We present a detailed 1.2 mm continuum and CS spectral line study of a large sample of 69 massive star forming regions in very early stages of evolution, most of them prior to building up an ultracompact Hii region. The continuum data show a zoo of different morphologies and give detailed information on the spatial distributions, the masses, column densities and average densities of the whole sample.Fitting the radial intensity profiles shows that three parameters are needed to describe the spatial distribution of the sources: constant emission from the center out to a few arcsec radius followed by a first power law intensity distribution which steepens further outside into a second power law distribution. The inner flat region is possibly caused by fragmentation of the large scale cores into smaller sub-sources, whereas the steeper outer power law distributions indicate finite sizes of the cores.Separating the sources into sub-samples suggests that in the earliest stages prior to the onset of massive star formation the intensity radial distributions are rather flat resembling the structure of intensity peaks in more quiescent molecular clouds. Then in the subsequent collapse and accretion phase the intensity distributions become centrally peaked with steep power law indices. In this evolutionary stage the sources show also the broadest C 34 S linewidth. During the following phase, when ultracompact Hii regions evolve, the intensity power law radial distributions flatten out again. This is probably caused by the ignited massive stars in the center which disrupt the surrounding cores.The mean inner power law intensity index m i (I ∼ r −mi ) is 1.2 corresponding to density indices p (n ∼ r −p ) of 1.6. In total the density distribution of our massive star formations sites seem to be not too different from their low-mass counterparts, but we show that setting tight constrains on the density indices is very difficult and subject to many possible errors.The local densities we derive from CS calculations are higher (up to one order of magnitude) than the mean densities we find via the mm-continuum. Such inhomogeneous density distribution reflects most likely the ubiquitous phenomenon of clumping and fragmentation in molecular clouds. Linewidth-mass relations show a departure from virial equilibrium in the stages of strongly collapsing cores.

Abstract. With the aim of understanding the role of massive outflows in high-mass star formation, we mapped in the 12 CO J = 2 − 1 transition 26 high-mass star-forming regions at very early stages of their evolution. At a spatial resolution of 11 bipolar molecular outflows were found in 21 of them. The other five sources show confusing morphology but strong line wings. This high detection rate of bipolar structure proves that outflows common in low-mass sources are also ubiquitous phenomena in the formation process of massive stars. The flows are large, very massive and energetic, and the data indicate stronger collimation than previously thought. The dynamical timescales of the flows correspond well to the free-fall timescales of the associated cores. Comparing with correlations known for low-mass flows, we find continuity up to the high-mass regime suggesting similar flow-formation scenarios for all masses and luminosities. Accretion rate estimates in the 10 4 L range are around 10 −4 M yr −1 , higher than required for low-mass star formation, but consistent with high-mass star formation scenarios. Additionally, we find a tight correlation between the outflow mass and the core mass over many orders of magnitude. The strong correlation between those two quantities implies that the product of the accretion efficiency facc =Ṁacc/(Mcore/t ff ) and fr (the ratio between jet mass loss rate and accretion rate), which equals the ratio between jet and core mass (faccfr = Mjet/Mcore), is roughly constant for all core masses. This again indicates that the flow-formation processes are similar over a large range of masses. Additionally, we estimate median fr and facc values of approximately 0.2 and 0.01, respectively, which is consistent with current jet-entrainment models. To summarize, the analysis of the bipolar outflow data strongly supports theories which explain massive star formation by scaled up, but otherwise similar physical processes -mainly accretion -to their low-mass counterparts.

Context. Thanks to its excellent 5100 m high site in Chajnantor, the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) systematically explores the southern sky at submillimeter wavelengths, in both continuum and spectral line emission. Studying continuum emission from interstellar dust is essential to locating the highest density regions in the interstellar medium, and deriving their masses, column densities, density structures, and large-scale morphologies. In particular, the early stages of (massive) star formation remain poorly understood, mainly because only small samples of high-mass proto-stellar or young stellar objects have been studied in detail so far. Aims. Our goal is to produce a large-scale, systematic database of massive pre-and proto-stellar clumps in the Galaxy, to understand how and under what conditions star formation takes place. Only a systematic survey of the Galactic Plane can provide the statistical basis for unbiased studies. A well characterized sample of Galactic star-forming sites will deliver an evolutionary sequence and a mass function of high-mass, star-forming clumps. This systematic survey at submillimeter wavelengths also represents a preparatory work for Herschel and ALMA. Methods. The APEX telescope is ideally located to observe the inner Milky Way. The Large APEX Bolometer Camera (LABOCA) is a 295-element bolometer array observing at 870 μm, with a beam size of 19. 2. Taking advantage of its large field of view (11. 4) and excellent sensitivity, we started an unbiased survey of the entire Galactic Plane accessible to APEX, with a typical noise level of 50−70 mJy/beam: the APEX Telescope Large Area Survey of the Galaxy (ATLASGAL). Results. As a first step, we covered ∼95 deg 2 of the Galactic Plane. These data reveal ∼6000 compact sources brighter than 0.25 Jy, or 63 sources per square degree, as well as extended structures, many of them filamentary. About two thirds of the compact sources have no bright infrared counterpart, and some of them are likely to correspond to the precursors of (high-mass) proto-stars or protoclusters. Other compact sources harbor hot cores, compact H ii regions, or young embedded clusters, thus tracing more evolved stages after massive stars have formed. Assuming a typical distance of 5 kpc, most sources are clumps smaller than 1 pc with masses from a few 10 to a few 100 M . In this first introductory paper, we show preliminary results from these ongoing observations, and discuss the mid-and long-term perspectives of the survey.

We describe a systematic program aimed at identifying and characterizing candidate high-mass protostellar objects (HMPOs). Our candidate sample consists of 69 objects selected by criteria based on those established by Ramesh & Sridharan (1997) using far-infrared, radio-continuum and molecular line data. Infrared-Astronomical-Satellite (IRAS) and Midcourse-Space-Experiment (MSX) data were used to study the larger scale environments of the candidate sources and to determine their total luminosities and dust temperatures.To derive the physical and chemical properties of our target regions, we observed continuum and spectral line radiation at millimeter and radio wavelengths. We imaged the free-free and dust continuum emission at wavelengths of 3.6 cm and 1.2 mm, respectively, searched for H 2 O and CH 3 OH maser emission and observed the CO J = 2 → 1 and several NH 3 lines toward all sources in our sample. Other molecular tracers were observed in a subsample.While dust continuum emission was detected in all sources, most of them show only weak or no emission at 3.6 cm. Where detected, the cm emission is frequently found to be offset from the mm emission, indicating that the free-free and dust emissions arise from different subsources possibly belonging to the same (proto)cluster. A comparison of the luminosities derived from the cm emission with bolometric luminosities calculated from the IRAS far-infrared fluxes shows that the cm emission very likely traces the most massive source, whereas the whole cluster contributes to the far-infrared luminosity. Estimates of the accretion luminosity indicate that a significant fraction of the bolometric luminosity is still due to accretion processes. The earliest stages of HMPO evolution we seek to identify are represented by dust cores without radio emission.Line wings due to outflow activity are nearly omnipresent in the CO observations, and the molecular line data indicate the presence of hot cores for several sources, where the abundances of various molecular species are elevated due to evaporation of icy grain mantles. Kinetic gas temperatures of 40 sources are derived from NH 3 (1,1) and (2,2) data, and we compare the results with the dust temperatures obtained from the IRAS data.Comparing the amount of dust, and hence the gas, associated with the HMPOs and with ultracompact Hii regions (UCHiis) we find that the two types of sources are clearly separated in mass-luminosity diagrams: for the same dust masses the UCHii regions have higher bolometric luminosities than HMPOs. We suggest that this is an evolutionary trend with the HMPOs being younger and reprocessing less (stellar) radiation in the IR than the more evolved UCHiis regions.These results indicate that a substantial fraction of our sample harbors HMPOs in a pre-UCHii region phase, the earliest known stage in the high-mass star formation process.

Context. Probability distribution of densities is a fundamental measure of molecular cloud structure, containing information on how the material arranges itself in molecular clouds. Aims. We derive the probability density functions (PDFs) of column density for a complete sample of prominent molecular cloud complexes closer than d < ∼ 200 pc. For comparison, additional complexes at d ≈ 250−700 pc are included in the study. Methods. We derive near-infrared dust extinction maps for 23 molecular cloud complexes, using the nicest colour excess mapping technique and data from the 2MASS archive. The extinction maps are then used to examine the column density PDFs in the clouds. Results. The column density PDFs of most molecular clouds are well-fitted by log-normal functions at low column densities (0.5 mag < A V < ∼ 3−5 mag, or −0.5 < ln A V /A V < ∼ 1). But at higher column densities prominent power-law-like wings are common. In particular, we identify a trend among the PDFs: active star-forming clouds always have prominent non-log-normal wings. In contrast, clouds without active star formation resemble log-normals over the whole observed column density range or show only low excess of higher column densities. This trend is also reflected in the cumulative forms of the PDFs, showing that the fraction of high column density material is significantly larger in star-forming clouds. These observations agree with an evolutionary trend where turbulent motions are the main cloud-shaping mechanism for quiescent clouds, but the density enhancements induced by them quickly become dominated by gravity (and other mechanisms), which is in turn strongly reflected by the shape of the column density PDFs. The dominant role of the turbulence is restricted to the very early stages of molecular cloud evolution, comparable to the onset of active star formation in the clouds.

Context. The formation processes and the evolutionary stages of high-mass stars are poorly understood compared to low-mass stars. Large-scale surveys are needed to provide an unbiased census of high column density sites that can potentially host precursors to high-mass stars. Aims. The ATLASGAL survey covers 420 sq. degree of the Galactic plane, between −80 • < < +60 • at 870 μm. Here we identify the population of embedded sources throughout the inner Galaxy. With this catalog we first investigate the general statistical properties of dust condensations in terms of their observed parameters, such as flux density and angular size. Then using mid-infrared surveys we aim to investigate their star formation activity and the Galactic distribution of star-forming and quiescent clumps. Our ultimate goal is to determine the statistical properties of quiescent and star-forming clumps within the Galaxy and to constrain the star formation processes. Methods. We optimized the source extraction method, referred to as MRE-GCL, for the ATLASGAL maps in order to generate a catalog of compact sources. This technique is based on multiscale filtering to remove extended emission from clouds to better determine the parameters corresponding to the embedded compact sources. In a second step we extracted the sources by fitting 2D Gaussians with the Gaussclumps algorithm. Results. We have identified in total 10861 compact submillimeter sources with fluxes above 5σ. Completeness tests show that this catalog is 97% complete above 5σ and >99% complete above 7σ. Correlating this sample of clumps with mid-infrared point source catalogs (MSX at 21.3 μm and WISE at 22 μm), we have determined a lower limit of 33% that is associated with embedded protostellar objects. We note that the proportion of clumps associated with mid-infrared sources increases with increasing flux density, achieving a rather constant fraction of ∼75% of all clumps with fluxes over 5 Jy/beam being associated with star formation. Examining the source counts as a function of Galactic longitude, we are able to identify the most prominent star-forming regions in the Galaxy. Conclusions. We present here the compact source catalog of the full ATLASGAL survey and investigate their characteristic properties. From the fraction of the likely massive quiescent clumps (∼25%), we estimate a formation time scale of ∼7.5 ± 2.5 × 10 4 yr for the deeply embedded phase before the emergence of luminous young stellar objects. Such a short duration for the formation of high-mass stars in massive clumps clearly proves that the earliest phases have to be dynamic with supersonic motions.

Context. The APEX Telescope Large Area Survey of the GALaxy (ATLASGAL) is the first systematic survey of the inner Galactic plane in the sub-millimetre. The observations were carried out with the Large APEX Bolometer Camera (LABOCA), an array of 295 bolometers observing at 870 μm (345 GHz). Aims. Here we present a first version of the compact source catalogue extracted from this survey. This catalogue provides an unbiased database of dusty clumps in the inner Galaxy. Methods. The construction of this catalogue was made using the source extraction routine SExtractor. We have cross-associated the obtained sources with the IRAS and MSX catalogues, in order to constrain their nature. Results. We have detected 6639 compact sources in the range from 330 ≤ ≤ 21 degrees and |b| ≤ 1.5 degrees. The catalogue has a 99% completeness for sources with a peak flux above 6σ, which corresponds to a flux density of ∼0.4 Jy beam −1 . The parameters extracted for sources with peak fluxes below the 6σ completeness threshold should be used with caution. Tests on simulated data find the uncertainty in the flux measurement to be ∼12%, however, in more complex regions the flux values can be overestimated by a factor of 2 due to the additional background emission. Using a search radius of 30 we found that 40% of ATLASGAL compact sources are associated with an IRAS or MSX point source, but, ∼50% are found to be associated with MSX 21 μm fluxes above the local background level, which is probably a lower limit to the actual number of sources associated with star formation. Conclusions. Although infrared emission is found towards the majority of the clumps detected, this catalogue is still likely to include a significant number of clumps that are devoid of star formation activity and therefore excellent candidates for objects in the coldest, earliest stages of (high-mass) star formation.

We present radiation hydrodynamics simulations of the collapse of massive pre-stellar cores. We treat frequency dependent radiative feedback from stellar evolution and accretion luminosity at a numerical resolution down to 1.27 AU. In the 2D approximation of axially symmetric simulations, it is possible for the first time to simulate the whole accretion phase (up to the end of the accretion disk epoch) for the forming massive star and to perform a broad scan of the parameter space. Our simulation series show evidently the necessity to incorporate the dust sublimation front to preserve the high shielding property of massive accretion disks. While confirming the upper mass limit of spherically symmetric accretion, our disk accretion models show a persistent high anisotropy of the corresponding thermal radiation field. This yields to the growth of the highest-mass stars ever formed in multi-dimensional radiation hydrodynamics simulations, far beyond the upper mass limit of spherical accretion. Non-axially symmetric effects are not necessary to sustain accretion. The radiation pressure launches a stable bipolar outflow, which grows in angle with time as presumed from observations. For an initial mass of the pre-stellar host core of 60, 120, 240, and 480 M ⊙ the masses of the final stars formed in our simulations add up to 28.2, 56.5, 92.6, and at least 137.2 M ⊙ respectively.