Outflows and Bubbles in Taurus: Star-formation Feedback Sufficient to Maintain Turbulence

• Published in: arXiv.org 2015-08
• Main Authors: Li, Huixian, Li, Di, Qian, Lei, Xu, Duo, Goldsmith, Paul F, Noriega-Crespo, Alberto, Wu, Yuefang, Song, Yuzhe, Rendong Nan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Astronomy; Binding energy; Bubbles; Energy; Energy dissipation; Feedback; Gravitation; Gravitational binding energy; Kinetic energy; Molecular clouds; Outflow; Radio astronomy; Star formation; Turbulence
• ISSN: 2331-8422
• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.1507.06512

We have identified outflows and bubbles in the Taurus molecular cloud based on the \(\sim 100\) deg\(^2\) Five College Radio Astronomy Observatory \(^{12}\)CO(1-0) and \(^{13}\)CO(1-0) maps and the Spitzer young stellar object catalogs. In the main 44 deg\(^2\) area of Taurus we found 55 outflows, of which 31 were previously unknown. We also found 37 bubbles in the entire 100 deg\(^2\) area of Taurus, all of which had not been found before. The total kinetic energy of the identified outflows is estimated to be \(\bf \sim 3.9 \times 10^{45}\) erg, which is \textbf{1\%} of the cloud turbulent energy. The total kinetic energy of the detected bubbles is estimated to be \(\sim 9.2 \times 10^{46}\) erg, which is 29\% of the turbulent energy of Taurus. The energy injection rate from outflows is \(\bf \sim 1.3 \times 10^{33}~\rm erg\ s^{-1}\), \textbf{0.4 - 2 times} the dissipation rate of the cloud turbulence. The energy injection rate from bubbles is \(\sim 6.4 \times 10^{33}\) erg s\(^{-1}\), \textbf{2 - 10 times} the turbulent dissipation rate of the cloud. The gravitational binding energy of the cloud is \(\bf \sim 1.5 \times 10^{48}\) {\bf erg}, \textbf{385} and 16 times the energy of outflows and bubbles, respectively. We conclude that neither outflows nor bubbles can \textbf{provide enough energy to balance the overall gravitational binding energy and the turbulent energy of Taurus. However,} in the current epoch, stellar feedback is sufficient to maintain the observed turbulence in Taurus.