A molecular line study towards massive extended green object clumps in the southern sky: chemical properties

• Published in: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Vol. 451; no. 3; pp. 2507 - 2516
• Main Authors: Yu, Naiping, Wang, Jun-Jie
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Oxford University Press 11.08.2015
• Subjects: Astronomical instruments; Astronomy; Clocks; Clumps; Formations; H II regions; Legacy; Molecular chemistry; Molecules; Southern sky; Star & galaxy formation; Velocity; stars: formation; ISM: clouds; ISM: molecules; ISM: abundances
• ISSN: 0035-8711; 1365-2966
• DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stv1058

We present a molecular line study towards 31 extended green object (EGO) clumps in the southern sky using data from MALT90 (Millimetre Astronomy Legacy Team 90 GHz). According to previous multiwavelength observations, we divide our sample into two groups: massive young stellar objects (MYSOs) and H ii regions. The most detected lines are N2H+ (J = 1 − 0), HCO+ (J = 1 − 0), HNC (J = 1 − 0), HCN (J = 1 − 0), HC3N (J = 10 − 9), H13CO+ (J = 1 − 0), C2H (N = 1 − 0) and SiO (J = 2 − 1), indicating that most EGOs are indeed associated with dense clumps and recent outflow activities. The velocity widths of the N2H+ (J = 1 − 0), H13CO+ (J = 1 − 0), C2H (N = 1 − 0) and HC3N (J = 10 − 9) lines are comparable to each other in MYSOs. However, in H ii regions the velocity widths of the N2H+ (J = 1 − 0) and C2H (N = 1 − 0) lines tend to be narrower than those of H13CO+ (J = 1 − 0) and HC3N (J = 10 − 9). Our results seem to support that N2H+ and C2H emissions mainly come from the gas inside quiescent clumps. In addition, we also find that the [N2H+]/[H13CO+] and [C2H]/[H13CO+] relative abundance ratios decrease from MYSOs to H ii regions. These results suggest depletion of N2H+ and C2H in the late stages of massive-star formation, probably caused by the formation of H ii regions inside. N2H+ and C2H might be used as chemical clocks for massive-star formation by comparing with other molecules such as H13CO+ and HC3N.