The Milky Way atlas for linear filaments II. clump rotation versus filament orientation

Kavli Affiliate: Ke Wang

| First 5 Authors: Xuefang Xu, Ke Wang, Qian Gou, Tapas Baug, Di Li

| Summary:

Dense clumps distributed along filaments are the immediate medium for star
formation. Kinematic properties of the clumps, such as velocity gradient and
angular momentum, combined with filament orientation, provide important clues
to the formation mechanism of filament-clump configurations and the role of
filaments in star formation. By cross-matching the Milky Way atlas for linear
filaments and the Structure, Excitation and Dynamics of the Inner Galactic
Interstellar Medium (SEDIGISM) 13CO (2-1) data, we aim to derive the velocity
gradient and its direction, the specific angular momentum (J/M), and the ratio
(beta) between the rotational energy and gravitational energy of clumps, as
well as to investigate the alignment between clump rotation and filament
orientation. We found a monotonic increase in J/M as a function of clump size
(R), following a power-law relation J/M~propto~R^{1.5pm0.2}. The ratio beta
ranges from 1.1~times~10^{-5} to 0.1, with a median value 1.0~times~10^{-3},
suggesting that clump rotation provides insignificant support against
gravitational collapse. The distribution of the angle between clump rotation
and natal filament orientation is random, indicating that the clumps’
rotational axes have no discernible correlation with the orientation of their
hosting filaments. Counting only the most massive clump in each filament also
finds no alignment between clump rotation and filament orientation.

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