English

Global kinematics study of OH masers in W49N

Astrophysics of Galaxies 2023-09-19 v1 Solar and Stellar Astrophysics

Abstract

Star formation is underway in the W49N molecular cloud (MC) at a high level of efficiency, with almost twenty ultra-compact (UC) HII regions observed thus far, indicating a recent formation of massive stars. Previous works have suggested that this cloud is undergoing a global contraction. We analyse the data on OH masers in the molecular cloud W49N, observed with the VLBA at the 1612, 1665, and 1667 MHz transitions in LCP and RCP with an aim to study the global kinematics of the masers. We carried out our study based on the locations and observed velocities of the maser spots. The velocities were fitted to the straight line of Vobs_{obs}-Vsys_{sys} versus d(α,δ)m_{(\alpha, \delta)m}, resulting in Vftd_{ftd}. The difference between the fitted values and those obtained from observations is Δ\Delta V. The Vobs_{obs}-Vsys_{sys} velocity shows a gradient as a function of the distance to (α,δ\alpha, \delta)m_{m}, where the closer spots have the largest velocities. Spots with similar velocities are located in different sectors, with respect to (α,δ\alpha, \delta)m_{m}. Then, we assumed that the spots are moving towards a contraction centre (CCOH_{OH}), which is at the apex of a CONUS. We also assumed that the distance of each spot to CCOH_{OH} is dcc_{cc} and that they fall with a velocity VCC_{CC}, with the total velocity being VTot_{Tot}. Using this velocity, we estimated the free-fall velocity. The observed dispersion with respect to the global trend against dccd_{cc}, shows a maximum at 0.12 pc, with a decay from 0.12 to 0.19 pc, which is faster than that taking place between 0.19 and 0.42 pc. Based on VtotV_{tot} an inner mass of Minn_{inn}=2500 MM_{\odot} was estimated.The velocities of the OH spots at W49N, together with their positions respect (α,δ)m(\alpha, \delta)_m, make it possible to trace a global kinematics, which seems to be due to a subcollapse in the W49N molecular cloud.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2309.08831,
  title  = {Global kinematics study of OH masers in W49N},
  author = {Mendoza-Torres and J. E. and Juárez-Gama and M. and Rodríguez-Esnard and I. T},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2309.08831},
  year   = {2023}
}

Comments

21 pages, 10 figures