Large-scale structure of the Taurus molecular complex. I - Density fluctuations - A fossil Jeans length?
S. C. Kleiner, R. L. Dickman;
ApJ, 1984, 286, 255
ABSTRACT:A study of the large-scale density structure of the Taurus molecular cloud complex is
presented.
Two-dimensional autocorrelation functions of molecular-hydrogen column density
within a 8 degree x 14 degree region are calculated using (C-13)O emission as
well as visual extinctions from the Lynds catalog of dark clouds as tracers
of NH2.
A statistically significant length scale characterizing the
separation of condensations within the complex is found.
It is argued that this
scale may be regarded as the signature of an instability frozen into the
complex at the time of its formation.
The nature of the instability process is
considered, and it is concluded that, under suitable conditions, scale-dependent
turbulent stress may allow gravitational condensations to form in an otherwise
globally stable cloud.
KEYWORDS: density distribution, interstellar matter, molecular clouds, nebulae, astronomical maps, autocorrelation, carbon monoxide, jeans theory, random processes
PERSOKEY:turbulence, ,
CODE: kleiner84