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arXiv 0803.3369astro-ph
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极外星系最远分子云中的恒星形成:星系形成早期的恒星形成实验室

Star Formation in the Most Distant Molecular Cloud in the Extreme Outer Galaxy: A Laboratory of Star Formation in an Early Epoch of the Galaxy's Formation

Naoto Kobayashi, Chikako Yasui, Alan T. Tokunaga, Masao Saito

摘要:

我们报告发现活跃的恒星形成在Digel的云2,这是一个最遥远的巨型分子云已知的极端外星系(EOG)。在银河系半径约20千秒差距处,星云2的环境与太阳附近的环境完全不同,包括较低的金属丰度,低得多的气体密度,以及来自旋臂的小扰动或没有扰动。通过新的宽视场近红外(NIR)成像,覆盖了整个云2,我们发现了两个年轻的嵌入式星团位于云的两个密集的核心。利用我们的NIR和12 CO数据以及HI,射电连续谱和IRAS数据,我们讨论了在这个独特的环境中详细的恒星形成过程。我们展示了由附近巨大的超新星遗迹GSH 138-01-94触发的连续恒星形成的明确证据。这两个嵌入的星团在形态上有明显的差异:位于北部分子云核心的星团是一个松散的孤立型恒星形成星团,而位于南部分子云核心的星团则是一个密集的星团。我们认为,高压缩的SNR壳层和相邻的壳层的组合造成了致密的团簇形成在南部的核心。随着低金属量范围的EOG,我们认为EOG可能是一个很好的实验室,恒星形成过程的研究,如超新星引发的,发生在银河系形成的早期时代。特别是,EOG的研究可能会揭示厚盘的起源和作用,其金属丰度范围与EOG的匹配良好。

英文摘要:

We report the discovery of active star formation in Digel's Cloud 2, which is one of the most distant giant molecular clouds known in the extreme outer Galaxy (EOG). At the probable Galactic radius of ~20 kpc, Cloud 2 has a quite different environment from that in the solar neighborhood, including lower metallicity, much lower gas density, and small or no perturbation from spiral arms. With new wide-field near-infrared (NIR) imaging that covers the entire Cloud 2, we discovered two young embedded star clusters located in the two dense cores of the cloud. Using our NIR and 12CO data as well as HI, radio continuum, and IRAS data in the archives, we discuss the detailed star formation processes in this unique environment. We show clear evidences of a sequential star formation triggered by the nearby huge supernova remnant, GSH 138-01-94. The two embedded clusters show a distinct morphology difference: the one in the northern molecular cloud core is a loose association with isolated-mode star formation, while the other in the southern molecular cloud core is a dense cluster with cluster-mode star formation. We propose that high compression by the combination of the SNR shell and an adjacent shell caused the dense cluster formation in the southern core. Along with the low metallicity range of the EOG, we suggest that EOG could be an excellent laboratory for the study of star formation processes, such as those triggered by supernovae, that occured during an early epoch of the Galaxy's formation. In particular, the study of the EOG may shed light on the origin and role of the thick disk, whose metallicity range matches with that of the EOG well.

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