New insights in the mid-infrared bubble N49 site: a clue of collision of filamentary molecular clouds

TL;DR

This study reveals that the mid-infrared bubble N49 is formed at the interface of colliding filamentary molecular clouds, which likely triggered star formation, including massive stars and protostars, about 0.7 million years ago.

Contribution

It provides observational evidence supporting cloud-cloud collision as a mechanism for star formation in the N49 bubble region.

Findings

Identification of two velocity components in molecular clouds.

Detection of a broad bridge feature indicating cloud collision.

Presence of embedded protostars and clumps at the collision interface.

Abstract

We investigate the star formation processes operating in a mid-infrared bubble N49 site, which harbors an O-type star in its interior, an ultracompact HII region, and a 6.7 GHz methanol maser at its edges. The 13CO line data reveal two velocity components (at velocity peaks ~88 and ~95 km/sec) in the direction of the bubble. An elongated filamentary feature (length >15 pc) is investigated in each molecular cloud component, and the bubble is found at the interface of these two filamentary molecular clouds. The Herschel temperature map traces all these structures in a temperature range of ~16-24 K. In the velocity space of 13CO, the two molecular clouds are separated by ~7 km/sec, and are interconnected by a lower intensity intermediate velocity emission (i.e. a broad bridge feature). A possible complementary molecular pair at [87, 88] km/sec and [95, 96] km/sec is also observed in the velocity channel maps. These observational signatures are in agreement with the outcomes of simulations of the cloud-cloud collision process. There are also noticeable embedded protostars and Herschel clumps distributed toward the filamentary features including the intersection zone of the two molecular clouds. In the bubble site, different early evolutionary stages of massive star formation are also present. Together, these observational results suggest that in the bubble N49 site, the collision of the filamentary molecular clouds appears to be operated about 0.7 Myr ago, and may have triggered the formation of embedded protostars and massive stars.