Giant molecular filaments in the Milky Way

Abreu-Vicente, J.; Ragan, S. E.; Kainulainen, J.; Henning, Th.; Beuther, H.; Johnston, K. G.

doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201527674

Cited by 56 publications

(91 citation statements)

References 65 publications

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“…Ragan et al [62] found the kinematical distance in a plot of radial velocity vs. galactic longitude for many filaments to be in the interarm regions (seven filaments in their Figure 4). Abreu-Vicente et al [63] position about half of the filaments in the interarms (8 out of 17 in their Figure 1). For their GMF, their Table 2 and Section 3.1.1 gave different kinematic and extinction distances (about 3.4 kpc vs. about 4.9 kpc), or a difference about three times that of a typical arm width (≈ 0.6 kpc), making it difficult to say if a Giant Molecular Filament is located inside or outside an arm.…”

Section: Filamentsmentioning

confidence: 90%

A guided map to the spiral arms in the galactic disk of the Milky Way

Vallée

2017

Astronomical Review

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An up-to-date overview of the recent history is given, aiming is to present a helpful working guide to the literature and at the same time introduce key systems and observational results, starting from the Sun and going toward the Galactic Center and parts of the Zona Galactica Incognita, and beyond. We start by presenting an observational view of the Milky Way's disk plane (cartographic, dynamical, chemical crosscut, magnetic). This included the four long spiral arms in the disk of the Milky Way galaxy, their geometry, components, velocity, their widths and internal layers as well as onion-like ordered offsets, the central galactic bars, arm tangents, arm pitch and arm shape, arm origins near the Galactic Center, and other possible players in the spiral arm, such as the magnetic field and the dark matter content. After, we present a basic analysis of some theoretical predictions from galactic arm formation: numerical simulations or analytical theories, and observations are checked against predictions from various numerical simulations and analytical (theoretical) models.

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Section: Filamentsmentioning

confidence: 90%

A guided map to the spiral arms in the galactic disk of the Milky Way

Vallée

2017

Astronomical Review

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“…Filamentary structures are fundamental building blocks of the molecular clouds of the interstellar medium (ISM), manifesting themselves over wide ranges of sizes (∼0.1-100 pc), masses (∼1-10 5 M ⊙ ), and line-masses ( 1 000 M ⊙ pc −1 ) (e.g., Bally et al 1987;Hacar et al 2013;Alves de Oliveira et al 2014;Kainulainen et al 2013Kainulainen et al , 2016Abreu-Vicente et al 2016). Specifically, filaments that have line-masses greatly in excess to the critical value of the self-gravitating, thermally supported, non-magnetised, infinitely long equilibrium model, i.e., ≫16 M ⊙ pc −1 (Ostriker 1964), contain large enough mass reservoirs to give birth to high-mass stars and star clusters (e.g., Pillai et al 2006;Beuther et al 2010Beuther et al , 2015aHenning et al 2010;Schneider et al 2012;Kainulainen et al 2013;Stutz & Gould 2016;Contreras et al 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Resolving the fragmentation of high line-mass filaments with ALMA: the integral shaped filament in Orion A

Kainulainen

Stutz

Stanke³

et al. 2017

A&A

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151

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We study the fragmentation of the nearest high line-mass filament, the integral shaped filament (ISF, line-mass ∼ 400 M ⊙ pc −1 ) in the Orion A molecular cloud. We have observed a 1.6 pc long section of the ISF with the Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimeter Array (ALMA) at 3 mm continuum emission, at a resolution of ∼3 ′′ (1 200 AU). We identify from the region 43 dense cores with masses about a solar mass. 60% of the ALMA cores are protostellar and 40% are starless. The nearest neighbour separations of the cores do not show a preferred fragmentation scale; the frequency of short separations increases down to 1 200 AU. We apply a twopoint correlation analysis on the dense core separations and show that the ALMA cores are significantly grouped at separations below ∼17 000 AU and strongly grouped below ∼6 000 AU. The protostellar and starless cores are grouped differently: only the starless cores group strongly below ∼6 000 AU. In addition, the spatial distribution of the cores indicates periodic grouping of the cores into groups of ∼30 000 AU in size, separated by ∼50 000 AU. The groups coincide with dust column density peaks detected by Herschel. These results show hierarchical, two-mode fragmentation in which the maternal filament periodically fragments into groups of dense cores. Critically, our results indicate that the fragmentation models for lower line-mass filaments (∼ 16 M ⊙ pc −1 ) fail to capture the observed properties of the ISF. We also find that the protostars identified with Spitzer and Herschel in the ISF are grouped at separations below ∼17 000 AU. In contrast, young stars with disks do not show significant grouping. This suggests that the grouping of dense cores is partially retained over the protostar lifetime, but not over the lifetime of stars with disks. This is in agreement with a scenario where protostars are ejected from the maternal filament by the slingshot mechanism, a model recently proposed for the ISF by Stutz & Gould. The separation distributions of the dense cores and protostars may also provide an evolutionary tracer of filament fragmentation.

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“…These surveys enable investigations of not only individual local phenomena such as stars, clusters, ionized gas and molecular or atomic clouds, but studies of our Galaxy as a whole, and we can compare the results to extragalactic studies (see, e.g., Taylor et al 2003;Churchwell et al 2009;Carey et al 2009;Schuller et al 2009;Anderson et al 2011;Walsh et al 2011;Beuther et al 2012;Ragan et al 2014;Wang et al 2015;Goodman et al 2014;Reid et al 2014;Abreu-Vicente et al 2016). Particularly important for a general understanding of the different physical processes is the multiwavelength approach because different surveys trace different components of the interstellar medium (ISM) and stellar populations, as well as varying temperature regimes and physical processes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The HI/OH/Recombination line survey of the inner Milky Way (THOR)

Beuther

Bihr²,

Rugel³

et al. 2016

A&A

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154

201

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Context. The past decade has witnessed a large number of Galactic plane surveys at angular resolutions below 20 . However, no comparable high-resolution survey exists at long radio wavelengths around 21 cm in line and continuum emission. Aims. We remedy this situation by studying the northern Galactic plane at ∼20 resolution in emission of atomic, molecular, and ionized gas. Methods. Employing the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) in the C-array configuration and a large program, we observe the HI 21 cm line, four OH lines, nineteen Hnα radio recombination lines as well as the continuum emission from 1 to 2 GHz in full polarization over a large part of the first Galactic quadrant. Results. Covering Galactic longitudes from 14.5 to 67.4 deg and latitudes between ±1.25 deg, we image all of these lines and the continuum at ∼20 resolution. These data allow us to study the various components of the interstellar medium (ISM): from the atomic phase, traced by the HI line, to the molecular phase, observed by the OH transitions, to the ionized medium, revealed by the cm continuum and the Hnα radio recombination lines. Furthermore, the polarized continuum emission enables magnetic field studies. In this overview paper, we discuss the survey outline and present the first data release as well as early results from the different datasets. We now release the first half of the survey; the second half will follow later after the ongoing data processing has been completed. The data in fits format (continuum images and line data cubes) can be accessed through the project web-page. Conclusions. The HI/OH/Recombination line survey of the Milky Way (THOR) opens a new window to the different parts of the ISM. It enables detailed studies of molecular cloud formation, conversion of atomic to molecular gas, and feedback from Hii regions as well as the magnetic field in the Milky Way. It is highly complementary to other surveys of our Galaxy, and comparing the different datasets will allow us to address many open questions.

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Giant molecular filaments in the Milky Way

Cited by 56 publications

References 65 publications

A guided map to the spiral arms in the galactic disk of the Milky Way

A guided map to the spiral arms in the galactic disk of the Milky Way

Resolving the fragmentation of high line-mass filaments with ALMA: the integral shaped filament in Orion A

The HI/OH/Recombination line survey of the inner Milky Way (THOR)

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