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1. A chemical map of the outbursting V883 Ori system: vertical and radial structures

   https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stac1879  

   Ruíz-Rodríguez, D. A. ; Williams, J. P. ; Kastner, J. H. ; Cieza, L. ; Leemker, M. ; Principe, D. A. ( July 2022 , Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society)

   We present the first results of a pilot program to conduct an Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) Band 6 (211–275 GHz) spectral line study of young stellar objects (YSOs) that are undergoing rapid accretion episodes, i.e. FU Ori objects (FUors). Here, we report on molecular emission line observations of the FUor system, V883 Ori. In order to image the FUor object with a full coverage from ∼0.5 arcsec to the map size of ∼30 arcsec, i.e. from disc to outflow scales, we combine the ALMA main array (the 12-m array) with the Atacama Compact Array (7-m array) and the Total Power (TP) array. We detect HCN, HCO+, CH3OH, SO, DCN, and H2CO emission with most of these lines displaying complex kinematics. From position–velocity (PV) diagrams, the detected molecules HCN, HCO+, CH3OH, DCN, SO, and H2CO probe a Keplerian rotating disc in a direction perpendicular to the large-scale outflow detected previously with the 12CO and 13CO lines. Additionally, HCN and HCO+ reveal kinematic signatures of infall motion. The north outflow is seen in HCO+, H2CO, and SO emission. Interestingly, HCO+ emission reveals a pronounced inner depression or ‘hole’ with a size comparable to the radial extension estimated for the CH3OH and 230 GHz continuum. The inner depression in the integrated HCO+ intensity distribution of V883 Ori is most likely the result of optical depth effects, wherein the optically thick nature of the HCO+ and continuum emission towards the innermost parts of V883 Ori can result in a continuum subtraction artefact in the final HCO+ flux level.

    

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2. MeerKAT and ALMA view of the AGAL045.804 − 0.356 clump

   https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stae987  

   Seidu, Mavis ; Chibueze, J. O. ; Fuller, Gary A. ; Avison, A. ; Asabre Frimpong, N. ( April 2024 , Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society)

   This study presents a detailed analysis of the GAL045.804 − 0.356 massive star-forming clump. A high-angular resolution and sensitivity observations were conducted using MeerKAT at 1.28 GHz and ALMA interferometer at 1.3 mm. Two distinct centimetre radio continuum emissions (source A and source B) were identified within the clump. A comprehensive investigation was carried out on source A, the G45.804 − 0.355 star-forming region (SFR) due to its association with Extended Green Object (EGO), 6.7 GHz methanol maser and the spatial coincidence with the peak of the dust continuum emission at 870 µm. The ALMA observations revealed seven dense dust condensations (MM1–MM7) in source A. The brightest (Sν ∼ 87 mJy) and massive main dense core, MM1, was co-located with the 6.7 GHz methanol maser. Explorations into the kinematics revealed gas motions characterized by a velocity gradient across the MM1 core. Furthermore, molecular line emission showed the presence of an extended arm-like structure, with a physical size of 0.25 pc × 0.18 pc (∼ 50 000 au × 30 000 au) at a distance of 7.3 kpc. Amongst these arms, two arms were prominently identified in both the dust continuum and some of the molecular lines. A blue-shifted absorption P-Cygni profile was seen in the H2CO line spectrum. The findings of this study are both intriguing and new, utilizing data from MeerKAT and ALMA to investigate the characteristics of the AGAL45 clump. The evidence of spiral arms, the compact nature of the EGO and < 2 km s−1 velocity gradient are all indicative of G45.804 − 0.355 being oriented face-on.

    

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3. Multiscale magnetic fields in the central molecular zone: inference from the gradient technique

   https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stac159  

   Hu, Yue ; Lazarian, A. ; Wang, Q. Daniel ( January 2022 , Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society)

   The central molecular zone (CMZ) plays an essential role in regulating the nuclear ecosystem of our Galaxy. To get an insight into magnetic fields of the CMZ, we employ the gradient technique (GT), which is rooted in the anisotropy of magnetohydrodynamic turbulence. Our analysis is based on the data of multiple wavelengths, including molecular emission lines, radio 1.4 GHz continuum image, and Herschel $70\, {\mu }{\rm m}$ image, as well as ionized [Ne ii] and Paschen-alpha emissions. The results are compared with the observations of Planck 353 GHz and High-resolution Airborne Wideband Camera Plus (HWAC+) $53\, {\mu }{\rm m}$ polarized dust emissions. We map the magnetic fields orientation at multiple wavelength across the central molecular zone, including close-ups of the Radio Arc and Sagittarius A West regions, on multiscales from ∼0.1 pc to 10 pc. The magnetic fields towards the central molecular zone traced by the GT are globally compatible with the polarization measurements, accounting for the contribution from the galactic foreground and background. This correspondence suggests that the magnetic field and turbulence are dynamically crucial in the galactic center. We find that the magnetic fields associated with the Arched filaments and the thermal components of the Radio Arc are in good agree with the HAWC+ polarization. Our measurement towards the non-thermal Radio Arc reveals the poloidal magnetic field components in the galactic center. For Sagittarius A West region, we find a great agreement between the GT measurement using [Ne ii] emission and HWAC+ $53\, {\mu }{\rm m}$ observation. We use the GT to predict the magnetic fields associated with ionized Paschen-alpha gas down to scales of 0.1 pc.

    

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4. Can Formaldehyde Absorption Measurements Resolve the Kinematic Distance Ambiguity?

   Luisi, Matteo ; Anderson, Loren ; Liu, Bin ; Balser, Dana ; Bania, Thomas ; Wenger, Trey ; Haffner, L. ( June 2022 , American Astronomical Society Meeting #240)

   Kinematic distance determinations are complicated by a kinematic distance ambiguity (KDA) within the Solar orbit. For an axisymmetric Galactic rotation model, two distances, a "near" and "far" distance, have the same radial velocity. Formaldehyde (H2CO) absorption measurements have been used to resolve the KDA toward Galactic HII regions. This method relies on the detection of H2CO absorption against the broadband radio continuum emission from HII regions. H2CO absorption at velocities between the HII region velocity and the maximum velocity along the line of sight (the tangent point velocity) implies that the HII region lies at the far kinematic distance whereas a lack of absorption implies that it lies at the near kinematic distance. The reliability of KDA resolutions using H2CO is unclear, however, as disagreements between distances derived using H2CO absorption and those derived using other methods are common. Here we use new H2CO and radio recombination line data from the Green Bank Telescope (GBT) Diffuse Ionized Gas Survey (GDIGS) to test whether H2CO absorption measurements can accurately resolve the KDA for 44 Galactic HII regions that have known distances from maser parallax measurements. For each of the 44 HII regions we determine whether the parallax distance is consistent with either the near or the far kinematic distance. We find that the Galactic distribution of H2CO is too sparse to reliably determine whether an HII region is at its near kinematic distance. The H2CO method also incorrectly resolves the KDA for 80% of HII regions that it places at the far kinematic distance; in such cases H2CO absorption may be caused by other sources of radio continuum emission (possibly the CMB, diffuse free-free, or synchrotron). Our results indicate that the H2CO method is unsuitable to resolve the KDA toward Galactic HII regions. 

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5. LEGO – II. A 3 mm molecular line study covering 100 pc of one of the most actively star-forming portions within the Milky Way disc

   https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/staa1814  

   Barnes, A T ; Kauffmann, J ; Bigiel, F ; Brinkmann, N ; Colombo, D ; Guzmán, A E ; Kim, W J ; Szűcs, L ; Wakelam, V ; Aalto, S ; et al ( September 2020 , Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society)

   ABSTRACT The current generation of (sub)mm-telescopes has allowed molecular line emission to become a major tool for studying the physical, kinematic, and chemical properties of extragalactic systems, yet exploiting these observations requires a detailed understanding of where emission lines originate within the Milky Way. In this paper, we present 60 arcsec (∼3 pc) resolution observations of many 3 mm band molecular lines across a large map of the W49 massive star-forming region (∼100 pc × 100 pc at 11 kpc), which were taken as part of the ‘LEGO’ IRAM-30m large project. We find that the spatial extent or brightness of the molecular line transitions are not well correlated with their critical densities, highlighting abundance and optical depth must be considered when estimating line emission characteristics. We explore how the total emission and emission efficiency (i.e. line brightness per H2 column density) of the line emission vary as a function of molecular hydrogen column density and dust temperature. We find that there is not a single region of this parameter space responsible for the brightest and most efficiently emitting gas for all species. For example, we find that the HCN transition shows high emission efficiency at high column density (1022 cm−2) and moderate temperatures (35 K), whilst e.g. N2H+ emits most efficiently towards lower temperatures (1022 cm−2; <20 K). We determine $X_{\mathrm{CO} (1-0)} \sim 0.3 \times 10^{20} \, \mathrm{cm^{-2}\, (K\, km\, s^{-1})^{-1}}$, and $\alpha _{\mathrm{HCN} (1-0)} \sim 30\, \mathrm{M_\odot \, (K\, km\, s^{-1}\, pc^2)^{-1}}$, which both differ significantly from the commonly adopted values. In all, these results suggest caution should be taken when interpreting molecular line emission. 

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