Dense gas in molecular cores associated with Planck Galactic cold clumps

TL;DR

This study surveys dense gas in molecular cores associated with Planck Galactic Cold Clumps, revealing their quiescent nature, low chemical abundances, and potential for star formation, based on extensive molecular line observations.

Contribution

First comprehensive survey of dense gas in PGCCs using HCO+ and HCN lines, providing insights into their physical and chemical properties and star formation potential.

Findings

Most PGCC cores are quiescent with low turbulence.

HCO+ and HCN abundances are positively correlated.

Many PGCCs have enough dense gas to form stars.

Abstract

We present the first survey of dense gas towards Planck Galactic Cold Clumps (PGCCs). Observations in the J=1-0 transitions of HCO+ and HCN towards 621 molecular cores associated with PGCCs were performed using the Purple Mountain Observatory 13.7-m telescope. Among them, 250 sources have detection, including 230 cores detected in HCO+ and 158 in HCN. Spectra of the J=1-0 transitions from CO, 13CO, and C18O at the centers of the 250 cores were extracted from previous mapping observations to construct a multi-line data set. The significantly low detection rate of asymmetric double-peaked profiles, together with the well consistence among central velocities of CO, HCO+, and HCN spectra, suggests that the CO-selected Planck cores are more quiescent compared to classical star-forming regions. The small difference between line widths of C18O and HCN indicates that the inner regions of CO-selected Planck cores are not more turbulent than the exterior. The velocity-integrated intensities and abundances of HCO+ are positively correlated with those of HCN, suggesting these two species are well coupled and chemically connected. The detected abundances of both HCO+ and HCN are significantly lower than values in other low- to high-mass star-forming regions. The low abundances may be due to beam dilution. On the basis of the inspection of the parameters given in the PGCC catalog, we suggest that there may be about 1 000 PGCC objects having sufficient reservoir of dense gas to form stars.