Discovery of Two Dust Pillars near the Galactic Plane

TL;DR

This paper reports the discovery of two dust pillars near the Galactic plane using Spitzer Space Telescope data, highlighting their different morphologies and evidence of triggered second-generation star formation.

Contribution

It presents the first identification and detailed analysis of two dust pillars with signs of star formation influenced by nearby massive stars.

Findings

One dust pillar contains young stellar objects in its head.

The other shows a bright-rimmed ionizing front.

Star formation appears triggered by nearby H II regions.

Abstract

We report the discovery of two dust pillars using GLIMPSE archival images obtained with the Infrared Array Camera on board the Spitzer Space Telescope. They are located close to the Galactic molecular cloud GRSMC45.453+0.060 and they appear to be aligned with the ionizing region associated with GRSMC45.478+0.131. Our three colour mosaics show that these stellar incubators present different morphologies as seen from planet Earth. One of them shows the unquestionable existence of young stellar objects in its head, whose influence on the original cocoon is evident, while the other presents a well defined bright-rimmed ionizing front. We argue that second-generation star formation has been triggered in these protuberances by the action of massive stars present in the nearby H II regions.