Hi-GAL is a large-scale survey of the Galactic plane, performed with Herschel in five infrared continuum bands between 70 and 500 µm. We present a band-merged catalogue of spatially matched sources and their properties derived from fits to the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) and heliocentric distances, based on the photometric catalogs presented in Molinari et al. (2016a), covering the portion of Galactic plane −71.0 • < < 67.0 • . The band-merged catalogue contains 100922 sources with a regular SED, 24584 of which show a 70 µm counterpart and are thus considered proto-stellar, while the remainder are considered starless. Thanks to this huge number of sources, we are able to carry out a preliminary analysis of early stages of star formation, identifying the conditions that characterise different evolutionary phases on a statistically significant basis. We calculate surface densities to investigate the gravitational stability of clumps and their potential to form massive stars. We also explore evolutionary status metrics such as the dust temperature, luminosity and bolometric temperature, finding that these are higher in proto-stellar sources compared to prestellar ones. The surface density of sources follows an increasing trend as they evolve from pre-stellar to proto-stellar, but then it is found to decrease again in the majority of the most evolved clumps. Finally, we study the physical parameters of sources with respect to Galactic longitude and the association with spiral arms, finding only minor or no differences between the average evolutionary status of sources in the fourth and first Galactic quadrants, or between "on-arm" and "inter-arm" positions.

We describe new Hi-GAL based maps of the entire Galactic Plane, obtained using continuum data in the wavelength range 70-500 µm. These maps are derived with the PPMAP procedure, and therefore represent a significant improvement over those obtained with standard analysis techniques. Specifically they have greatly improved resolution (12 arcsec) and , in addition to more accurate integrated column densities and mean dust temperatures, they give temperature-differential column densities, i.e., separate column density maps in twelve distinct dust temperature intervals, along with the corresponding uncertainty maps. The complete set of maps is available online. We briefly describe PPMAP and present some illustrative examples of the results. These include (a) multi-temperature maps of the Galactic HII region W5-E, (b) the temperature decomposition of molecular cloud column-density probability distribution functions, and (c) the global variation of mean dust temperature as a function of Galactocentric distance. Amongst our findings are: (i) a strong localised temperature gradient in W5-E in a direction orthogonal to that towards the ionising star, suggesting an alternative heating source and providing possible guidance for models of the formation of the bubble complex, and (ii) the overall radial profile of dust temperature in the Galaxy shows a monotonic decrease, broadly consistent both with models of the interstellar radiation field and with previous estimates at lower resolution. However, we also find a central temperature plateau within ∼ 6 kpc of the Galactic centre, outside of which is a pronounced steepening of the radial profile. This behaviour may reflect the greater proportion of molecular (as opposed to atomic) gas in the central region of the Galaxy.

We present MeerKAT neutral hydrogen (H I) observations of the Fornax A group, which is likely falling into the Fornax cluster for the first time. Our H I image is sensitive to 1.4 × 1019 atoms cm−2 over 44.1 km s−1, where we detect H I in 10 galaxies and a total of (1.12 ± 0.02) × 109 M⊙ of H I in the intra-group medium (IGM). We search for signs of pre-processing in the 12 group galaxies with confirmed optical redshifts that reside within the sensitivity limit of our H I image. There are 9 galaxies that show evidence of pre-processing and we classify each galaxy into their respective pre-processing category, according to their H I morphology and gas (atomic and molecular) scaling relations. Galaxies that have not yet experienced pre-processing have extended H I discs and a high H I content with a H2-to-H I ratio that is an order of magnitude lower than the median for their stellar mass. Galaxies that are currently being pre-processed display H I tails, truncated H I discs with typical gas fractions, and H2-to-H I ratios. Galaxies in the advanced stages of pre-processing are the most H I deficient. If there is any H I, they have lost their outer H I disc and efficiently converted their H I to H2, resulting in H2-to-H I ratios that are an order of magnitude higher than the median for their stellar mass. The central, massive galaxy in our group (NGC 1316) underwent a 10:1 merger ∼2 Gyr ago and ejected 6.6−11.2 × 108 M⊙ of H I, which we detect as clouds and streams in the IGM, some of which form coherent structures up to ∼220 kpc in length. We also detect giant (∼100 kpc) ionised hydrogen (Hα) filaments in the IGM, likely from cool gas being removed (and subsequently ionised) from an in-falling satellite. The Hα filaments are situated within the hot halo of NGC 1316 and there are localised regions that contain H I. We speculate that the Hα and multiphase gas is supported by magnetic pressure (possibly assisted by the NGC 1316 AGN), such that the hot gas can condense and form H I that survives in the hot halo for cosmological timescales.

We report on the first detection of very high-energy (VHE) gamma-ray emission from the Crab Nebula by a Cherenkov telescope in dual-mirror Schwarzschild-Couder (SC) configuration. The result has been achieved by means of the 4 m size ASTRI-Horn telescope, operated on Mt. Etna (Italy) and developed in the context of the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory preparatory phase. The dual-mirror SC design is aplanatic and characterized by a small plate scale, allowing us to implement large field of view cameras with small-size pixel sensors and a high compactness.The curved focal plane of the ASTRI camera is covered by silicon photo-multipliers (SiPMs), managed by an unconventional front-end electronics based on a customized peak-sensing detector mode. The system includes internal and external calibration systems, hardware and software for control and acquisition, and the complete data archiving and processing chain. The observations of the Crab Nebula were carried out in December 2018, during the telescope verification phase, for a total observation time (after data selection) of 24.4 h, equally divided into on-and off-axis source exposure. The camera system was still under commissioning and its functionality was not yet completely exploited. Furthermore, due to recent eruptions of the Etna Volcano, the mirror reflection efficiency was reduced. Nevertheless, the observations led to the detection of the source with a statistical significance of 5.4 σ above an energy threshold of ∼3 TeV. This result provides an important step towards the use of dual-mirror systems in Cherenkov gamma-ray astronomy. A pathfinder mini-array based on nine large field-of-view ASTRI-like telescopes is under implementation.

We present a comprehensive statistical analysis of star-forming objects located in the vicinities of 1360 bubble structures throughout the Galactic plane and their local environments. The compilation of ∼70 000 star-forming sources, found in the proximity of the ionized (Hii) regions and detected in both Hi-GAL and GLIMPSE surveys, provided a broad overview of the different evolutionary stages of star-formation in bubbles, from prestellar objects to more evolved young stellar objects (YSOs). Surface density maps of star-forming objects clearly reveal an evolutionary trend where more evolved star-forming objects (Class II YSO candidates) are found spatially located near the center, while younger star-forming objects are found at the edge of the bubbles. We derived dynamic ages for a subsample of 182 H ii regions for which kinematic distances and radio continuum flux measurements were available. We detect approximately 80% more star-forming sources per unit area in the direction of bubbles than in the surrounding fields. We estimate the clump formation efficiency (CFE) of Hi-GAL clumps in the direction of the shell of the bubbles to be ∼15%, around twice the value of the CFE in fields that are not affected by feedback effects. We find that the higher values of CFE are mostly due to the higher CFE of protostellar clumps, in particular in younger bubbles, whose density of the bubble shells is higher. We argue that the formation rate from prestellar to protostellar phase is probably higher during the early stages of the (H ii ) bubble expansion. Furthermore, we also find a higher fraction of massive YSOs (MYSOs) in bubbles at the early stages of expansion (<2 Myr) than older bubbles. Evaluation of the fragmentation time inside the shell of bubbles advocates the preexistence of clumps in the medium before the bubble expansion in order to explain the formation of MYSOs in the youngest H ii regions (<1 Myr), as supported by numerical simulations. Approximately 23% of the Hi-GAL clumps are found located in the direction of a bubble, with 15% for prestellar clumps and 41% for protostellar clumps. We argue that the high fraction of protostellar clumps may be due to the acceleration of the star-formation process cause by the feedback of the (Hii) bubbles.