The location, clustering, and propagation of massive star formation in giant molecular clouds

TL;DR

This study uses galaxy-wide survey data to analyze the spatial distribution, clustering, and environmental factors influencing massive star formation in giant molecular clouds within the Large Magellanic Cloud, revealing complex formation patterns.

Contribution

It provides the first large-scale, unbiased analysis of massive star formation locations and clustering relative to GMC structure and nearby stellar clusters.

Findings

Massive stars rarely form at the highest density regions of GMCs.

Star formation clusters over multiple generations on small scales.

Proximity to stellar clusters significantly boosts massive star formation.

Abstract

Massive stars are key players in the evolution of galaxies, yet their formation pathway remains unclear. In this work, we use data from several galaxy-wide surveys to build an unbiased dataset of ~700 massive young stellar objects (MYSOs), ~200 giant molecular clouds (GMCs), and ~100 young (<10 Myr) optical stellar clusters (SCs) in the Large Magellanic Cloud. We employ this data to quantitatively study the location and clustering of massive star formation and its relation to the internal structure of GMCs. We reveal that massive stars do not typically form at the highest column densities nor centers of their parent GMCs at the ~6 pc resolution of our observations. Massive star formation clusters over multiple generations and on size scales much smaller than the size of the parent GMC. We find that massive star formation is significantly boosted in clouds near SCs. Yet, whether a cloud is associated with a SC does not depend on either the cloud's mass or global surface density. These results reveal a connection between different generations of massive stars on timescales up to 10 Myr. We compare our work with Galactic studies and discuss our findings in terms of GMC collapse, triggered star formation, and a potential dichotomy between low- and high-mass star formation.