Unusually bright 12CO(3-2) condensations in the tidally perturbed Small Magellanic Cloud "tail"

Muller, Erik, Mizuno, Norikazu, Minamidani, Tetsuhiro, Kawamura, Akiko, Rosie Chen, C.-H., Indebetouw, Remy, Enokiya, Rei, Fukui, Yasuo, Gordon, Karl, Hayakawa, Takahiro, Mizuno, Yoji, Murai, Miyuki, Okuda, Takeshi, Onishi, Toshikazu, Tachihara, Kengo, Takekoshi, Tatsuya, Yamamoto, Hiroaki, & Yoshiike, Satoshi
2014, Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan, 66, 4

We report on recent observations of molecular clouds in the tidal Magellanic Bridge; specifically, the Ы?kpc-long, tidally extended "tail" of the Small Magellanic Cloud. In particular, we identify an unusually high 12CO(3-2)/12CO(1-0) ratio of 2-3 to 1, toward one of the clouds, suggesting a warm and dense molecular material associated with imminent or current formation of stars. Our Ы? 6 pc-resolution observations show that the target clouds have only a general correlation with bright 24 ЮМm emission regions, occasionally offset by up to Ы? 15 pc. These detections support the scenario that stars are actively being created in this uniquely nearby tidal filament, in the present epoch, and that star formation is ongoing at a range of evolutionary stages or rates.

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Copyright © 2012 Karl D. Gordon All Rights Reserved