The Planck Cold Clump G108.37-01.06: A Site of Complex Interplay between H II Regions, Young Clusters and Filaments

TL;DR

This study investigates the complex interplay of H II regions, young clusters, and filaments in the molecular cloud PG108.3, revealing insights into star formation processes driven by filamentary structures and ionizing sources.

Contribution

It provides a detailed multi-wavelength analysis of PG108.3, identifying filamentary structures, young stellar objects, and ionizing sources, and proposes filament collapse as a key mechanism for cluster formation.

Findings

Identification of two massive ionizing stars with ages 0.5-0.75 Myr.

Detection of filamentary structures associated with a young cluster.

Evidence of velocity gradients along filaments indicating collapse.

Abstract

The {\it Planck} Galactic Cold Clumps (PGCCs) are the possible representations of the initial conditions and the very early stages of star formation. With an objective to understand better the star and star cluster formation, we probe the molecular cloud associated with PGCC G108.37-01.06 (hereafter, PG108.3), which can be traced in a velocity range $-$57 to $-$51 km s$^{-1}$. The IPHAS images reveal H$\alpha$ emission at various locations around PG108.3, and optical spectroscopy of the bright sources in those zones of H$\alpha$ emission disclose two massive ionizing sources with spectral type O8-O9V and B1V. Using the radio continuum, we estimate ionizing gas parameters and find the dynamical ages of \hii regions associated with the massive stars in the range 0.5$-$0.75 Myr. Based on the stellar surface density map constructed from the deep near-infrared CHFT observations, we find two prominent star clusters in PG108.3; of which, the cluster associated with \hii region S148 is moderately massive ($\sim$ 240 M$\sun$). A careful inspection of JCMT $^{13}$CO(3$-$2) molecular data exhibits that the massive cluster is associated with a number of filamentary structures. Several embedded young stellar objects (YSOs) are also identified in the PG108.3 along the length and junction of filaments. We find the evidence of velocity gradient along the length of the filaments. Along with kinematics of the filaments and the distribution of ionized, molecular gas and YSOs, we suggest that the cluster formation is most likely due to the longitudinal collapse of the most massive filament in PG108.3.