UNVEILING A NETWORK OF PARALLEL FILAMENTS IN THE INFRARED DARK CLOUD G14.225–0.506

We present the results of combined NH sub(3) (1,1) and (2,2) line emission observed with the Very Large Array and the Effelsberg 100 m telescope of the infrared dark cloud G14.225-0.506. The NH sub(3) emission reveals a network of filaments constituting two hub-filament systems. Hubs are associated...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Astrophysical journal. Letters 2013-02, Vol.764 (2), p.1-6
Main Authors: Busquet, Gemma, Zhang, Qizhou, Palau, Aina, LIU, HAUYU BAOBAB, Sanchez-Monge, Alvaro, Estalella, Robert, Ho, Paul T P, DE GREGORIO-MONSALVO, ITZIAR, Pillai, Thushara, Wyrowski, Friedrich, GIRART, JOSEP M, Santos, Fabio P, Franco, Gabriel A P
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
AMMONIA
Arrays
ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
CLOUDS
DISPERSIONS
EMISSION
FILAMENTS
FRAGMENTATION
GAS CYLINDERS
GRAVITATIONAL INSTABILITY
Infrared
LAYERS
MAGNETIC FIELDS
Networks
POLARIZATION
STARS
TELESCOPES
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:We present the results of combined NH sub(3) (1,1) and (2,2) line emission observed with the Very Large Array and the Effelsberg 100 m telescope of the infrared dark cloud G14.225-0.506. The NH sub(3) emission reveals a network of filaments constituting two hub-filament systems. Hubs are associated with gas of rotational temperature T sub(rot) ~ 15 K, non-thermal velocity dispersion [sigma] sub(NT) ~ 1 km s super(-1), and exhibit signs of star formation, while filaments appear to be more quiescent (T sub(rot) ~ 11 K and [sigma] sub(NT) 0.6 km s super(-1)). Filaments are parallel in projection and distributed mainly along two directions, at P.A. ~ 10[degrees] and 60[degrees] and appear to be coherent in velocity. The averaged projected separation between adjacent filaments is between 0.5 pc and 1 pc, and the mean width of filaments is 0.12 pc. Cores within filaments are separated by ~0.33 + or - 0.09 pc, which is consistent with the predicted fragmentation of an isothermal gas cylinder due to the "sausage"-type instability. The network of parallel filaments observed in G14.225-0.506 is consistent with the gravitational instability of a thin gas layer threaded by magnetic fields. Overall, our data suggest that magnetic fields might play an important role in the alignment of filaments, and polarization measurements in the entire cloud would lend further support to this scenario.
ISSN:2041-8205
2041-8213
DOI:10.1088/2041-8205/764/2/L26