Formation of Cold Filamentary Structure from Wind Blown Superbubbles

TL;DR

This study uses numerical simulations to show that the collision of wind-blown superbubbles naturally creates dense, cold filaments resembling observed molecular gas structures, with significant mass contained in these features.

Contribution

It introduces realistic, detailed models of superbubble collisions that produce cold filaments, advancing understanding of molecular cloud formation mechanisms.

Findings

Dense, cold filaments form in superbubble collision zones.

65-80% of gas mass ends up in these filaments.

Filaments exhibit a range of physical states, from pressure equilibrium to under-pressured, with complex internal motions.

Abstract

The expansion and collision of two wind-blown superbubbles is investigated numerically. Our models go beyond previous simulations of molecular cloud formation from converging gas flows by exploring this process with realistic flow parameters, sizes and timescales. The superbubbles are blown by time-dependent winds and supernova explosions, calculated from population synthesis models. They expand into a uniform or turbulent diffuse medium. We find that dense, cold gas clumps and filaments form naturally in the compressed collision zone of the two superbubbles. Their shapes resemble the elongated, irregular structure of observed cold, molecular gas filaments and clumps. At the end of the simulations, between 65 and 80 percent of the total gas mass in our simulation box is contained in these structures. The clumps are found in a variety of physical states, ranging from pressure equilibrium with the surrounding medium to highly under-pressured clumps with large irregular internal motions and structures which are rotationally supported.