TRAO Multi-beam Legacy Survey of Nearby Filamentary Molecular Clouds : Progress Report

  • Published : 2017.04.10

Abstract

To dynamically and chemically understand how filaments, dense cores, and stars form under different environments, we are conducting a systematic mapping survey of nearby molecular clouds using the TRAO 14 m telescope with high ($N_2H^+$ 1-0, $HCO^+$ 1-0, SO 32-21, and $NH_2D$ v=1-0) and low ($^{13}CO$ 1-0, $C^{18}O$ 1-0) density tracers. The goals of this survey are to obtain the velocity distribution of low dense filaments and their dense cores for the study of their origin of the formation, to understand whether the dense cores form from any radial accretion or inward motions toward dense cores from their surrounding filaments, and to study the chemical differentiation of the filaments and the dense cores. Until Feb. 2017, the real OTF observation time is 460 hours. We have almost completed mapping observation with four molecular lines ($^{13}CO$ 1-0, $C^{18}O$ 1-0, $N_2H^+$ 1-0, and $HCO^+$ 1-0) on the five regions of molecular clouds (L1251 of Cepheus, Perseus west, Polaris south, BISTRO region of Serpense, California, and Orion B). The maps of a total area of $7.38deg^2$ for both $^{13}CO$ and $C^{18}O$ lines and $2.19deg^2$ for both $N_2H^+$ and $HCO^+$ lines were obtained. All OTF data were regridded to a cell size of 22 by 22 arcseconds. The $^{13}CO$ and $C^{18}O$ data show the RMS noise level of about 0.22 K and $N_2H^+$ and $HCO^+$ data show about 0.14 K at the velocity resolution of 0.06 km/s. Additional observations will be made on some regions that have not reached the noise level for analysis. We are refining the process for a massive amount of data and the data reduction and analysis are underway. This presentation introduces the overall progress from observations to data processing and the initial analysis results to date.

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