Abstract.A statistical study of the properties of molecular outflows is performed based on an up-to-date sample. 391 outflows were identified in published articles or preprints before February 28, 2003. The parameters of position, morphology, mass, energy, outflow dynamics and central source luminosity are presented for each outflow source. Outflow lobe polarity is known for all the sources, and 84% are found to be bipolar. The sources are divided into low mass and high mass groups according to either the available bolometric luminosity of the central source or the outflow mass. The pace of discovery of outflows over the past seven years has increased much more rapidly than in previous periods. Surveys for outflows are still continuing. The number of high-mass outflows detected (139) has considerably increased, showing that they are commonly associated with massive as well as low mass stars. Energetic mass ejection may be a common aspect of the formation of high mass as well as low mass stars. Outflow masses are correlated strongly with bolometric luminosity of the center sources, which was obtained for the first time. There are also correlations between the central source luminosity and the parameters of mechanical luminosity and the thrust or force necessary to drive the outflow. The results show that flow mass, momentum and energy depend on the nature of the central source. Despite their similarity, there are differences between the high mass and low mass outflows. Low mass outflows are more collimated than high mass outflows. On average, the mass of high mass sources can be more than two orders of magnitude larger than those of low mass outflows. The relation between flow mass and dynamical time appears to differ for the two types of outflows. Low mass sources make up 90% of outflows associated with HH objects while high mass outflows make up 61% of the sources associated with H 2 O masers. Sources with characteristics of collapse or infall comprise 12% of the entire outflow sample. The spatial distribution of the outflow sources in the Galaxy is presented and the local occurrence rate is compared with the stellar birth rate.

Context. We model the dust and free-free continuum emission in the high-mass star-forming region Sagittarius B2. Aims. We want to reconstruct the 3D density and dust temperature distribution, as a crucial input to follow-up studies of the gas velocity field and molecular abundances. Methods. We employ the 3D radiative transfer program RADMC-3D to calculate the dust temperature self-consistently, providing a given initial density distribution. This density distribution of the entire cloud complex is then recursively reconstructed, based on available continuum maps, including both single-dish and high-resolution interferometric maps that cover a wide frequency range (ν = 40 GHz−4 THz). The model covers spatial scales from 45 pc down to 100 au, i.e., a spatial dynamic range of 10 5 . Results. We find that the density distribution of Sagittarius B2 can be reasonably well fitted by applying a superposition of spherical cores with Plummer-like density profiles. To reproduce the spectral energy distribution, we position Sgr B2(N) along the line of sight behind the plane containing Sgr B2(M). We find that the entire cloud complex comprises a total gas mass of 8.0 × 10 6 M within a diameter of 45 pc. This corresponds to an averaged gas density of 170 M pc −3 . We estimate stellar masses of 2400 M and 20 700 M and luminosities of 1.8 × 10 6 L and 1.2 × 10 7 L for Sgr B2(N) and Sgr B2(M), respectively. We report H 2 column densities of 2.9 × 10 24 cm −2 for Sgr B2(N) and 2.5 × 10 24 cm −2 for Sgr B2(M) in a 40 beam. For Sgr B2(S), we derive a stellar mass of 1100 M , a luminosity of 6.6 × 10 5 L , and an H 2 column density of 2.2 × 10 24 cm −2 in a 40 beam. We calculate a star formation efficiency of 5% for Sgr B2(N) and 50% for Sgr B2(M). This indicates that most of the gas content in Sgr B2(M) has already been converted to stars or dispersed.

We report the first high spatial resolution submillimeter continuum observations of the Sagittarius B2 cloud complex using the Submillimeter Array (SMA). With the subarcsecond resolution provided by the SMA, the two massive star-forming clumps Sgr B2(N) and Sgr B2(M) are resolved into multiple compact sources. In total, twelve submillimeter cores are identified in the Sgr B2(M) region, while only two components are observed in the Sgr B2(N) clump. The gas mass and column density are estimated from the dust continuum emission. We find that most of the cores have gas masses in excess of 100 M and column densities above 10 25 cm −2 . The very fragmented appearance of Sgr B2(M), in contrast to the monolithic structure of Sgr B2 (N), suggests that the former is more evolved. The density profile of the Sgr B2(N)-SMA1 core is well fitted by a Plummer density distribution. This would lead one to believe that in the evolutionary sequence of the Sgr B2 cloud complex, a massive star forms first in an homogeneous core, and the rest of the cluster forms subsequently in the then fragmenting structure.

A survey toward 674 Planck cold clumps of the Early Cold Core Catalogue (ECC) in the J=1-0 transitions of 12 CO, 13 CO and C 18 O has been carried out using the PMO 13.7 m telescope. 673 clumps were detected with the 12 CO and 13 CO, and 68% of the samples have C 18 O emission. Additional velocity components were also identified. A close consistency of the three line peak velocities was revealed for the first time. Kinematic distances are given out for all the velocity components and half of the clumps are located within 0.5 and 1.5 kpc. Excitation temperatures range from 4 to 27 K, slightly larger than those of T d . Line width analysis shows that the majority of ECC clumps are low mass clumps. Column densities N H 2 span from 10 20 to 4.5×10 22 cm −2 with an average value of (4.4±3.6)×10 21 cm −2 . N H 2 cumulative fraction distribution deviates from the lognormal distribution, which is attributed to optical depth. The average abundance ratio of the 13 CO to C 18 O in these clumps is 7.0±3.8, higher than the terrestrial value. Dust and gas are well coupled in 95% of the clumps. Blue profile, red profile and line asymmetry in total was found in less than 10% of the clumps, generally indicating star formation is not developed yet. Ten clumps were mapped. Twelve velocity components and 22 cores were obtained. Their morphologies include extended diffuse, dense isolated, cometary and filament, of which the last is the majority. 20 cores are starless. Only 7 cores seem to be in gravitationally bound state. Planck cold clumps are the most quiescent among the samples of weak-red IRAS, infrared dark clouds, UC Hii region candidates, EGOs and methanol maser sources, suggesting that Planck cold clumps have expanded the horizon of cold Astronomy.