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

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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Abstract

We have used the ratio of column densities (CDR) derived independently from the 850-$\mu$m continuum JCMT Plane Survey (JPS) and the $^{13}$CO/C$^{18}$O $(J=3-2)$ Heterodyne Inner Milky Way Plane Survey (CHIMPS) to produce maps of the dense-gas mass fraction (DGMF) in two slices of the Galactic Plane centred at $\ell$=30$^{\circ}$ and $\ell$=40$^{\circ}$. 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 (MNRAS)
Volume	500
Issue number	1
Early online date	16 Oct 2020
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/staa3188
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 16 Oct 2020

Keywords

astro-ph.GA

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10.1093/mnras/staa3188

2007.00032v2
© 2020 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society following peer review.
Accepted author manuscript, 2.71 MBLicence: Other

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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. (2020). Characteristic scale of star formation. I. Clump formation efficiency on local scales. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS), 500(1). Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/staa3188

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title = "Characteristic scale of star formation. I. Clump formation efficiency on local scales",

abstract = " We have used the ratio of column densities (CDR) derived independently from the 850-\$\textbackslash{}mu\$m continuum JCMT Plane Survey (JPS) and the \$\textasciicircum{}\{13\}\$CO/C\$\textasciicircum{}\{18\}\$O \$(J=3-2)\$ Heterodyne Inner Milky Way Plane Survey (CHIMPS) to produce maps of the dense-gas mass fraction (DGMF) in two slices of the Galactic Plane centred at \$\textbackslash{}ell\$=30\$\textasciicircum{}\{\textbackslash{}circ\}\$ and \$\textbackslash{}ell\$=40\$\textasciicircum{}\{\textbackslash{}circ\}\$. 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. ",

keywords = "astro-ph.GA",

author = "Eden, \{D. J.\} and Moore, \{T. J. T.\} and R. Plume and Rigby, \{A. J.\} and Urquhart, \{J. S.\} and Marsh, \{K. A.\} and Pe{\~n}aloza, \{C. H.\} and Clark, \{P. C.\} and Smith, \{M. W. L.\} and K. Tahani and Ragan, \{S. E.\} and Thompson, \{M. A.\} and D. Johnstone and H. Parsons and R. Rani",

note = " {\textcopyright} 2020 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society following peer review. ",

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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 2020, 'Characteristic scale of star formation. I. Clump formation efficiency on local scales', Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS), vol. 500, no. 1. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/staa3188

TY - JOUR

T1 - Characteristic scale of star formation. I. Clump formation efficiency on local scales

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.

N1 - © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society following peer review.

PY - 2020/10/16

Y1 - 2020/10/16

N2 - We have used the ratio of column densities (CDR) derived independently from the 850-$\mu$m continuum JCMT Plane Survey (JPS) and the $^{13}$CO/C$^{18}$O $(J=3-2)$ Heterodyne Inner Milky Way Plane Survey (CHIMPS) to produce maps of the dense-gas mass fraction (DGMF) in two slices of the Galactic Plane centred at $\ell$=30$^{\circ}$ and $\ell$=40$^{\circ}$. 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 (CDR) derived independently from the 850-$\mu$m continuum JCMT Plane Survey (JPS) and the $^{13}$CO/C$^{18}$O $(J=3-2)$ Heterodyne Inner Milky Way Plane Survey (CHIMPS) to produce maps of the dense-gas mass fraction (DGMF) in two slices of the Galactic Plane centred at $\ell$=30$^{\circ}$ and $\ell$=40$^{\circ}$. 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.

KW - astro-ph.GA

U2 - 10.1093/mnras/staa3188

DO - 10.1093/mnras/staa3188

M3 - Article

SN - 0035-8711

VL - 500

JO - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS)

JF - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS)

IS - 1

ER -

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

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Keywords

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