Christopher M. Brunt

The Universality of Turbulence in Galactic Molecular Clouds

The universality of interstellar turbulence is examined from observed structure functions of 27 giant molecular clouds and Monte Carlo modeling. We show that the structure functions, ?v = vol?, derived from wide-field imaging of 12CO J=1-0 emission from individual clouds are described by a narrow range in the scaling exponent, ?, and the scaling coefficient, vo. The similarity of turbulent structure functions emphasizes the universality of turbulence in the molecular interstellar medium and accounts for the cloud-to-cloud size/line width relationship initially identified by Larson. The degree of turbulence universality is quantified by Monte Carlo simulations that reproduce the mean squared velocity residuals of the observed cloud-to-cloud relationship. Upper limits to the variation of the scaling amplitudes and exponents for molecular clouds are ~10%-20%. The measured invariance of turbulence for molecular clouds with vastly different sizes, environments, and star formation activity suggests a common formation mechanism such as converging turbulent flows within the diffuse interstellar medium and a limited contribution of energy from sources within the cloud with respect to large-scale driving mechanisms.

THE RELATION BETWEEN GAS AND DUST IN THE TAURUS MOLECULAR CLOUD

We report a study of the relation between dust and gas over a 100 deg 2 area in the Taurus molecular cloud. We compare the H2 column density derived from dust extinction with the CO column density derived from the 12 CO and 13 CO J = 1 → 0 lines. We derive the visual extinction from reddening determined from 2MASS data. The comparison is done at an angular size of 200 �� corresponding to 0.14 pc at a distance of 140 pc. We find that the relation between visual extinction AV and N (CO) is linear between AV � 3 and 10 mag in the region associated with the B213-L1495 filament. In other regions, the linear relation is flattened for AV 4 mag. We find that the presence of temperature gradients in the molecular gas affects the determination of N (CO) by ∼30%–70% with the largest difference occurring at large column densities. Adding a correction for this effect and accounting for the observed relation between the column density of CO and CO2 ices and AV, we find a linear relationship between the column of carbon monoxide and dust for observed visual extinctions up to the maximum value in our data � 23 mag. We have used these data to study a sample of dense cores in Taurus. Fitting an analytical column density profile to these cores we derive an average volume density of about 1.4 × 10 4 cm −3 and a CO depletion age of about 4.2 × 10 5 yr. At visual extinctions smaller than ∼3 mag, we find that the CO fractional abundance is reduced by up to two orders of magnitude. The data show a large scatter suggesting a range of physical conditions of the gas. We estimate the H2 mass of Taurus to be about 1.5 × 10 4 M� , independently derived from the AV and N (CO) maps. We derive a CO integrated intensity to H2 conversion factor of about 2.1 × 10 20 cm −2 (K km s −1 ) −1 , which applies even in the region where the [CO]/[H2] ratio is reduced by up to two orders of magnitude. The distribution of column densities in our Taurus maps resembles a log-normal function but shows tails at large and low column densities. The length scale at which the high column density tail starts to be noticeable is about 0.4 pc.

Dust temperature tracing the ISRF intensity in the Galaxy

New observations withHerschel allow accurate measurement of the equilibrium temperature of large dust grains heated by the interstellar radiation field (ISRF), which is critical in deriving dust column density and masses. We present temperature maps derived from the Herschel SPIRE and PACS data in two fields along the Galactic plane, obtained as part of the Hi-GAL survey during the Herschel science demonstration phase (SDP). We analyze the distribution of the dust temperature spatially, as well as along the two lines-of-sight (LOS) through the Galaxy. The zero-level offsets in the Herschel maps were established by comparison with the IRAS and Planck data at comparable wavelengths. We derive maps of the dust temperature and optical depth by adjusting a detailed model for dust emission at each pixel. The dust temperature maps show variations in the ISRF intensity and reveal the intricate mixture of the warm dust heated by massive stars and the cold filamentary structures of embedded molecular clouds. The dust optical depth at 250 μm is well correlated with the gas column density, but with a significantly higher dust emissivity than in the solar neighborhood. We correlate the optical depth with 3-D cubes of the dust extinction to investigate variations in the ISRF strength and dust abundance along the line of sight through the spiral structure of the Galaxy. We show that the warmest dust along the LOS is located in the spiral arms of the Galaxy, and we quantify their respective IR contribution.

Clustered and Triggered Star Formation in W5: Observations with Spitzer

We present images and initial results from our extensive Spitzer Space Telescope imaging survey of the W5 H II region with the Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) and Multiband Imaging Photometer for Spitzer (MIPS). We detect dense clusters of stars, centered on the O stars HD 18326, BD +60 586, HD 17505, and HD 17520. At 24 μm, substantial extended emission is visible, presumably from heated dust grains that survive in the strongly ionizing environment of the H II region. With photometry of more than 18,000 point sources, we analyze the clustering properties of objects classified as young stars by their IR spectral energy distributions (a total of 2064 sources) across the region using a minimal-spanning-tree algorithm. We find ~40%-70% of infrared excess sources belong to clusters with ≥10 members. We find that within the evacuated cavities of the H II regions that make up W5, the ratio of Class II to Class I sources is ~7 times higher than for objects coincident with molecular gas as traced by -->12CO emission and near-IR extinction maps. We attribute this contrast to an age difference between the two locations and postulate that at least two distinct generations of star formation are visible across W5. Our preliminary analysis shows that triggering is a plausible mechanism to explain the multiple generations of star formation in W5 and merits further investigation.

Characterizing precursors to stellar clusters with Herschel

Context. Despite their profound effect on the universe, the formation of massive stars and stellar clusters remains elusive. Recent advances in observing facilities and computing power have brought us closer to understanding this formation process. In the past decade, compelling evidence has emerged that suggests infrared dark clouds (IRDCs) may be precursors to stellar clusters. However, the usual method for identifying IRDCs is biased by the requirement that they are seen in absorption against background mid-IR emission, whereas dust continuum observations allow cold, dense pre-stellar-clusters to be identified anywhere. Aims. We aim to understand what dust temperatures and column densities characterize and distinguish IRDCs, to explore the population of dust continuum sources that are not IRDCs, and to roughly characterize the level of star formation activity in these dust continuum sources. Methods. We use Hi-GAL 70 to 500 μm data to identify dust continuum sources in the l = 30° and l = 59° Hi-GAL science demonstration phase (SDP) fields, to characterize and subtract the Galactic cirrus emission, and perform pixel-by-pixel modified blackbody fits on cirrus-subtracted Hi-GAL sources. We utilize archival Spitzer data to indicate the level of star-forming activity in each pixel, from mid-IR-dark to mid-IR-bright. Results. We present temperature and column density maps in the Hi-GAL l = 30° and l = 59° SDP fields, as well as a robust algorithm for cirrus subtraction and source identification using Hi-GAL data. We report on the fraction of Hi-GAL source pixels which are mid-IR-dark, mid-IR-neutral, or mid-IR-bright in both fields. We find significant trends in column density and temperature between mid-IR-dark and mid-IR-bright pixels; mid-IR-dark pixels are about 10 K colder and have a factor of 2 higher column density on average than mid-IR-bright pixels. We find that Hi-GAL dust continuum sources span a range of evolutionary states from pre- to star-forming, and that warmer sources are associated with more star formation tracers. Additionally, there is a trend of increasing temperature with tracer type from mid-IR-dark at the coldest, to outflow/maser sources in the middle, and finally to 8 and 24 μm bright sources at the warmest. Finally, we identify five candidate IRDC-like sources on the far-side of the Galaxy. These are cold (~20 K), high column density (N(H2) > 1022 cm-2) clouds identified with Hi-GAL which, despite bright surrounding mid-IR emission, show little to no absorption at 8 μm. These are the first inner Galaxy far-side candidate IRDCs of which the authors are aware.

The density variance -- Mach number relation in supersonic, isothermal turbulence

We examine the relation between the density variance and the mean-square Mach number in supersonic, isothermal turbulence, assumed in several recent analytic models of the star formation process. From a series of calculations of supersonic, hydrodynamic turbulence driven using purely solenoidal Fourier modes, we find that the ‘standard’ relationship between the variance in th e log of density and the Mach number squared, i.e., � 2 ln�/¯ = ln 1 + b 2 M 2 � , with b = 1/3 is a good fit to the numerical results in the supersonic regime up to at least Mach 20, similar to previous determinations at lower Mach numbers. While direct measurements of the variance in linear density are found to be severely under estimated by finite resolution effects, it is possible to infer the linear density variance via the assumption of lo g-normality in the Probability Distribution Function. The inferred relationship with Mach number, consistent with ��/¯ � � bM with b = 1/3, is, however, significantly shallower than observational determination s of the relationship in the Taurus Molecular Cloud and IC5146 (both consistent with b � 0.5), implying that additional physics such as gravity is impor tant in these clouds and/or that turbulent driving in the ISM contai ns a significant compressive component. Magnetic fields are not found to change this picture significantly, in g eneral reducing the measured variances and thus worsening the discrepancy with observations. Subject headings: turbulence — ISM: structure — hydrodynamics — stars: formation — magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) — shock waves

Turbulent driving scales in molecular clouds

Context. Supersonic turbulence in molecular clouds is a dominant agent that strongly affects the clouds’ evolution and star formation activity. Turbulence may be initiated and maintained by a number of processes, acting at a wide range of physical scales. By examining the dynamical state of molecular clouds, it is possible to assess the primary candidates for how the turbulent energy is injected. Aims. The aim of this paper is to constrain the scales at which turbulence is driven in the molecular interstellar medium, by comparing simulated molecular spectral line observations of numerical magnetohydrodynamic models and molecular spectral line observations of real molecular clouds. Methods. We use principal component analysis, applied to both models and observational data, to extract a quantitative measure of the driving scale of turbulence. Results. We find that only models driven at large scales (comparable to, or exceeding, the size of the cloud) are consistent with observations. This result applies also to clouds with little or no internal star formation activity. Conclusions. Astrophysical processes acting on large scales, including supernova-driven turbulence, magneto-rotational instability, or spiral shock forcing, are viable candidates for the generation and maintenance of molecular cloud turbulence. Small-scale driving by sources internal to molecular clouds, such as outflows, can be important on small scales, but cannot replicate the observed large-scale velocity fluctuations in the molecular interstellar medium.

The James Clerk Maxwell telescope legacy survey of nearby star-forming regions in the gould belt

This paper describes a James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) legacy survey that has been awarded roughly 500 hr of observing time to be carried out from 2007 to 2009. In this survey, we will map with SCUBA-2 (Submillimetre Common-User Bolometer Array 2) almost all of the well-known low-mass and intermediate-mass star-forming regions within 0.5 kpc that are accessible from the JCMT. Most of these locations are associated with the Gould Belt. From these observations, we will produce a flux-limited snapshot of star formation near the Sun, providing a legacy of images, as well as point-source and extended-source catalogs, over almost 700 deg(2) of sky. The resulting images will yield the first catalog of prestellar and protostellar sources selected by submillimeter continuum emission, and should increase the number of known sources by more than an order of magnitude. We will also obtain with the array receiver HARP (Heterodyne Array Receiver Program) CO maps, in three CO isotopologues, of a large typical sample of prestellar and protostellar sources. We will then map the brightest hundred sources with the SCUBA-2 polarimeter (POL-2), producing the first statistically significant set of polarization maps in the submillimeter. The images and source catalogs will be a powerful reference set for astronomers, providing a detailed legacy archive for future telescopes, including ALMA, Herschel, and JWST.

Magnetically Aligned Velocity Anisotropy in the Taurus Molecular Cloud

Velocity anisotropy induced by MHD turbulence is investigated using computational simulations and molecular line observations of the Taurus molecular cloud. A new analysis method is presented to evaluate the degree and angle of velocity anisotropy using spectroscopic imaging data of interstellar clouds. The efficacy of this method is demonstrated on model observations derived from three-dimensional velocity and density fields from the set of numerical MHD simulations that span a range of magnetic field strengths. The analysis is applied to 12CO J = 1–0 imaging of a subfield within the Taurus molecular cloud. Velocity anisotropy is identified that is aligned within ~10° of the mean local magnetic field direction derived from optical polarization measurements. Estimated values of the field strength based on velocity anisotropy are consistent with results from other methods. When combined with new column density measurements for Taurus, our magnetic field strength estimate indicates that the envelope of the cloud is magnetically subcritical. These observations favor strong MHD turbulence within the low-density, subcritical, molecular gas substrate of the Taurus cloud.

The link between molecular cloud structure and turbulence

We aim to better understand how the spatial structure of molecular clouds is governed by turbulence. For that, we study the large-scale spatial distribution of low density molecular gas and search for characteristic length scales. We employ a 35 square degrees 13CO 1-0 molecular line survey of Cygnus X and visual extinction (Av) maps of 17 Galactic clouds to analyse the spatial structure using the Delta-variance method. The Delta-variance spectra obtained from the Av maps show differences between low-mass star forming (SF) clouds and massive giant molecular clouds (GMC) in terms of shape of the spectrum and values of the slope beta. Low-mass SF clouds have a double-peak structure with characteristic size scales around 1 pc and 4 pc. These scales may represent SF molecular clumps (1 pc) and/or the width (1 pc) and length (4 pc) of filaments. GMCs show no characteristic scale in the Av-maps which can partly be ascribed to a distance effect due to a larger line-of-sight (LOS) confusion. The Delta-variance for Cygnus, determined from the 13CO survey, shows characteristic scales at 4 pc and 40 pc, either reflecting the filament structure and large-scale turbulence forcing or -- for the 4 pc scale -- the treshhold scale when the 13CO 1-0 line becomes optically thick. Though there are different reasons for characteristic scales (geometry, decaying turbulence, LOS-effects and energy injection due to expanding supernava shells, outflows, etc.), and the relative conribution of these effects strongly varies from cloud to cloud, it is remarkable that the resulting turbulent structure of molecular clouds shows similar characteristics.