Star formation associated with a large-scale infrared bubble

TL;DR

This study investigates the molecular environment and star formation activity around a large-scale infrared bubble, revealing active star formation likely triggered by the H II region through the collect and collapse process.

Contribution

It provides detailed molecular observations and analysis of star formation triggered by an H II region in a large infrared bubble, a novel case study in this context.

Findings

Identification of molecular clumps associated with the bubble

Detection of active star formation indicators around G53.54-0.01

Evidence supporting triggered star formation via collect and collapse

Abstract

Using the data from the Galactic Ring Survey (GRS) and Galactic Legacy Infrared Mid-Plane Survey Extraordinaire (GLIMPSE), we performed a study for a large-scale infrared bubble with a size of about 16 pc at a distance of 2.0 kpc. We present the 12CO J=1-0, 13CO J=1-0 and C18O J=1-0 observations of HII region G53.54-0.01 (Sh2-82) obtained at the the Purple Mountain Observation (PMO) 13.7 m radio telescope to investigate the detailed distribution of associated molecular material. The large-scale infrared bubble shows a half-shell morphology at 8 um. H II regions G53.54-0.01, G53.64+0.24, and G54.09-0.06 are situated on the bubble. Comparing the radio recombination line velocities and associated 13CO J=1-0 components of the three H II regions, we found that the 8 um emission associated with H II region G53.54-0.01 should belong to the foreground emission, and only overlap with the large-scale infrared bubble in the line of sight. Three extended green objects (EGOs, the candidate massive young stellar objects), as well as three H II regions and two small-scale bubbles are found located in the G54.09-0.06 complex, indicating an active massive star-forming region. C18O J=1-0 emission presents four cloud clumps on the northeastern border of H II region G53.54-0.01. Via comparing the spectral profiles of 12CO J=1-0, 13CO J=1-0, and C18O J=1-0 peak at each clump, we found the collected gas in the three clumps, except for the clump coincided with a massive YSO (IRAS 19282+1814). Using the evolutive model of H II region, we derived that the age of H II region G53.54-0.01 is 1.5*10^6 yr. The significant enhancement of several Class I and Class II YSOs around G53.54-0.01 indicates the presence of some recently formed stars, which may be triggered by this H II region through the collect and collapse (CC) process.