The Bolocam Galactic Plane Survey. VIII. A Mid-Infrared Kinematic Distance Discrimination Method

Abstract

We present a new distance estimation method for dust-continuum-identified molecular cloud clumps. Recent (sub-)millimeter Galactic plane surveys have cataloged tens of thousands of these objects, but detailed study of their physical properties requires robust distance determinations. We derive Bayesian distance probability density functions (DPDFs) for 770 objects from the Bolocam Galactic Plane Survey in the longitude range 7.5 < l < 65. The DPDF formalism is based on kinematic distances, and uses external data sets to place prior distance probabilities to resolve the kinematic distance ambiguity (KDA) for objects in the inner Galaxy. We present priors related to the mid-infrared absorption of dust in dense molecular regions and the Galactic distribution of molecular gas. By assuming a numerical model of Galactic mid-infrared emission and simple radiative transfer, we match the morphology of millimeter thermal dust emission with mid-infrared absorption to compute a prior DPDF for distance discrimination. Selecting objects first from (sub-)millimeter source catalogs avoids a bias towards the darkest infrared dark clouds (IRDCs) and extends the range of heliocentric distance and contrast range probed by mid-infrared extinction. We derive well-constrained KDA resolutions for 618 molecular cloud clumps, with approximately 15% placed at or beyond the tangent distance. Objects sufficiently dark to be cataloged as IRDCs are generally placed at the near kinematic distance. Distance comparisons with Galactic Ring Survey KDA resolutions yield a 92% agreement, and a Galactic face-on view reveals sections of the Sagittarius and Scutum-Centaurus Arms. This KDA-resolution method for large catalogs of sources through the combination of (sub-)millimeter and mid-infrared observations of molecular cloud clumps is generally applicable to other dust-continuum Galactic plane surveys.

Accepted for publication in ApJ; 29 pages, 16 figures. Data available prior to publication by contacting the authors

References in corpus (13)

• Theory of Star Formation
• Infrared Emission from Interstellar Dust. IV. The Silicate-Graphite-PAH Model in the Post-Spitzer Era
• Trigonometric Parallaxes of Massive Star Forming Regions: VI. Galactic Structure, Fundamental Parameters and Non-Circular Motions
• The Boston University-Five College Radio Astronomy Observatory Galactic Ring Survey
• The COMPLETE Survey of Star-Forming Regions: Phase I Data
• Kinematic Distances to Molecular Clouds identified in the Galactic Ring Survey
• An Ammonia Spectral Atlas of Dense Cores in Perseus
• Comparing Star Formation on Large Scales in the c2d Legacy Clouds: Bolocam 1.1 mm Dust Continuum Surveys of Serpens, Perseus, and Ophiuchus
• Resolution of the Distance Ambiguity for Galactic HII Regions
• Gas flow models in the Milky Way embedded bars
• Trigonometric Parallaxes of Massive Star Forming Regions: V. G23.01-0.41 and G23.44-0.18
• A self-consistent model of Galactic stellar and dust infrared emission and the abundance of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
• The nature of the methanol maser ring G23.657-00.127

Cited by in corpus (43)

• A Parallax-based Distance Estimator for Spiral Arm Sources
• Properties of Hi-GAL clumps in the inner Galaxy]{The Hi-GAL compact source catalogue. I. The physical properties of the clumps in the inner Galaxy ($-71.0^{\circ }<\ell <67.0^{\circ }$)
• A Uniform Catalog of Molecular Clouds in the Milky Way
• The RMS Survey: Galactic distribution of massive star formation
• The Bolocam Galactic Plane Survey IX: Data Release 2 and Outer Galaxy Extension
• ATLASGAL -- A Galaxy-wide sample of dense filamentary structures
• ATLASGAL - Kinematic distances and the dense gas mass distribution of the inner Galaxy
• The Physical Properties of Large-Scale Galactic Filaments
• The Bolocam Galactic Plane Survey. XIV. Physical Properties of Massive Starless and Star Forming Clumps
• The Skeleton of the Milky Way
• The Dense Gas Mass Fraction of Molecular Clouds in the Milky Way
• Trigonometric Parallaxes of Star Forming Regions in the Scutum Spiral Arm
• The Hi-GAL catalogue of dusty filamentary structures in the Galactic Plane
• A Census of Large-Scale ($\ge$ 10 pc), Velocity-Coherent, Dense Filaments in the Northern Galactic Plane: Automated Identification Using Minimum Spanning Tree
• The integrated properties of the molecular clouds from the JCMT CO(3-2) High Resolution Survey
• The SEDIGISM survey: Molecular clouds in the inner Galaxy
• The Bolocam Galactic Plane Survey. X. A Complete Spectroscopic Catalog of Dense Molecular Gas Observed toward 1.1 mm Dust Continuum Sources with 7.5 <= l <= 194 degrees
• CHIMPS: Physical properties of molecular clumps across the inner Galaxy
• The Onset of Massive Star Formation: The Evolution of Temperature and Density Structure in an Infrared Dark Cloud
• The Initial Conditions of Stellar Protocluster Formation: III. The Herschel counterparts of the Spitzer Dark Cloud catalogue
• The Bolocam Galactic Plane Survey. XII. Distance Catalog Expansion Using Kinematic Isolation of Dense Molecular Cloud Structures With 13CO(1-0)
• A Galactic Plane Defined by the Milky Way HII Region Distribution
• Extreme infrared variables from UKIDSS - II. an end-of-survey catalogue of eruptive YSOs and unusual stars
• Properties of massive star-forming clumps with infall motions
• The Lifetimes of Phases in High-Mass Star-Forming Regions
• The accretion history of high-mass stars: An ArTéMiS pilot study of Infrared Dark Clouds
• Thermal balance and comparison of gas and dust properties of dense clumps in the Hi-GAL survey
• The Dense Filamentary Giant Molecular Cloud G23.0-0.4: Birthplace of Ongoing Massive Star Formation
• Relationship between the column density distribution and evolutionary class of molecular clouds as viewed by ATLASGAL
• An analysis of star formation with Herschel in the Hi-GAL Survey. II. The tips of the Galactic bar
• GASTON: Galactic Star Formation with NIKA2. Evidence for the mass growth of star-forming clumps
• Interaction Between Supernova Remnant G22.7-0.2 And The Ambient Molecular Clouds
• The Bolocam Galactic Plane Survey. XIII. Physical Properties and Mass Functions of Dense Molecular Cloud Structures
• Infrared dark clouds on the far side of the Galaxy
• 3-D CMZ IV: Distinguishing Near vs. Far Distances in the Galactic Center Using Spitzer and Herschel
• Star Cluster Formation in Orion A
• The Star Formation Relation for Regions in the Galactic Plane: The Effect of Spatial Resolution
• Positron Excess from Cosmic Ray Interactions in Galactic Molecular Clouds
• Autonomous Gaussian decomposition of the Galactic Ring Survey. II. The Galactic distribution of 13CO
• Northern Galactic Molecular Cloud Clumps in Hi-GAL: Clump and Star Formation within Clouds
• Northern Galactic Molecular Cloud Clumps in Hi-GAL: Dense Gas Map and Environmental Trends
• A Galactic Molecular Cloud Clump Catalog from Hi-GAL Data: Method and Initial Results Comparison to BGPS
• 3D CMZ V: A new orbital model of our Galaxy's Center, informed by data across the electromagnetic spectrum