Billington, SJ, Urquhart, JS, König, C et al. (9 more authors) (2019) ATLASGAL – physical parameters of dust clumps associated with 6.7 GHz methanol masers. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 490 (2). pp. 2779-2798. ISSN 0035-8711
Abstract
We have constructed the largest sample of dust-associated class II 6.7 GHz methanol masers yet obtained. New measurements from the Methanol Multibeam (MMB) survey were combined with the 870 μmμm APEX Telescope Large Area Survey of the Galaxy (ATLASGAL) and the 850 μmμm JCMT Plane Survey (JPS). Together with two previous studies we have now identified the host clumps for 958 methanol masers across the Galactic Plane, covering approximately 99 per cent of the MMB catalogue and increasing the known sample of dust-associated masers by over 30 per cent. We investigate correlations between the physical properties of the clumps and masers using distances and luminosities drawn from the literature. Clumps hosting methanol masers are significantly more compact and have higher volume densities than the general population of clumps. We determine a minimum volume density threshold of n(H2) ≥ 104 cm−3 for the efficient formation of intermediate- and high-mass stars. We find 6.7 GHz methanol masers are associated with a distinct part of the evolutionary process (Lbol/Mfwhm ratios of between 100.6 and 102.2) and have well-defined turning on and termination points. We estimate the lower limit for the mass of embedded objects to be ≥6 M⊙ and the statistical lifetime of the methanol maser stage to be ∼3.3 × 104 yr. This suggests that methanol masers are indeed reliable tracers of high-mass star formation, and indicates that the evolutionary period traced by this marker is relatively rapid.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2019 The Author(s) Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. This is an author produced version of an article published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | stars: formation; stars: massive; ISM: molecules; submillimetre: ISM |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Physics and Astronomy (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 30 Nov 2021 14:06 |
Last Modified: | 30 Nov 2021 14:07 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Oxford University Press (OUP) |
Identification Number: | 10.1093/mnras/stz2691 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:180870 |