Star Formation Rates and Ridge Structures in High-Mass Star-Forming Regions
Résumé
Molecular cloud complexes are structures of molecular gas with sizes up to 50-200 pc. The multi-wavelength data of Herschel allow us to construct column density maps. From these maps, we discover prominent filamentary structures (N H 2 > 1 0 23 _{H2} > 1{0}^{23} cm-2), which we call "ridges". We use the number of burgeoning YSOs detected in submm wavelengths with Herschel to measure the star formation activity in molecular cloud complexes and show a definite increase of star formation with the mass surface density as measured from Herschel column density images. The star formation rates (SFRs) measured for the molecular clouds W43 & G0035.39-00.33 are higher than the classical ones, such that we term these regions as "ministarbursts" - miniature models of starburst galaxies. The ridge structures show the strong, low-velocity, extended shock which may emerge from the swept-up gas caused by converging flows.