ALMA-IMF. XX. Core Fragmentation in the W51 High-mass Star-forming Region

Authors:
Open Access
Publisher website
Google Scholar
Abstract
We present a study of core fragmentation in the W51-E and W51-IRS2 protoclusters in the W51 high-mass star-forming region. The identification of core fragmentation is achieved by the spatial correspondence of cores and compact sources, which are detected in the short- (low-resolution) and the long-baseline (high-resolution) continuum images from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Bands 3 (3 mm) and 6 (1.3 mm), respectively. We characterize the compact sources found in the long-baseline images, and conclude that the compact sources are pre-/protostellar objects (PPOs) that are either prestellar dust cores or dust disks or envelopes around protostars. The observed trend of core fragmentation in W51 is that (i) massive cores host more PPOs, (ii) bright PPOs are preferentially formed in massive cores, and (iii) equipartition of flux between PPOs is uncommon. The thermal Jeans masses of the parent cores are insufficient to explain the masses of their fragments, and this trend is more prominent for high-mass cores. We also find that unfragmented cores are large, less massive, and less dense than fragmented cores.
Funding Information
  • National Science Foundation (AAG 2008101)
  • National Science Foundation (AAG 2206511)

This publication has 108 references indexed in Scilit: