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Characterizing filaments in regions of high-mass star formation: High-resolution submilimeter imaging of the massive star-forming complex NGC 6334 with ArT\'eMiS
- Source :
- Astronomy and Astrophysics-A&A, Astronomy and Astrophysics-A&A, EDP Sciences, 2016, 592, pp.id.A54. ⟨10.1051/0004-6361/201628378⟩, Astronomy and Astrophysics-A&A, 2016, 592, pp.id.A54. ⟨10.1051/0004-6361/201628378⟩
- Publication Year :
- 2016
- Publisher :
- HAL CCSD, 2016.
-
Abstract
- Herschel observations of nearby molecular clouds suggest that interstellar filaments and prestellar cores represent two fundamental steps in the star formation process. The observations support a picture of low-mass star formation according to which ~ 0.1 pc-wide filaments form first in the cold interstellar medium, probably as a result of large-scale compression of interstellar matter by supersonic turbulent flows, and then prestellar cores arise from gravitational fragmentation of the densest filaments. Whether this scenario also applies to regions of high-mass star formation is an open question, in part because Herschel data cannot resolve the inner width of filaments in the nearest regions of massive star formation. We used the bolometer camera ArTeMiS on the APEX telescope to map the central part of the NGC6334 complex at a factor of > 3 higher resolution than Herschel at 350 microns. Combining ArTeMiS data with Herschel data allowed us to study the structure of the main filament of the complex with a resolution of 8" or < 0.07 pc at d ~ 1.7 kpc. Our study confirms that this filament is a very dense, massive linear structure with a line mass ranging from ~ 500 Msun/pc to ~ 2000 Msun/pc over nearly 10 pc. It also demonstrates that its inner width remains as narrow as W ~ 0.15 +- 0.05 pc all along the filament length, within a factor of < 2 of the characteristic 0.1 pc value found with Herschel for lower-mass filaments in the Gould Belt. While it is not completely clear whether the NGC 6334 filament will form massive stars or not in the future, it is two to three orders of magnitude denser than the majority of filaments observed in Gould Belt clouds, and yet has a very similar inner width. This points to a common physical mechanism for setting the filament width and suggests that some important structural properties of nearby clouds also hold in high-mass star forming regions.<br />10 pages, 6 figures. A&A, in press
- Subjects :
- 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences
FOS: Physical sciences
Astrophysics
Astrophysics::Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics
01 natural sciences
law.invention
Telescope
Gravitation
Protein filament
law
0103 physical sciences
Astrophysics::Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
010303 astronomy & astrophysics
Astrophysics::Galaxy Astrophysics
0105 earth and related environmental sciences
QB
Physics
Star formation
Molecular cloud
Bolometer
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics - Astrophysics of Galaxies
Interstellar medium
Stars
Space and Planetary Science
Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA)
Astrophysics::Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
[SDU.ASTR.GA]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]/Galactic Astrophysics [astro-ph.GA]
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 00046361
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Astronomy and Astrophysics-A&A, Astronomy and Astrophysics-A&A, EDP Sciences, 2016, 592, pp.id.A54. ⟨10.1051/0004-6361/201628378⟩, Astronomy and Astrophysics-A&A, 2016, 592, pp.id.A54. ⟨10.1051/0004-6361/201628378⟩
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....30a03612ba2cc4307540707138da148e