Cloud Disruption via Ionized Feedback: Tracing Pillar Dynamics in Vulpecula

Abstract

The major physical processes responsible for shaping and sculpting pillars in the clouds surrounding massive stars (i.e. the `Pillars of Creation') are now being robustly incorporated into models quantifying the ionizing radiation from massive stars. The detailed gas dynamics within these pillars can now be compared with observations. Our goal is to quantify the gas dynamics in a pillar being sculpted by a nearby massive star. To do this, we use the CO, ${}^{13}$CO, and C${}^{18}$O J=1-0 emission towards a pillar in the Vulpecula Rift. These data are a combination of CARMA and FCRAO observations providing high resolution ($\sim 5^{\prime \prime }$) imaging of large scale pillar structures ($>100^{\prime \prime }$). We find that this cold ($\sim 18$ K), low density material ($8\times 10^3$ cm${}^{-3}$) material is fragmenting on Jeans scales, has very low velocity dispersions ($\sim 0.5$ km s${}^{-1}$), and appears to be moving away from the ionizing source. We are able to draw direct comparisons with three models from the literature, and find that those with lower velocity dispersions best fit our data, although the dynamics of any one model do not completely agree with our observations. We do however, find that our observed pillar exhibits many of the characteristics expected from simulations.

arXiv comment8 pages, including 7 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

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Cited by in corpus (6)

• Gas expulsion in massive star clusters? Constraints from observations of young and gas-free objects
• Connecting the dots: a correlation between ionising radiation and cloud mass-loss rate traced by optical integral field spectroscopy
• On the compressive nature of turbulence driven by ionising feedback in the pillars of the Carina Nebula
• On the turbulence driving mode of expanding HII regions
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