2004/03/22 by Andreas Heithausen · 21 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Angular resolution (graph drawing) #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #Baryon #Dark matter #Electrical and Electromagnetic Research #Fractal #Hydrogen #Hydrogen molecule #Interferometry #Resolution (logic) #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/421111
published in The Astrophysical Journal 606(1), L13-L15 (IOP Publishing) · 8 pages, 1 figure, accepted by Astrophysical Journal Letters
arxiv created 2004/03/22 · openalex publication_date 2004/04/01 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/06
High angular resolution CO observations of small-area molecular structures are presented. The featureless structures seen in the single-dish measurements break up into several smaller clumps in the interferometer map. At an adopted distance of 100 pc their sizes are on the order of a few hundred AU, some of which are still unresolved at an angular resolution of about 3''. The clumps have a fractal structure with a fractal index between 1.7 and 2.0. Their kinetic temperature is between 7 and 18 K. Adopting standard conversion factors masses are about (1/10) M J for individual clumps, and densities are higher than 20,000 cm -3 . The clumps are highly overpressured, and it is unknown what creates or maintains such structures.