Study of young stellar objects and associated filamentary structures in the inner Galaxy

• Published in: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Vol. 435; no. 1; pp. 663 - 678
• Main Authors: Bhavya, B., Subramaniam, Annapurni, Kuriakose, V. C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Oxford University Press 11-10-2013
• Subjects: Astronomy; Star & galaxy formation; Stars & galaxies; stars: formation; stars: massive; stars: low-mass; stars: pre-main-sequence; stars: protostars
• ISSN: 0035-8711; 1365-2966
• DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stt1324

Young stellar objects in the inner Galactic region 10° < l < 15° and −1° < b < 1° were studied using GLIMPSE images and the GLIMPSE data catalogue. A total of 1107 Class I and 1566 Class II sources were identified in this Galactic region. With the help of GLIMPSE 5.8- and 8-μm images, we identified the presence of 10 major star forming sites in the Galactic mid-plane, 8 of which are filamentary while 2 are possible clusters of Class I and II sources. The length of the identified filaments are estimated as 8-33 arcmin (∼9-56 pc). The occurrence of a hub-filamentary system is observed in many filamentary star forming sites. Most of the Class I sources are found to be aligned along the length of these filamentary structures, while Class II sources have a random distribution. The mass and age distribution of 425 Class I and 241 Class II sources associated with filaments and clusters were studied through analysis of their spectral energy distribution. Most of the Class I sources detected have mass >8 M, while Class II sources have relatively low masses. Class I sources have ages ≤0.5 Myr, while Class II sources have ages in the range ∼0.1-3 Myr. By combining our results with information from high mass star forming tracers, we demonstrate that large numbers of high-mass stars are being formed in the 10 regions studied here.