Speaker
Roberto Galvan-Madrid
(ESO-Garching)
Description
The Multi-Scale Continuum and Line Exploration of W49 (MUSCLE W49) is a comprehensive gas and dust survey of the parental giant molecular cloud (GMC) of W49A, the most luminous ($L \sim 10^{7.3} L_{sun}$) star-formation region in the Milky Way. The project has multiple components that cover the entire GMC at different scales and angular resolutions. We present results from observations with the SMA and the VLA, as well as the PMO 14m telescope, the IRAM 30m telescope, and the JCMT. We derive the basic properties of the GMC at all scales, from 0.05 pc to $> 100$ pc. We find that the GMC is distributed in a hierarchical network of filaments that is forming a young massive cluster (YMC), or a system of YMCs. Approximately 17\% of the mass ($\sim 3 \times 10^5$ Msun) is concentrated in 0.1\% of the volume (radius $\sim 6$ pc), where the mass surface density is $> 1000$ Msun pc$^{-2}$. In spite of having already a stellar content of several times $10^4$ Msun, only $\sim1$\% of the gas has been photoionized. Likely, the resulting stellar content will remain as a gravitationally bound massive star cluster, or a small system of star clusters.
Author
Roberto Galvan-Madrid
(ESO-Garching)