We utilize magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations to develop a numerical model for GMC-GMC collisions between nearly magnetically critical clouds. The goal is to determine if, and under what circumstances, cloud collisions can cause pre-existing magnetically subcritical clumps to become supercritical and undergo gravitational collapse. We first develop and implement new photodissociation region (PDR) based heating and cooling functions that span the atomic to molecular transition, creating a multiphase ISM and allowing modeling of non-equilibrium temperature structures. Then in 2D and with ideal MHD, we explore a wide parameter space of magnetic field strength, magnetic field geometry, collision velocity, and impact parameter, and compare isolated versus colliding clouds. We find factors of ~2-3 increase in mean clump density from typical collisions, with strong dependence on collision velocity and magnetic field strength, but ultimately limited by flux-freezing in 2D geometries. For geometries enabling flow along magnetic field lines, greater degrees of collapse are seen. We discuss observational diagnostics of cloud collisions, focussing on 13CO(J=2-1), 13CO(J=3-2), and 12CO(J=8-7) integrated intensity maps and spectra, which we synthesize from our simulation outputs. We find the ratio of J=8-7 to lower-J emission is a powerful diagnostic probe of GMC collisions.
We investigate collisions between giant molecular clouds (GMCs) as potential generators of their internal turbulence. Using magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations of self-gravitating, magnetized, turbulent, GMCs, we compare kinematic and dynamic properties of dense gas structures formed when such clouds collide compared to those that form in non-colliding clouds as self-gravity overwhelms decaying turbulence. We explore the nature of turbulence in these structures via distribution functions of density, velocity dispersions, virial parameters, and momentum injection. We find that the dense clump…
We study giant molecular cloud (GMC) collisions and their ability to trigger star cluster formation. We further develop our three dimensional magnetized, turbulent, colliding GMC simulations by implementing star formation sub-grid models. Two such models are explored: (1) "Density-Regulated," i.e., fixed efficiency per free-fall time above a set density threshold; (2) "Magnetically-Regulated," i.e., fixed efficiency per free-fall time in regions that are magnetically supercritical. Variations of parameters associated with these models are also explored. In the non-colliding simulations, the ov…
We investigate the role of ambipolar diffusion (AD) in collisions between magnetized giant molecular clouds (GMCs), which may be an important mechanism for triggering star cluster formation. Three dimensional simulations of GMC collisions are performed using a version of the Enzo magnetohydrodynamics code that has been extended to include AD. The resistivities are calculated using the 31-species chemical model of Wu et al. (2015). We find that in the weak-field, $10\:{\rm μG}$ case, AD has only a modest effect on the dynamical evolution during the collision. However, for the stronger-field, $3…
We investigate the formation of stars within giant molecular clouds (GMCs) evolving in environments of different global magnetic field strength and large-scale dynamics. Building upon a series of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations of non-colliding and colliding GMCs, we employ density- and magnetically-regulated star formation sub-grid models in clouds which range from moderately magnetically supercritical to near critical. We examine gas and star cluster morphologies, magnetic field strengths and relative orientations, pre-stellar core densities, temperatures, mass-to-flux ratios and veloc…
We investigate giant molecular cloud (GMCs) collisions and their ability to induce gravitational instability and thus star formation. This mechanism may be a major driver of star formation activity in galactic disks. We carry out a series of three dimensional, magnetohydrodynamics (MHD), adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) simulations to study how cloud collisions trigger formation of dense filaments and clumps. Heating and cooling functions are implemented based on photo-dissociation region (PDR) models that span the atomic to molecular transition and can return detailed diagnostic information. Th…
We present calculations of molecular, atomic and ionic line emission from simulations of giant molecular cloud (GMC) collisions. We post-process snapshots of the magneto-hydrodynamical simulations presented in an earlier paper in this series by Wu et al. (2017) of colliding and non-colliding GMCs. Using photodissociation region (PDR) chemistry and radiative transfer we calculate the level populations and emission properties of $^{12}$CO $J=1-0$, [CI] $^3{\rm P}_1\rightarrow{^3{\rm P}}_0$ at $609\,μ$m, [CII] $158\,μ$m and [OI] $^3{\rm P}_1\rightarrow{^3{\rm P}}_0$ transition at $63\,μ$m. From i…
We present 12CO, 13CO and C18O J=3-2 maps of the W3 GMC made at the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope. We combine these observations with Five Colleges Radio Astronomy Observatory CO J=1-0 data to produce the first map of molecular-gas temperatures across a GMC and the most accurate determination of the mass distribution in W3 yet obtained. We measure excitation temperatures in the part of the cloud dominated by triggered star formation (the High Density Layer, HDL) of 15-30 K, while in the rest of the cloud, which is relatively unaffected by triggering (Low Density Layer, LDL), the excitation tem…
In this work we have carried out an in-depth analysis of the young stellar content in the W3 GMC. The YSO population was identified and classified in the IRAC/MIPS color-magnitude space according to the `Class' scheme and compared to other classifications based on intrinsic properties. Class 0/I and II candidates were also compared to low/intermediate-mass pre-main-sequence stars selected through their colors and magnitudes in 2MASS. We find that a reliable color/magnitude selection of low-mass PMS stars in the infrared requires prior knowledge of the protostar population, while intermediate m…
We present new, wide and deep images in the 1.1 mm continuum and the $^{12}$CO ($J$=1-0) emission toward the northern part of the Orion A Giant Molecular Cloud (Orion-A GMC). The 1.1 mm data were taken with the AzTEC camera mounted on the Atacama Submillimeter Telescope Experiment (ASTE) 10 m telescope in Chile, and the $^{12}$CO ($J$=1-0) data were with the 25 beam receiver (BEARS) on the NRO 45 m telescope in the On-The-Fly (OTF) mode. The present AzTEC observations are the widest $(\timeform{1.D7}$ $\times$ $\timeform{2.D3}$, corresponding to 12 pc $\times$ 17 pc) and the highest-sensitivit…
We present a series of adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) hydrodynamic simulations of flat rotation curve galactic gas disks with a detailed treatment of the interstellar medium (ISM) physics of the atomic to molecular phase transition under the influence of diffuse FUV radiation fields and cosmic ray backgrounds. We explore the effects of different FUV intensities, including a model with a radial gradient designed to mimic the Milky Way. The effects of cosmic rays, including radial gradients in their heating and ionization rates, are also explored. The final simulations in this series achieve $4\…
A multi-scale molecular and atomic gas view on the HII region N113 in the Large Magellanic Cloud:Evidence for high-mass star formation triggered by supersonically-colliding HI flows
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, National Institutes of Natural Sciences（日本国立天文台，国立自然科学研究院）；Faculty of Engineering, Gifu University（岐阜大学工学部）；Department of Physics, Nagoya University（名古屋大学物理学系）；Faculty of Education, Kagawa University（香川大学教育学部）；Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Faculty of Science, Kyushu University（九州大学理学行星地球科学系）；Department of Physics, Graduate School of Science, Osaka Metropolitan University（大阪公立大学理学院物理学系）；Exoplanets and Stellar Astrophysics Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center（NASA戈达德太空飞行中心系外行星与恒星天体物理实验室）；Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland, College Park（马里兰大学帕克分校天文学系）；Center for Research and Exploration in Space Science and Technology, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center（NASA戈达德太空飞行中心空间科学与技术研究探索中心）
Massive stars are key players in the evolution of galaxies, yet their formation pathway remains unclear. In this work, we use data from several galaxy-wide surveys to build an unbiased dataset of ~700 massive young stellar objects (MYSOs), ~200 giant molecular clouds (GMCs), and ~100 young (<10 Myr) optical stellar clusters (SCs) in the Large Magellanic Cloud. We employ this data to quantitatively study the location and clustering of massive star formation and its relation to the internal structure of GMCs. We reveal that massive stars do not typically form at the highest column densities nor …
Propagation of fast-mode magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves in the interstellar space is simulated, and focusing MHD wave (FMW) model is proposed for triggered star formation (SF). Waves from an SF region are trapped by nearby molecular clouds and converge onto their focal points, causing implosive compression. Even an isolated cloud suffers from long-distance invasion of waves from remote sources. Echoing SF occurs inside a cloud as well as between clouds. Repetitive refocusing in a filamentary cloud suggests spatial periodicity in SF sites along the filament. The model is applied to the SF regi…
We performed sub-parsec (~0.06pc) scale simulations of two idealised molecular clouds with different masses undergoing a collision. Gas clumps with density greater than 1e-20 g/cm3 (0.3e4 cm-3) were identified as pre-stellar cores and tracked through the simulation. The colliding system showed a partial gas arc morphology with core formation in the oblique shock-front at the collision interface. These characteristics support NANTEN observations of objects suspected to be colliding giant molecular clouds (GMCs). We investigated the effect of turbulence and collision speed on the resulting core …
M16, the Eagle Nebula, is an outstanding \HII \ region which exhibits extensive high-mass star formation and hosts remarkable "pillars". We herein obtained new $^{12}$CO $J=$1-0 data for the region observed with NANTEN2, which were combined with the $^{12}$CO $J=$1-0 data obtained using FUGIN survey. These observations revealed that a giant molecular cloud (GMC) of $\sim 1.3 \times 10^5$ \Msun \ is associated with M16, which is elongated by over 30 pc and is perpendicular to the galactic plane, at a distance of 1.8 kpc. This GMC can be divided into the northern (N) cloud, the eastern (E) filam…
To shed light on the time evolution of local star formation episodes in M33, we study the association between 566 Giant Molecular Clouds (GMCs), identified through the CO (J=2-1) IRAM-all-disk survey, and 630 Young Stellar Cluster Candidates (YSCCs), selected via Spitzer-24~$μ$m emission. The spatial correlation between YSCCs and GMCs is extremely strong, with a typical separation of 17~pc, less than half the CO(2--1) beamsize, illustrating the remarkable physical link between the two populations. GMCs and YSCCs follow the HI filaments, except in the outermost regions where the survey finds fe…
The Multi-Scale Continuum and Line Exploration of W49 (MUSCLE W49) is a comprehensive gas and dust survey of the giant molecular cloud (GMC) of W49A, the most luminous star-formation region in the Milky Way. It covers the entire GMC at different scales and angular resolutions. In this paper we present: 1) an all-configuration SMA mosaic in the 230-GHz band covering the central 3 arcmin (10 pc, known as W49N), with most of the embedded massive stars; and 2) PMO 14m telescope observations in the 90-GHz band, covering the entire GMC with maps up to 35 arcmin in size, or 113 pc. We also make use o…
We carried out observations toward the giant molecular cloud W 37 with the $J = 1 - 0$ transitions of $^{12}$CO, $^{13}$CO, and C$^{18}$O using the 13.7 m single-dish telescope at the Delingha station of Purple Mountain Observatory. Based on the three CO lines, we calculated the column densities, cloud masses for the molecular clouds with radial velocities at around $+20 \mathrm{km s}^{-1}$. The gas mass of W 37, calculated from $^{13}$CO emission, is $1.7\times10^5 M_\odot$, above the criteria of giant molecular cloud. The dense ridge of W 37 is a dense filament, which is supercritical in lin…
The W3 GMC is a prime target for the study of the early stages of high-mass star formation. We have used Herschel data from the HOBYS key program to produce and analyze column density and temperature maps. Two preliminary catalogs were produced by extracting sources from the column density map and from Herschel maps convolved to the 500 micron resolution. Herschel reveals that among the compact sources (FWHM<0.45 pc), W3 East, W3 West, and W3 (OH) are the most massive and luminous and have the highest column density. Considering the unique properties of W3 East and W3 West, the only clumps wit…
We use the high spatial and spectral resolution of the PAWS CO(1-0) survey of the inner 9 kpc of the iconic spiral galaxy M51 to examine the effect of gas streaming motions on the star-forming properties of individual GMCs. We compare our view of gas flows in M51 -- which arise due to departures from axi-symmetry in the gravitational potential (i.e. the nuclear bar and spiral arms) -- with the global pattern of star formation as traced by Halpha and 24μm emission. We find that the dynamical environment of GMCs strongly affects their ability to form stars, in the sense that GMCs situated in reg…
We present the results from simulations of GMC formation in spiral galaxies. First we discuss cloud formation by cloud-cloud collisions, and gravitational instabilities, arguing that the former is prevalent at lower galactic surface densities and the latter at higher. Cloud masses are also limited by stellar feedback, which can be effective before clouds reach their maximum mass. We show other properties of clouds in simulations with different levels of feedback. With a moderate level of feedback, properties such as cloud rotations and virial parameters agree with observations. Without feedbac…
We report an observational study of the giant molecular cloud (GMC) associated with the Galactic infrared ring-like structure N35 and two nearby HII regions G024.392+00.072 (HII region A) and G024.510-00.060 (HII region B), using the new CO J=1-0 data obtained as a part of the FOREST Unbiased Galactic Plane Imaging survey with the Nobeyama 45-m telescope (FUGIN) project at a spatial resolution of 21". Our CO data revealed that the GMC, with a total molecular mass of 2.1x10^6Mo, has two velocity components over ~10-15km/s. The majority of molecular gas in the GMC is included in the lower-veloci…
We investigate the effect of star formation and diffuse photoelectric heating on the properties of giant molecular clouds (GMCs) formed in high resolution (~< 10 pc) global (~ 20 kpc) simulations of isolated Milky Way-type galaxy disks. The clouds are formed through gravitational fragmentation and structures with densities n_H>=100cm^-3 are identified as GMCs. Between 1000-1500 clouds are created in the simulations with masses M > 10^5 Msolar and 180-240 with masses M > 10^6 Msolar in agreement with estimates of the Milky Way's population. We find that the effect of photoelectric heating is to…
The HII complex N159 in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) is used to study massive star formation in different environments, as it contains three giant molecular clouds (GMCs) that have similar sizes and masses but exhibit different intensities of star formation. We identify candidate massive young stellar objects (YSOs) using infrared photometry, and model their SEDs to constrain mass and evolutionary state. Good fits are obtained for less evolved Type I, I/II, and II sources. Our analysis suggests that there are massive embedded YSOs in N159B, a maser source, and several ultracompact HII regi…
Meteoritic evidence shows that the Solar system at birth contained significant quantities of short-lived radioisotopes (SLRs) such as 60Fe and 26Al (with half-lives of 2.6 and 0.7 Myr respectively) produced in supernova explosions and in the Wolf-Rayet winds that precede them. Proposed explanations for the high SLR abundance include formation of the Sun in a supernova-triggered collapse or in a giant molecular cloud (GMC) that was massive enough to survive multiple supernovae (SNe) and confine their ejecta. However, the former scenario is possible only if the Sun is a rare outlier among massiv…
M16, the Eagle Nebula, is an outstanding HII region where extensive high-mass star formation is taking place in the Sagittarius Arm, and hosts the remarkable "pillars" observed with HST. We made new CO observations of the region in the 12CO J=1--0 and J=2--1 transitions with NANTEN2. These observations revealed for the first time that a giant molecular cloud of $\sim 1.3 \times 10^5$ \Msun \ is associated with M16, which is elongated vertically to the Galactic plane over 35 pc at a distance of 1.8 kpc. We found a cavity of the molecular gas of $\sim 10$ pc diameter toward the heart of M16 at \…
The galactic tidal interaction is a possible mechanism to trigger the active star formation in galaxies. Recent analyses using the Hi data in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) proposed that the tidally driven colliding HI flows, induced by the galactic interaction with the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), triggered high-mass star formation in the southeastern HI Ridge, including R136 and $\sim$400 O/WR stars, and the galactic center region hosting the N44 region. This study performed a comprehensive HI data analysis across the LMC and found that two Hi velocity components defined in the early stud…
M17 is one of the youngest and most massive nearby star-formation regions in the Galaxy. It features a bright H II region erupting as a blister from the side of a giant molecular cloud (GMC). Combining photometry from the Spitzer GLIMPSE survey with complementary infrared (IR) surveys, we identify candidate young stellar objects (YSOs) throughout a 1.5 deg x 1 deg field that includes the M17 complex. The long sightline through the Galaxy behind M17 creates significant contamination in our YSO sample from unassociated sources with similar IR colors. Removing contaminants, we produce a highly-re…
The process that leads to the formation of the bright star forming sites observed along prominent spiral arms remains elusive. We present results of a multi-wavelength study of a spiral arm segment in the nearby grand-design spiral galaxy M51 that belongs to a spiral density wave and exhibits nine gas spurs. The combined observations of the(ionized, atomic, molecular, dusty) interstellar medium (ISM) with star formation tracers (HII regions, young <10Myr stellar clusters) suggest (1) no variation in giant molecular cloud (GMC) properties between arm and gas spurs, (2) gas spurs and extinction …
We examine the processes triggering star formation and Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN) activity in a sample of 25 low redshift ($z<0.13$) gas-rich galaxy mergers observed at milli-arcsecond resolution with Very Long Baseline Interferometry as part of the mJy Imaging VLBA Exploration at 20cm (mJIVE-20) survey. The high ($>10^7$ K) brightness temperature required for an mJIVE-20 detection allows us to unambiguously identify the radio AGN in our sample. We find three such objects. Our VLBI AGN identifications are classified as Seyferts or LINERs in narrow line optical diagnostic plots; mid-infrared…
Galaxy interaction is considered a key driver of galaxy evolution and star formation (SF) history. In this paper, we present an empirical picture of the radial extent of interaction-triggered SF along the merger sequence. The samples under study are drawn from the integral field spectroscopy (IFS) survey SDSS-IV MaNGA, including 205 star-forming galaxies in pairs/mergers and ~1350 control galaxies. For each galaxy in pairs, the merger stage is identified according to its morphological signatures: incoming phase, at first pericenter passage, at apocenter, in merging phase, and in final coalesce…
We explore the processes that trigger local AGN and the role of these AGN in regulating star formation, using ~350 nearby galaxies observed by the mJy Imaging VLBA Exploration at 20cm (mJIVE) survey. The >10^7 K brightness temperature required for an mJIVE detection cannot be achieved via star formation alone, allowing us to unambiguously detect nearby radio AGN and study their role in galaxy evolution. Radio AGN are an order of magnitude more common in early-type galaxies (ETGs) than in their late-type counterparts. The VLBI-detected ETGs in this study have a similar stellar mass distribution…
Feedback from massive stars is thought to play an important role in the evolution of molecular clouds. In this work we analyse the effects of stellar winds and supernovae (SNe) in the evolution of two massive ($\sim 10^6\,M_\odot$) giant molecular clouds (GMCs): one gravitationally bound collapsing cloud and one unbound cloud undergoing disruption by galactic shear. These two clouds have been extracted from a large scale galaxy model and are re-simulated at a spatial resolution of $\sim 0.01$ pc, including feedback from winds, SNe, and the combined effect of both. We find that stellar winds st…
