Warm and Dense Molecular Gas in the N 159 Region: 12CO J = 4-3 and 13CO J = 3-2 Observations with NANTEN2 and ASTE

Mizuno, Yoji, Kawamura, Akiko, Onishi, Toshikazu, Minamidani, Tetsuhiro, Muller, Erik, Yamamoto, Hiroaki, Hayakawa, Takahiro, Mizuno, Norikazu, Mizuno, Akira, Stutzki, Jцјrgen, Pineda, Jorge L., Klein, Uli, Bertoldi, Frank, Koo, Bon-Chul, Rubio, Monica, Burton, Michael, Benz, Arnold, Ezawa, Hajime, Yamaguchi, Nobuyuki, Kohno, Kotaro, Hasegawa, Tetsuo, Tatematsu, Ken'ichi, Ikeda, Masafumi, Ott, Jцјrgen, Wong, Tony, Hughes, Annie, Meixner, Margaret, Indebetouw, Remy, Gordon, Karl D., Whitney, Barbara, Bernard, Jean-Philippe, & Fukui, Yasuo
2010, Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan, 62, 51

New 12CO J = 4-3 and 13CO J = 3-2 observations of the N 159 region, an active site of massive star formation in the Large Magellanic Cloud, have been made with the NANTEN2 and ASTE submillimeter telescopes, respectively. The 12CO J = 4-3 distribution is separated into three clumps, each associated with N 159 W, N 159 E, and N 159 S. These new measurements toward the three clumps are used in coupled calculations of molecular rotational excitation and line radiation transfer, along with other transitions of the 12CO J = 1-0, J = 2-1, J = 3-2, and J = 7-6 as well as the isotope transitions of 13CO J = 1-0, J = 2-1, J = 3-2, and J = 4-3. The 13CO J = 3-2 data were newly taken for the present work. The temperatures and densities were found to be књ70-80 K and књ3 ц— 10бЁ cm-3 in N 159 W and N 159 E, and књ30 K and књ1.6 ц— 10бЁ cm-3 in N 159 S. These results were compared with the star-formation activity based on data of young stellar clusters and HII regions as well as midinfrared emission obtained with the Spitzer MIPS. The N 159 E clump is associated with cluster(s) embedded, as observed at 24нјm by the Spitzer MIPS, and the derived high temperature, 80 K, is interpreted as being heated by these sources. The N 159 E clump is likely to be responsible for a dark lane in a large HII region by dust extinction. On the other hand, the N 159 W clump is associated with clusters embedded mainly toward the eastern edge of the clump only. These clusters show offsets of 20''-40'' from the 12CO J = 4-3 peak, and are probably responsible for heating indicated by the derived high temperature, 70 K. The N 159 W clump exhibits no sign of star formation toward the 12CO J = 4-3 peak position and its western region that shows enhanced R4-3/1-0 and R3-2/1-0 ratios. We therefore suggest that the N 159 W peak represents a pre-star-cluster core of књ105Modot which deserves further detailed studies. The N 159 S clump shows little sign of star formation, as is consistent with the lower temperature, 30 K, and has a somewhat lower density than N 159 W and N 159 E. The N 159 S clump is also a candidate for future star formation.

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