FROM GAS TO STARS IN ENERGETIC ENVIRONMENTS: DENSE GAS CLUMPS IN THE 30 DORADUS REGION WITHIN THE LARGE MAGELLANIC CLOUD

We present parsec-scale interferometric maps of HCN(1-O) and HCO+(1-0) emission from dense gas in the star-forming region 30 Doradus, obtained using the Australia Telescope Compact Array. This extreme star-forming region, located in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), is characterized by a very intens...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Astrophysical journal 2014-09, Vol.793 (1), p.1-9
Main Authors: Anderson, Crystal N, Meier, David S, Ott, Jurgen, Hughes, Annie, Wong, Tony, Henkel, Christian, Chen, Rosie, Indebetouw, Remy, Looney, Leslie, Muller, Erik, Pineda, Jorge L, Seale, Jonathan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
ABUNDANCE
Arrays
ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
Clumps
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
CORRELATIONS
EMISSION
Filaments
INSTABILITY
IONIZING RADIATIONS
LINE WIDTHS
MAGELLANIC CLOUDS
MASERS
MASS
METALLICITY
Molecular clouds
Molecular structure
MOLECULES
STAR CLUSTERS
Star formation
STARS
TELESCOPES
ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION
WATER
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Summary:We present parsec-scale interferometric maps of HCN(1-O) and HCO+(1-0) emission from dense gas in the star-forming region 30 Doradus, obtained using the Australia Telescope Compact Array. This extreme star-forming region, located in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), is characterized by a very intense ultraviolet ionizing radiation field and sub-solar metallicity, both of which are expected to impact molecular cloud structure. We detect 13 bright, dense clumps within the 30 Doradus-10 giant molecular cloud. Some of the clumps are aligned along a filamentary structure with a characteristic spacing that is consistent with formation via varicose fluid instability. Our analysis shows that the filament is gravitationally unstable and collapsing to form stars. There is a good correlation between HCO+ emission in the filament and signatures of recent star formation activity including H sub(2)O masers and young stellar objects (YSOs). YSOs seem to continue along the same direction of the filament toward the massive compact star cluster R136 in the southwest. We present detailed comparisons of clump properties (masses, linewidths, and sizes) in 30Dor-10 to those in other star forming regions of the LMC (N159, N113, N105, and N44). Our analysis shows that the 30Dor-10 clumps have similar masses but wider linewidths and similar HCN/HCO+ (1-0) line ratios as clumps detected in other LMC star-forming regions. Our results suggest that the dense molecular gas clumps in the interior of 30Dor-10 are well shielded against the intense ionizing field that is present in the 30Doradus region.
ISSN:1538-4357
0004-637X
1538-4357
DOI:10.1088/0004-637X/793/1/37