Characteristic scale of star formation – I. Clump formation efficiency on local scales

D. J. Eden; T. J.T. Moore; R. Plume; A. J. Rigby; J. S. Urquhart; K. A. Marsh; C. H. Peñaloza; P. C. Clark; M. W.L. Smith; K. Tahani; S. E. Ragan; M. A. Thompson; D. Johnstone; H. Parsons; R. Rani

doi:10.1093/mnras/staa3188

Characteristic scale of star formation – I. Clump formation efficiency on local scales

D. J. Eden^*, T. J.T. Moore, R. Plume, A. J. Rigby, J. S. Urquhart, K. A. Marsh, C. H. Peñaloza, P. C. Clark, M. W.L. Smith, K. Tahani, S. E. Ragan, M. A. Thompson, D. Johnstone, H. Parsons, R. Rani

^*Corresponding author for this work

School of Physics and Astronomy

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

We have used the ratio of column densities derived independently from the 850-μm continuum James Clerk Maxwell Telescope Plane Survey and the ¹³CO/C¹⁸O (J = 3 → 2) Heterodyne Inner Milky Way Plane Survey to produce maps of the dense-gas mass fraction (DGMF) in two slices of the Galactic plane centred at l= 30^◦ and 40^◦. The observed DGMF is a metric for the instantaneous clump formation efficiency (CFE) in the molecular gas. We split the two fields into velocity components corresponding to the spiral arms that cross them, and a two-dimensional power-spectrum analysis of the spiral-arm DGMF maps reveals a break in slope at the approximate size scale of molecular clouds. We interpret this as the characteristic scale of the amplitude of variations in the CFE and a constraint on the dominant mechanism regulating the CFE and, hence, the star formation efficiency in CO-traced clouds.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	191-210
Number of pages	20
Journal	Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Volume	500
Issue number	1
Early online date	16 Oct 2020
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/staa3188
Publication status	Published - Jan 2021

Keywords

ISM: individual objects: W43
ISM: kinematics and dynamics
Stars: formation
Submillimetre: ISM

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Eden_2021_MNRAS_Characteristics-scale
Copyright 2020 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. This work has been made available online in accordance with publisher policies or with permission. Permission for further reuse of this content should be sought from the publisher or the rights holder. This is the final published version of the work, which was originally published at https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/staa3188.
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Eden, D. J., Moore, T. J. T., Plume, R., Rigby, A. J., Urquhart, J. S., Marsh, K. A., Peñaloza, C. H., Clark, P. C., Smith, M. W. L., Tahani, K., Ragan, S. E., Thompson, M. A., Johnstone, D., Parsons, H., & Rani, R. (2021). Characteristic scale of star formation – I. Clump formation efficiency on local scales. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 500(1), 191-210. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/staa3188

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title = "Characteristic scale of star formation – I. Clump formation efficiency on local scales",

abstract = "We have used the ratio of column densities derived independently from the 850-μm continuum James Clerk Maxwell Telescope Plane Survey and the 13CO/C18O (J = 3 → 2) Heterodyne Inner Milky Way Plane Survey to produce maps of the dense-gas mass fraction (DGMF) in two slices of the Galactic plane centred at l= 30◦ and 40◦. The observed DGMF is a metric for the instantaneous clump formation efficiency (CFE) in the molecular gas. We split the two fields into velocity components corresponding to the spiral arms that cross them, and a two-dimensional power-spectrum analysis of the spiral-arm DGMF maps reveals a break in slope at the approximate size scale of molecular clouds. We interpret this as the characteristic scale of the amplitude of variations in the CFE and a constraint on the dominant mechanism regulating the CFE and, hence, the star formation efficiency in CO-traced clouds.",

keywords = "ISM: individual objects: W43, ISM: kinematics and dynamics, Stars: formation, Submillimetre: ISM",

author = "Eden, {D. J.} and Moore, {T. J.T.} and R. Plume and Rigby, {A. J.} and Urquhart, {J. S.} and Marsh, {K. A.} and Pe{\~n}aloza, {C. H.} and Clark, {P. C.} and Smith, {M. W.L.} and K. Tahani and Ragan, {S. E.} and Thompson, {M. A.} and D. Johnstone and H. Parsons and R. Rani",

note = "Funding: DJE is supported by an STFC postdoctoral grant (ST/R000484/1). ",

year = "2021",

month = jan,

doi = "10.1093/mnras/staa3188",

language = "English",

volume = "500",

pages = "191--210",

journal = "Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society",

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Eden, DJ, Moore, TJT, Plume, R, Rigby, AJ, Urquhart, JS, Marsh, KA, Peñaloza, CH, Clark, PC, Smith, MWL, Tahani, K, Ragan, SE, Thompson, MA, Johnstone, D, Parsons, H & Rani, R 2021, 'Characteristic scale of star formation – I. Clump formation efficiency on local scales', Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, vol. 500, no. 1, pp. 191-210. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/staa3188

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T1 - Characteristic scale of star formation – I. Clump formation efficiency on local scales

AU - Eden, D. J.

AU - Moore, T. J.T.

AU - Plume, R.

AU - Rigby, A. J.

AU - Urquhart, J. S.

AU - Marsh, K. A.

AU - Peñaloza, C. H.

AU - Clark, P. C.

AU - Smith, M. W.L.

AU - Tahani, K.

AU - Ragan, S. E.

AU - Thompson, M. A.

AU - Johnstone, D.

AU - Parsons, H.

AU - Rani, R.

N1 - Funding: DJE is supported by an STFC postdoctoral grant (ST/R000484/1).

PY - 2021/1

Y1 - 2021/1

N2 - We have used the ratio of column densities derived independently from the 850-μm continuum James Clerk Maxwell Telescope Plane Survey and the 13CO/C18O (J = 3 → 2) Heterodyne Inner Milky Way Plane Survey to produce maps of the dense-gas mass fraction (DGMF) in two slices of the Galactic plane centred at l= 30◦ and 40◦. The observed DGMF is a metric for the instantaneous clump formation efficiency (CFE) in the molecular gas. We split the two fields into velocity components corresponding to the spiral arms that cross them, and a two-dimensional power-spectrum analysis of the spiral-arm DGMF maps reveals a break in slope at the approximate size scale of molecular clouds. We interpret this as the characteristic scale of the amplitude of variations in the CFE and a constraint on the dominant mechanism regulating the CFE and, hence, the star formation efficiency in CO-traced clouds.

AB - We have used the ratio of column densities derived independently from the 850-μm continuum James Clerk Maxwell Telescope Plane Survey and the 13CO/C18O (J = 3 → 2) Heterodyne Inner Milky Way Plane Survey to produce maps of the dense-gas mass fraction (DGMF) in two slices of the Galactic plane centred at l= 30◦ and 40◦. The observed DGMF is a metric for the instantaneous clump formation efficiency (CFE) in the molecular gas. We split the two fields into velocity components corresponding to the spiral arms that cross them, and a two-dimensional power-spectrum analysis of the spiral-arm DGMF maps reveals a break in slope at the approximate size scale of molecular clouds. We interpret this as the characteristic scale of the amplitude of variations in the CFE and a constraint on the dominant mechanism regulating the CFE and, hence, the star formation efficiency in CO-traced clouds.

KW - ISM: individual objects: W43

KW - ISM: kinematics and dynamics

KW - Stars: formation

KW - Submillimetre: ISM

U2 - 10.1093/mnras/staa3188

DO - 10.1093/mnras/staa3188

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85097469961

SN - 0035-8711

VL - 500

SP - 191

EP - 210

JO - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

JF - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

IS - 1

ER -

Characteristic scale of star formation – I. Clump formation efficiency on local scales

Abstract

Keywords

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