Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Heated gaseous streamers and star formation in the Orion molecular cloud

Abstract

THE Orion molecular cloud, which is obscured by the dust and ionized gas of the Orion nebula, is the nearest example of a giant molecular cloud. Massive stars are actively forming deep in the core of this cloud as a result of large-scale cloud instabilities, fragmentation and gravitational collapse. These young stars will inject a considerable amount of energy back into the surrounding environment through stellar winds and radiation1, and they are thus expected to exert a major influence on the evolution of the cloud. Here we present a mosaic of ten high-resolution radio maps of the region of the cloud known as OMC-1; the maps were constructed from observations of two ammonia emission lines, which trace the densest regions of the gas while mitigating the obscuring effects of the dust. We find dense filaments of molecular gas with complex motions fanning out more than 0.5 parsec from the central core of the cloud. These filaments appear as long, bead-like chains, consisting of dense clumps of gas that may be the sites of future star formation. The outer sheaths of clumps and the edges of filaments may be heated as a direct result of radiation and outflows from young stars embedded in the central core.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Shu, F. H., Adams, F. C. & Lizano, S. A. Rev. Astr. Astrophys. 25, 23–81 (1987).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Bally, J., Langer, W., Stark, A. & Wilson, R. Astrophys. J. 312, L45–L49 (1987).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Dutrey, A. et al. Astr. Astrophys. 247, L9–L12 (1991).

    ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Maddalena, R., Morris, M., Moscowitz, J. & Thaddeus, P. Astrophys. J. 303, 375–391 (1986).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Batrla, W., Wilson, T. L., Bastien, P. & Ruf, K. Astr. Astrophys. 128, 279–290 (1983).

    ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Tatematsu, K. et al. Astrophys. J. 404, 643–662 (1993).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  7. Rodríguez-Franco, A., Martin-Pintado, J., Gómez-González, J. & Planesas, P. Astr. Astrophys. 264, 592–609 (1992).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  8. Ho, P. T. P. & Townes, C. H. A. Rev. Astr. Astrophys. 21, 239–270 (1983).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Dougados, C., Léna, P., Ridgway, S. T., Christou, J. C. & Probst, R. G. Astrophys. J. 406, 112–121 (1993).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  10. Zhou, S., Wu, Y., Evans, N., Fuller, G. & Myers, P. Astrophys. J. 346, 168–179 (1989).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Davis, C. J. & Dent, W. R. F. Mon. Not. R. astr. Soc. 261, 371–378 (1993).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Ungerechts, H. et al. Lect. Not. Phys. no. 459 (eds Winnewisser, G. and Pelz, G. C.) 258–264 (Springer, Heidelberg, 1995).

  13. Murata, Y. et al. Astrophys. J. 359, 125–130 (1990).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Martin-Pintado, J., Rodriguez-Franco, A. & Bachiller, R. Astrophys. J. 357, L49–L52 (1990).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Wiseman, J. & Ho, P. T. P. in Clouds, Cores, and Low Mass Stars (eds Clemens, D. P. and Barvainis, R.) 396–400 (Conf. Ser. 65, Astr. Soc. Pacif., San Francisco, 1994).

    Google Scholar 

  16. Stodólkiewicz, J. S. Acta astr. 13(1), 30–64 (1963).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  17. Larson, R. B. Mon. Not. R. astr. Soc. 214, 379–398 (1985).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  18. Hanawa, T. et al. Astrophys. J. 404, L83–L86 (1993).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  19. Womack, M., Ziurys, L. M. & Sage, L. J. Astrophys. J. 406, L29–L33 (1993).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  20. Hartquist, T. W. & Dyson, J. E. Q. JI. R. astr. Soc. 34, 57–71 (1993).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  21. Ho, P. T. P., Martin, R. N. & Barrett, A. H. Astrophys. J. 246, 761–787 (1981).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Allen, D. A. & Burton, M. G. Nature 363, 54–56 (1993).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  23. Axon, D. J. & Taylor, K. Mon. Not. R. astr. Soc. 207, 241–261 (1984).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Taylor, K. N. R., Storey, J. W. V., Sandell, G., Williams, P. M. & Zealey, W. J. Nature 311, 236–237 (1984).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Stone, J. M., Xu, J. & Mundy, L. G. Nature 377, 315–317 (1995).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Gehman, C. S., Adams, F. C., Fatuzzo, M. & Watkins, R. Astrophys. J. 457, 718–730 (1996).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  27. Ishiguro, M. & Welch, W. J. (eds) Astronomy with Millimeter and Submillimeter Wave interferometry Sect. 4, 384–431 (Conf. Ser. 59, Astr. Soc. Pacif., San Francisco, 1994).

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Wiseman, J., Ho, P. Heated gaseous streamers and star formation in the Orion molecular cloud. Nature 382, 139–141 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1038/382139a0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/382139a0

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing