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

Department of Physics

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5 Citations (SciVal)

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
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 - 31 Jan 2021

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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). https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/staa3188

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. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/staa3188

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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.",

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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

PY - 2021/1/31

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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.

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DO - 10.1093/mnras/staa3188

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JO - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

JF - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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ER -

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

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