Related papers: Which Molecular Cloud Structures Are Bound?
We review the progress made in understanding molecular cloud formation and evolution toward star formation since the first Crete conference in 1990. It now seems clear that molecular clouds in the Galaxy at least form from compressed HI…
We report the results of a 100 square degree survey of the Taurus Molecular Cloud region in the J = 1-0 transition of 12CO and 13CO. The image of the cloud in each velocity channel includes ~ 3 million Nyquist sampled pixels on a 20" grid.…
In this review, I discuss some highlights of recent research on molecular gas in galaxies; large-scale CO maps of nearby galaxies are being made, which extend our knowledge on global properties, radial gradients, and spiral structure of the…
We have searched for molecular gas in the cD galaxy of a poor cluster of galaxies AWM7 using Nobeyama 45 m telescope. We do not detect CO emission in the galaxy. Our limit of molecular gas in the inner 7.5 kpc is M_H_2< 4 x 10^8 M_sun. We…
Gravitationally-bound clusters that survive gas removal represent an unusual mode of star formation in the Milky Way and similar spiral galaxies. While forming, they can be distinguished observationally from unbound star formation by their…
We present the results of ALMA-ACA 7 m-array observations in $^{12}$CO($J=2-1$), $^{13}$CO($J=2-1$), and C$^{18}$O($J=2-1$) line emission toward the molecular-gas disk in the Local Group spiral galaxy M33 at an angular resolution of 7".31…
We investigate the dependence of stellar properties on the initial mean density of the molecular cloud in which stellar clusters form using radiation hydrodynamical simulations that resolve the opacity limit for fragmentation. We have…
This study developed an automated identification procedure for compact clouds with broad velocity widths in the spectral line data cubes of highly crowded regions. The procedure was applied to the CO J=3-2 line data, obtained using the…
We report ALMA observations of the most massive (star forming) galaxy in the redshift range 3<z<4 within the whole GOODS-S field. We detect a large elongated structure of molecular gas around the massive primeval galaxy, traced by the…
The abundance of H2 in molecular clouds, relative to the commonly used tracer CO, has only been measured toward a few embedded stars, which may be surrounded by atypical gas. We present observations of near-infrared absorption by H2, CO,…
Using archival, high-resolution far-ultraviolet HST/STIS spectra of 34 Galactic O and B stars, we measure CI column densities and compare them with measurements from the literature of CO and H_2 with regard to understanding the presence of…
A reliable estimate of the molecular gas content in galaxies plays a crucial role in determining their dynamical and star-forming properties. However, H2, the dominant molecular species, is difficult to observe directly, particularly in the…
We present a large catalogue of molecular clouds with accurate distance estimates in the southern sky. Based on the three-dimensional (3D) dust extinction map and the best-fit extinction and distance information of over 17 million stars…
Our current view of galaxies considers them as systems of stars and gas embedded in extended halos of dark matter, much of it formed by the infall of smaller systems at earlier times. The true extent of a galaxy remains poorly determined,…
In a new simple model I reconcile two contradictory views on the factors that determine the rate at which molecular clouds form stars -- internal structure vs. external, environmental influences -- providing a unified picture for the…
Understanding mass, size, and surface mass density of giant molecular clouds (GMCs) in galaxies is key to insights into star formation processes. We analyze these in M33 using Herschel dust and archival IRAM 30m telescope data, compared to…
We investigate the impact of galactic environment on the properties of simulated giant molecular clouds formed in a M83-type barred spiral galaxy. Our simulation uses a rotating stellar potential to create the grand design features and…
We present the first numerical simulations that self-consistently follow the formation of dense molecular clouds in colliding flows. Our calculations include a time-dependent model for the H2 and CO chemistry that runs alongside a detailed…
All stars are born in molecular clouds, and most in giant molecular clouds (GMCs), which thus set the star formation activity of galaxies. We first review their observed properties, including measures of mass surface density, Sigma, and…
The mass of molecular gas in an interstellar cloud is often measured using line emission from low rotational levels of CO, which are sensitive to the CO mass, and then scaling to the assumed molecular hydrogen H_2 mass. However, a…