Probing the initial conditions of high-mass star formation

III. Fragmentation and triggered star formation^★

¹ National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100101 Beijing, PR China
e-mail: cpzhang@nao.cas.cn
² Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie, Königstuhl 17, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany
³ Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Auf dem Hügel 69, 53121 Bonn, Germany
⁴ University Observatory Munich, Scheinerstrasse 1, 81679 München, Germany
⁵ South-Western Institute for Astronomy Research, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650500 Yunnan, PR China
⁶ School of Physics, University of Exeter, Stocker Rd, Exeter EX4 4QL, UK
⁷ Centre for Astrophysics Research, University of Hertfordshire, College Lane, Hatfield, Herts AL10 9AB, UK
⁸ Istituto di Fisica dello Spazio Interplanetario – INAF, via Fosso del Cavaliere 100, 00133 Roma, Italy
⁹ Institute for Astrophysical Research, 725 Commonwealth Ave, Boston University Boston, MA 02215, USA

Received: 29 October 2018
Accepted: 7 June 2019

Abstract

Context. Fragmentation and feedback are two important processes during the early phases of star formation.

Aims. Massive clumps tend to fragment into clusters of cores and condensations, some of which form high-mass stars. In this work, we study the structure of massive clumps at different scales, analyze the fragmentation process, and investigate the possibility that star formation is triggered by nearby H ii regions.

Methods. We present a high angular resolution study of a sample of massive proto-cluster clumps G18.17, G18.21, G23.97N, G23.98, G23.44, G23.97S, G25.38, and G25.71. Combining infrared data at 4.5, 8.0, 24, and 70 μm, we use a few arcsecond resolution, radiometer and millimeter inteferometric data taken at 1.3 cm, 3.5 mm, 1.3 mm, and 870 μm to study their fragmentation and evolution. Our sample is unique in the sense that all the clumps have neighboring H ii regions. Taking advantage of that, we tested triggered star formation using a novel method where we study the alignment of the center of mass traced by dust emission at multiple scales.

Results. The eight massive clumps, identified based on single-dish observations, have masses ranging from 228 to 2279 M_⊙ within an effective radius of R_eff ~ 0.5 pc. We detect compact structures towards six out of the eight clumps. The brightest compact structures within infrared bright clumps are typically associated with embedded compact radio continuum sources. The smaller scale structures of R_eff ~ 0.02 pc observed within each clump are mostly gravitationally bound and massive enough to form at least a B3-B0 type star. Many condensations have masses larger than 8 M_⊙ at a small scale of R_eff ~ 0.02 pc. We find that the two infrared quiet clumps with the lowest mass and lowest surface density with <300 M_⊙ do not host any compact sources, calling into question their ability to form high-mass stars. Although the clumps are mostly infrared quiet, the dynamical movements are active at clump scale (~1 pc).

Conclusions. We studied the spatial distribution of the gas conditions detected at different scales. For some sources we find hints of external triggering, whereas for others we find no significant pattern that indicates triggering is dynamically unimportant. This probably indicates that the different clumps go through different evolutionary paths. In this respect, studies with larger samples are highly desired.