Molecular Abundance Ratios as a Tracer of Accelerated Collapse in Regions of High‐Mass Star Formation

2004/10/27 by C. J. Lintott, S. Viti, J. M. C. Rawlings +5 · 2 citations
Physics and Astronomy · Social Sciences · #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #Educational Leadership and Practices #astro-ph

paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/427164

published as Astrophys.J. 620 (2005) L795 · 5 pages, 3 figures To be published in the Astrophysical Journal

arxiv created 2004/10/27 · openalex publication_date 2005/02/20 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01

Abstract

Recent observations suggest that the behavior of tracer species such as N 2 H + and CS is significantly different in regions of high- and low-mass star formation. In the latter, N 2 H + is a good tracer of mass, while CS is not. Observations show the reverse to be true in high-mass star formation regions. We use a computational chemical model to show that the abundances of these and other species may be significantly altered by a period of accelerated collapse in high-mass star-forming regions. We suggest that these results provide a potential explanation of the observations, and make predictions for the behavior of other species.

Cited by

• Determining the cosmic ray ionization rate in dynamically evolving clouds
• Astrophysics in 2005

Related

• NEATH II: N₂H⁺ as a tracer of imminent star formation in quiescent high-density gas
• Abundance profiles of CH3OH and H2CO toward massive young stars as evolutionary tracers
• Simulations for the evolution of the chemical clock HC3N/N2H+ in high-mass star-forming regions
• Chemical Abundances and Milky Way Formation
• The Difference in Abundances between N-bearing and O-bearing Species in High-Mass Star-Forming Regions