Kinematics of the molecular interstellar medium probed by Gaia: steep velocity dispersion-size relation, isotropic turbulence, and location-dependent energy dissipation

TL;DR

This study uses Gaia data to analyze the kinematic structure of molecular clouds, revealing a steep velocity dispersion-size relation, isotropic turbulence, and location-dependent energy dissipation, advancing understanding of ISM dynamics.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the morphology and turbulence characteristics of molecular clouds using Gaia astrometry, highlighting the role of cloud collisions and Galactic shear in turbulence energy dissipation.

Findings

Velocity dispersion-size relation with slope 0.67

Turbulence is isotropic across complexes

Energy dissipation rate decreases with Galactocentric distance

Abstract

The evolution of the molecular interstellar medium is controlled by processes such as turbulence, gravity, stellar feedback, and Galactic shear. AL a part of the ISM-6D https://gxli.github.io/ISM-6D/ project, using Gaia astrometric measurements towards a sample of young stellar objects (YSOs), we study morphology and kinematic structure of the associated molecular gas. We identify 150 YSO associations with distance $d \lesssim 3 \;\rm kpc$. The YSO associations are elongated, with a median aspect ratio of 1.97, and are oriented parallel to the disk midplane, with a median angle of 30$^{\circ}$. The turbulence in the molecular clouds as probed by the YSOs is isotropic, and the velocity dispersions are related to the sizes by $\sigma_{v,{\rm 2D}} = 0.74\;(r/{\rm pc})^{0.67} \;({\rm km/s})\;$. The slope is on the steeper side, yet consistent with previous measurements. The energy dissipation rate of turbulence $\dot{\epsilon} = \sigma_{v,{\rm 3D}}^3 /L$ decreases with the Galactocentric distance, with a gradient of 0.2 $\rm dex \; kpc^{-1}$, which can be explained if turbulence is driven by cloud collisions. In this scenario, the clouds located in the inner Galaxy have higher chances to accrete smaller clouds and are more turbulent. Although the density structures of the complexes are anisotropic, the turbulence is consistent with being isotropic. If the alignment between density structures and the Galactic-disk mid-plane is due to shear, we expect $t_{\rm cloud} \gtrsim t_{\rm shear}\approx 30\; \rm Myr$. This cloud lifetime is longer than the turbulence crossing time, and a continuous energy injection is required to maintain the turbulence.