CO Outflow Candidates Toward the W3/4/5 Complex II: Feedback from Candidate Outflows

TL;DR

This study investigates how CO outflow feedback influences large molecular clouds in the W3/4/5 complex, revealing scale-dependent effects on turbulence and cloud dispersal, and suggesting outflows can significantly impact cloud evolution.

Contribution

It provides the first large-scale analysis of protostellar outflow feedback effects on clouds over 110 deg$^2$, highlighting scale thresholds for turbulence support and cloud dispersal.

Findings

Larger clouds are less affected by outflow feedback.

A scale of ~4.7 pc marks the transition for feedback effects.

Outflows can sustain turbulence in dense gas at sub-parsec scales.

Abstract

To date, few studies have focused on protostellar outflow feedback at scales larger than several parsecs. To address this paucity of research, we investigate the effects of feedback from CO outflow candidates on their parent clouds over $\sim$ 110 deg$^2$ toward the W3/4/5 complex and its surroundings. Our search identified 265 $^{13}$CO clouds with radii being $\sim$ 0.04 -- 17.12 pc. We estimate the turbulent support and potential disruptive effect of the outflow activities through analyzing physical properties of outflow candidates and their host clouds in terms of turbulence and gravitational binding energy. We find:(1) clouds of larger size might be less affected by feedback; (2) the possible scale break is $\gtrsim 4.7$ pc for both turbulent support and potential disruptive effect; (3) if outflows couple to dense gas where stars are forming, for clouds in the Perseus arm, a scale $\lesssim$ 0.2 -- 0.4 pc is sufficient for the energy and momentum injected by outflow activity to maintain turbulence, while for clouds in the Local arm, the scale is $\lesssim$ 0.1 -- 0.2 pc; and (4) for clouds in the Perseus arm, a scale $\lesssim$ 0.3 -- 1.0 pc is needed for outflow activity to potentially disperse material away from the natal clouds, while for clouds in the Local arm, the scale is $\lesssim$ 0.2 -- 0.6 pc.The strength of outflow activity may affect the values in the points (3) and (4). Finally, we find that outflow feedback probably possesses the power to alter the linewidth-size relation.