Shock waves in Interstellar Cloud-Cloud and Wind-Cloud Collisions

TL;DR

This study uses 3D simulations and a shock-finding algorithm to analyze shock wave properties in interstellar cloud collisions, revealing stages of evolution and the impact of cloud size and geometry on shock dynamics.

Contribution

The paper introduces a Python-based shock-finding algorithm and provides a detailed analysis of shock evolution in cloud-cloud and wind-cloud collisions with varying initial conditions.

Findings

Larger clouds produce stronger shocks early on.

Shock strength is highest during initial collision stages.

Cloud geometry affects mass loss and dispersion but not shock distribution.

Abstract

The interstellar medium (ISM) is a key ingredient of galaxies and their evolution, consisting of multiphase, turbulent dust and gas. Some of the star-forming regions in our Galaxy originate from cloud-cloud and wind-cloud collisions, which generate shock waves that change the physical and chemical properties of the gas. We utilise our own python-based shock-finding algorithm to study the properties and distribution of shocks in interstellar collisions. Such interactions are studied via 3D numerical simulations with different initial conditions: Cloud-cloud collisions (CCc): We identify four stages of evolution: pre-collision, compression, pass-through, and dissipation. We also vary the size of one of the colliding clouds. Larger clouds facilitate cloud erosion and the formation of more and stronger shocks at early stages. Shock distributions are also time-dependent, as strong shocks are only produced during the early stages. As the collisions evolve, turbulent kinetic energy is rapidly dissipated, so most perturbations become subsonic waves at late times. Wind-cloud collisions (WCc): we identify four stages: compression, stripping, expansion, and break-up. We study the evolution of several diagnostics in these clouds: energies (thermal and kinetic), temperature, displacement of the centre of mass, and mass-weighted averages of the cloud density and acceleration. We show, that the geometry of the cloud impact the diagnostic parameters, for example, smoothing the edges of the cloud leads to enhanced mass losses and dispersion, but has little impact on the shock distribution.