campaigns are finally described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]