Spandan Choudhury

We present the results of molecular line observations toward the W40 and Serpens South regions of the Aquila molecular cloud complex, conducted as part of the Taeduk Radio Astronomy Observatory survey of Filaments, the Universal Nursery of Stars project to investigate the role of filamentary structures in the formation of dense cores and stars in molecular clouds. We performed a Gaussian decomposition of the C ¹⁸ O spectra to disentangle multiple velocity components along the line of sight and a “Friends-of-Friends” algorithm on these decomposed components to identify 24 velocity-coherent filaments in the observed region. The “FellWalker” algorithm is applied on the N ₂ H ⁺ integrated intensity map to identify the dense cores embedded within the filaments. Many of the filaments previously identified from the Herschel survey are found to contain multiple velocity-coherent filaments. Virial analysis indicated that all of our identified filaments are thermally supercritical and gravitationally bound. Velocity gradients are observed along the filaments in the vicinity of embedded dense cores, indicating the presence of longitudinal flows that contribute to core formation. The median mass flow rate across the observed region is estimated to be ∼35 M _⊙ Myr ⁻¹ , with Serpens South showing a rate ∼40% higher than W40. The analysis of nonthermal motions revealed that the dense cores mainly show subsonic to transonic motions, while their host filaments are mostly supersonic, suggesting that the turbulent motions in filaments may dissipate on smaller scales, allowing core formation. These findings highlight the essential role of the filaments’ criticality, mass flow, and turbulent dissipation in the formation of dense cores within the filaments.

We present an overview of the final data release (DR2) from the Green Bank Ammonia Survey (GAS). GAS is a large program at the Green Bank Telescope to map all Gould Belt star-forming regions with A _V ≳ 7 mag visible from the Northern Hemisphere in emission from NH ₃ and other key molecular tracers. This final release includes the data for all the regions observed: Heiles Cloud 2 and B18 in Taurus; Barnard 1, Barnard 1-E, IC 348, NGC 1333, L1448, L1451, and Per7/34 in Perseus; L1688 and L1689 in Ophiuchus; Orion A (North and South) and Orion B in Orion; Cepheus; B59 in Pipe; Corona Australis East and West; IC 5146; and Serpens Aquila and MWC297 in Serpens. Similar to what was presented in GAS DR1, we find that the NH ₃ emission and dust continuum emission from Herschel correspond closely. We find that the NH ₃ emission is generally extended beyond the typical 0.1 pc length scales of dense cores, and we find that the transition between coherent core and turbulent cloud is a common result. This shows that the regions of coherence are common throughout different star-forming regions, with a substantial fraction of the high column density regions displaying subsonic nonthermal velocity dispersions. We produce maps of the gas kinematics, temperature, and NH ₃ column densities through forward modeling of the hyperfine structure of the NH ₃ (1,1) and (2,2) lines. We show that the NH ₃ velocity dispersion, σ _v , and gas kinetic temperature, T _K , vary systematically between the regions included in this release, with an increase in both the mean value and spread of σ _v and T _K with increasing star formation activity. The data presented in this paper are publicly available via doi: 10.11570/24.0091 .

We investigate the magnetic field orientation and strength in the massive star-forming region G35.20-0.74N (G35), using polarized dust emission data obtained with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) as part of the Magnetic fields in Massive star-forming Regions (MagMaR) survey. The G35 region shows a filamentary structure (a length of ∼0.1 pc) with six bright cores located along the filament’s long axis. Magnetic field strengths across the G35 region range from 0.2 to 4.4 mG with a mean value of 0.8 ± 0.4 mG. The mass-to-flux ratio ( λ ) varies from 0.1 to 6.0, the critical value. The highest values are found locally around cores, whereas the remains of the filament are subcritical. A H ¹³ CO ⁺ (3–2) velocity gradient of 29 km s ⁻¹ pc ⁻¹ is evident along the filament’s long axis, aligned with the magnetic field direction. At larger scales (∼0.1 pc), the magnetic field lines appear roughly perpendicular to the filament’s long axis, in contrast to the smaller-scale structure (∼0.003 pc) traced by ALMA. The magnetic field lines could be dragged along the filament as a result of the gas motion induced by the gravitational potential of the filament. Six cores in the filament have similar spacings between 0.02 and 0.04 pc. The initial filament fragmentation could have produced a core spacing of 0.06 pc, following filament fragmentation theory, and the current core spacing is the result of cores comoving with the gas along the filament. This core migration could occur in a few 10 ⁴ yr, consistent with high-mass star formation timescales.

High-mass stars form in protoclusters, where gravo-magnetic processes shape massive star-forming clouds and clumps to be elongated preferentially perpendicular to magnetic fields. Yet it remains unclear whether magnetic fields still govern the formation of smaller-scale ($\sim$1000 au) condensations in massive protoclusters, which are crucial for understanding the stellar initial mass function and multiplicity. Here we report the first statistical evidence that the condensation elongation exhibits a preferentially more parallel alignment with magnetic fields at $\sim$1000 au scales, based on high-resolution data from the largest dust polarization survey toward 30 massive star-forming regions with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). Our clustered massive star formation simulations reveal that this more parallel alignment is exclusively observed in initially super-Alfv\'{e}nic (turbulence dominates magnetic fields) models. In contrast, initially sub-Alfv\'{e}nic (magnetic fields dominate turbulence) models distinctly exhibit a more perpendicular alignment. These findings offer compelling statistical evidence that the formation of small-scale condensations is governed by turbulence rather than magnetic fields in the context of clustered massive star formation, contradicting the prediction of classical magnetically regulated models. Moreover, turbulence imposes a preferential misalignment between the magnetic field and rotation axis of condensations, which can potentially reduce the magnetic braking efficiency, facilitate the formation of large protostellar disks, and allow disk fragmentation to occur.

Context. Dense cores inside molecular clouds are hubs of star formation. Cores have been thought to be isolated from their surrounding cloud. However, this idea is challenged by recent observations of streamers that show evidence of mass flow from outside the core onto the embedded protostar. Multi-component analysis using molecular line observations has also revealed the existence of subsonic material outside the traditional coherent boundary of dense cores. Aims. In this study, we aim to probe the extended subsonic region observed around the pre-stellar core H-MM1 in the L1688 molecular cloud in Ophiuchus using multi-component kinematical analysis of very high-sensitivity NH₃ data. Methods. We used observations of NH₃ (1,1) and (2,2) inversion transitions using the Green Bank Telescope (GBT). We then fitted up to two components towards the core and its surrounding molecular cloud. Results. We detect an extended region of subsonic turbulence in addition to the ambient cloud, which shows supersonic turbulence. This extended subsonic region is approximately 12 times the size of and more than two times as massive as the previously detected subsonic material. The subsonic region is further split into two well-separated, velocity-coherent components, one of which is kinematically and spatially connected to the dense core. The two subsonic components are red- and blue-shifted with respect to the cloud component. We also detect a flow of material onto the dense core from the extended subsonic region via a streamer of length ≈0.15 pc (≈30000 au). Conclusions. We find that the extended subsonic component kinematically associated with the dense core contains ≈27% more mass than the core. This material could be further accreted by the core. The other subsonic component contains a mass similar to that of the core mass, and could be tracing material in the early stage of core formation. The H-MM1 streamer is kinematically similar to the ones observed towards protostellar systems, but is the first instance of such an accretion feature onto a core in its pre-stellar phase. This accretion of chemically fresh material by the pre-stellar core challenges our current understanding of a core evolving with a mass that is unchanged since the time of its formation.

A complete understanding of the initial conditions of high-mass star formation and what processes determine multiplicity requires the study of the magnetic field in young massive cores. Using Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) 250 GHz polarization observations (0 . ″ 3 = 1000 au) and ALMA 220 GHz high-angular-resolution observations (0 . ″ 05 = 160 au), we have performed a full energy analysis including the magnetic field at core scales and have assessed what influences the multiplicity inside a massive core previously believed to be in the prestellar phase. With a mass of 31 M _⊙, the G11.92 MM2 core has a young CS molecular outflow with a dynamical timescale of a few thousand years. At high resolution, the MM2 core fragments into a binary system, with a projected separation of 505 au and a binary mass ratio of 1.14. Using the Davis–Chandrasekhar–Fermi method with an angle dispersion function analysis, we estimate in this core a magnetic field strength of 6.2 mG and a mass-to-magnetic-flux ratio of 18. The MM2 core is strongly subvirialized, with a virial parameter of 0.064, including the magnetic field. The high mass-to-magnetic-flux ratio and low virial parameter indicate that this massive core is very likely undergoing runaway collapse, which is in direct contradiction with the core accretion model. The MM2 core is embedded in a filament that has a velocity gradient consistent with infall. In line with clump-fed scenarios, the core can grow in mass at a rate of 1.9–5.6 × 10⁻⁴ M _⊙ yr⁻¹. In spite of the magnetic field having only a minor contribution to the total energy budget at core scales (a few thousands of astronomical units), it likely plays a more important role at smaller scales (a few hundreds of astronomical units) by setting the binary properties. Considering energy ratios and a fragmentation criterion at the core scale, the binary system could have been formed by core fragmentation. The binary system properties (projected separation and mass ratio), however, are also consistent with radiation-magnetohydrodynamic simulations with super-Alfvenic or supersonic (or sonic) turbulence that form binaries by disk fragmentation.

A complete understanding of the initial conditions of high-mass star formation and what processes determine multiplicity require the study of the magnetic field (B-field) in young, massive cores. Using ALMA 250 GHz polarization (0.3" = 1000 au) and ALMA 220 GHz high-angular resolution observations (0.05" = 160 au), we have performed a full energy analysis including the B-field at core scales and have assessed what influences the multiplicity inside a massive core previously believed to be in the prestellar phase. With 31 Msun, the G11.92 MM2 core has a young CS outflow with a dynamical time scale of a few thousand years. At high-resolution, the MM2 core fragments into a binary system with a projected separation of 505 au and a binary mass ratio of 1.14. Using the DCF method with an ADF analysis, we estimate in this core a B-field strength of 6.2 mG and a mass-to-flux ratio of 18. The MM2 core is strongly subvirialized with a virial parameter of 0.064, including the B-field. The high mass-to-flux ratio and low virial parameter indicate that this massive core is very likely undergoing runaway collapse, which is in direct contradiction with the core-accretion model. The MM2 core is embedded in a filament that has a velocity gradient consistent with infall. In line with clump-fed scenarios, the core can grow in mass at a rate of 1.9--5.6 x 10^-4 Msun/yr. In spite of the B-field having only a minor contribution to the total energy budget at core scales, it likely plays a more important role at smaller scales by setting the binary properties. Considering energy ratios and a fragmentation criterion at the core scale, the binary could have been formed by core fragmentation. The binary properties (separation and mass ratio), however, are also consistent with radiation-magnetohydrodynamic simulations with super-Alfvenic, supersonic (or sonic) turbulence that form binaries by disk fragmentation.

The formation of the massive stars, and in particular, the role that the magnetic fields play in their early evolutionary phase is still far from being completely understood. Here, we present the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array 1.2 mm full polarized continuum and H¹³CO⁺(3−2), CS(5−4), and HN¹³C(3−2) line observations with a high angular resolution (∼0.″4 or 1100 au). In the 1.2 mm continuum emission, we reveal a dusty envelope surrounding the massive protostars, IRAS16547-E and IRAS16547-W, with dimensions of ∼10,000 au. This envelope has a biconical structure likely carved by the powerful thermal radio jet present in region. The magnetic field vectors follow very well the biconical envelope. The polarization fraction is ∼2.0% in this region. Some of these vectors seem to converge to IRAS 16547-E and IRAS 16547-W, the most massive protostars. Moreover, the velocity fields revealed from the spectral lines H¹³CO⁺(3−2) and HN¹³C(3−2) show velocity gradients with a good correspondence with the magnetic fields, which maybe are tracing the cavities of molecular outflows or maybe infalling in some parts. We derived a magnetic field strength in some filamentary regions that goes from 2 to 6.1 mG. We also find that the CS(5−4) molecular line emission reveals multiple outflow cavities or bow shocks with different orientations, some of which seem to follow the NW–SE radio thermal jet.

We report on Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array observations of polarized dust emission at 1.2 mm from NGC6334I, a source known for its significant flux outbursts. Between five months, our data show no substantial change in total intensity and a modest 8% variation in linear polarization, suggesting a phase of stability or the conclusion of the outburst. The magnetic field, inferred from this polarized emission, displays a predominantly radial pattern from northwest to southeast with intricate disturbances across major cores, hinting at spiral structures. Energy analysis of CS (J = 5 → 4) emission yields an outflow energy of approximately 3.5 × 10⁴⁵ erg, aligning with previous interferometric studies. Utilizing the Davis–Chandrasekhar–Fermi method, we determined magnetic field strengths ranging from 1 to 11 mG, averaging at 1.9 mG. This average increases to 4 ± 1 mG when incorporating Zeeman measurements. Comparative analyses using gravitational, thermal, and kinetic energy maps reveal that magnetic energy is significantly weaker, possibly explaining the observed field morphology. We also find that the energy in the outflows and the expanding cometary HII region is also larger than the magnetic energy, suggesting that protostellar feedback may be the dominant driver behind the injection of turbulence in NGC6334I at the scales sampled by our data. The gas in NGC6334I predominantly exhibits supersonic and trans-Alfvenic conditions, transitioning towards a super-Alfvenic regime, underscoring a diminished influence of the magnetic field with increasing gas density. These observations are in agreement with prior polarization studies at 220 GHz, enriching our understanding of the dynamic processes in high-mass star-forming regions.

The contribution of the magnetic field to the formation of high-mass stars is poorly understood. We report the high angular resolution (∼0.″3, 870 au) map of the magnetic field projected on the plane of the sky (B _POS) toward the high-mass star-forming region G333.46−0.16 (G333), obtained with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array at 1.2 mm as part of the Magnetic fields in Massive star-forming Regions survey. The B _POS morphology found in this region is consistent with a canonical “hourglass” with an embedded flattened envelope in a perpendicular direction, which suggests a dynamically important field. This region is fragmented into two protostars that appear to be gravitationally bound in a stable binary system with a separation of ∼1740 au. Interestingly, by analyzing H¹³CO⁺ (J = 3–2) line emission, we find no velocity gradient over the extent of the continuum, which is consistent with a strong field. We model the B _POS, obtaining a marginally supercritical mass-to-flux ratio of 1.43, suggesting an initially strongly magnetized environment. Based on the Davis–Chandrasekhar–Fermi method, the magnetic field strength toward G333 is estimated to be 5.7 mG. The absence of strong rotation and outflows toward the central region of G333 suggests strong magnetic braking, consistent with a highly magnetized environment. Our study shows that despite being a strong regulator, the magnetic energy fails to prevent the process of fragmentation, as revealed by the formation of the two protostars in the central region.