VLA Observations of the Infrared Dark Cloud G19.30+0.07

TL;DR

This study uses VLA observations of ammonia and CCS to analyze the structure, temperature, and chemical composition of the infrared dark cloud G19.30+0.07, revealing its substructure, star formation activity, and chemical evolution.

Contribution

It provides detailed ammonia and CCS emission maps of G19.30+0.07, identifying multiple velocity components, star-forming clumps, and chemical anti-correlation, advancing understanding of IRDCs' physical and chemical properties.

Findings

G19.30+0.07 has a mass of ~1130 Msun and contains four NH3 clumps.

Two clumps are associated with protostars and outflows, one has a water maser, and one is starless.

NH3 and CCS emissions are spatially anti-correlated, indicating chemical evolution stages.

Abstract

We present Very Large Array observations of ammonia (NH3) (1,1), (2,2), and CCS (2_1-1_0) emission toward the Infrared Dark Cloud (IRDC) G19.30+0.07 at ~22GHz. The NH3 emission closely follows the 8 micron extinction. The NH3 (1,1) and (2,2) lines provide diagnostics of the temperature and density structure within the IRDC, with typical rotation temperatures of ~10 to 20K and NH3 column densities of ~10^15 cm^-2. The estimated total mass of G19.30+0.07 is ~1130 Msun. The cloud comprises four compact NH3 clumps of mass ~30 to 160 Msun. Two coincide with 24 micron emission, indicating heating by protostars, and show evidence of outflow in the NH3 emission. We report a water maser associated with a third clump; the fourth clump is apparently starless. A non-detection of 8.4GHz emission suggests that the IRDC contains no bright HII regions, and places a limit on the spectral type of an embedded ZAMS star to early-B or later. From the NH3 emission we find G19.30+0.07 is composed of three distinct velocity components, or "subclouds." One velocity component contains the two 24 micron sources and the starless clump, another contains the clump with the water maser, while the third velocity component is diffuse, with no significant high-density peaks. The spatial distribution of NH3 and CCS emission from G19.30+0.07 is highly anti-correlated, with the NH3 predominantly in the high-density clumps, and the CCS tracing lower-density envelopes around those clumps. This spatial distribution is consistent with theories of evolution for chemically young low-mass cores, in which CCS has not yet been processed to other species and/or depleted in high-density regions.