English

Dense cores and filaments in M16: Enhanced formation efficiency in the stellar feedback-driven shell

Astrophysics of Galaxies 2026-05-01 v1 Solar and Stellar Astrophysics

Abstract

We present a comprehensive analysis of dense cores and filamentary structures in the M16 Eagle Nebula using high-resolution (11.711.7^{\prime\prime}) surface density and temperature maps derived from \textit{Herschel} observations. Using the \textit{hires} algorithm for map construction and the \textit{getsf} method for source and filament extraction, we identified 233 cores and 111 filaments in this massive star-forming region. The filaments exhibit a median width of 0.4\,pc -- and a median linear density of 61\,MM_\odot\,pc1^{-1}, with 76\% being supercritical for gravitational fragmentation. Our radial analysis of the \sim60\,pc diameter shell driven by the central NGC 6611 cluster reveals strong enhancements in structure formation: filament formation efficiency (FFE) is 2.3 times higher within the shell (peaking at 22\%), while core density shows a concurrent 1.5-fold enhancement. The moderate correlation between core density and FFE (r=0.67r=0.67) indicates coupled formation processes. Theoretical analysis demonstrates that observed surface densities exceed the critical threshold for fragmentation by a factor of \sim8, with a fragmentation timescale (\sim1.5--2.0\,Myr) comparable to the shell's dynamical age (\sim1.0--1.3\,Myr), indicating we are observing fragmentation in progress. These results reveal a hierarchical fragmentation sequence -- shell compression \rightarrow filament formation \rightarrow core formation -- providing clear observational evidence for positive feedback where massive star formation triggers secondary structure formation in the surrounding molecular cloud.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2604.27584,
  title  = {Dense cores and filaments in M16: Enhanced formation efficiency in the stellar feedback-driven shell},
  author = {Nageen Pervaiz and Guo-Yin Zhang and Alexander Men'shchikov and Jin-Zeng Li},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2604.27584},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

13 pages, 6 figures, 2 tables, accepted for publication in MNRAS