# The Mass-Size Relation from Clouds to Cores. II. Solar Neighborhood Clouds

 Title: The Mass-Size Relation from Clouds to Cores. II. Solar Neighborhood Clouds Author: Kauffmann, Jens; Pillai, Thushara; Shetty, Rahul; Myers, Philip C.; Goodman, Alyssa A. Note: Order does not necessarily reflect citation order of authors. Citation: Kauffmann, Jens, Thushara Pillai, Rahul Shetty, Philip C. Myers, and Alyssa A. Goodman. 2010. The mass-size relation from clouds to cores. II. Solar neighborhood clouds. The Astrophysical Journal 716(1): 433-445. Full Text & Related Files: Goodman_MassSizeRelation_II.pdf (838.3Kb; PDF) Abstract: We measure the mass and size of cloud fragments in several molecular clouds continuously over a wide range of spatial scales $$(0.05 <\sim r/pc <\sim 3)$$. Based on the recently developed "dendrogram-technique," this characterizes dense cores as well as the enveloping clouds. "Larson's Third Law" of constant column density, $$m(r) \alpha r^2$$, is not well suited to describe the derived mass-size data. Solar neighborhood clouds not forming massive stars $$(< \sim 10 M \odot$$; Pipe Nebula, Taurus, Perseus, and Ophiuchus) obey $$m(r) \leq 870 M \odot (r/pc)^{1.33}$$. In contrast to this, clouds forming massive stars (Orion A, G10.15 – 0.34, G11.11 – 0.12) do exceed the aforementioned relation. Thus, this limiting mass-size relation may approximate a threshold for the formation of massive stars. Across all clouds, cluster-forming cloud fragments are found to be—at given radius—more massive than fragments devoid of clusters. The cluster-bearing fragments are found to roughly obey a mass-size law $$m \ \alpha \ r^{1.27}$$ (where the exponent is highly uncertain in any given cloud, but is certainly smaller than 1.5). Published Version: doi:10.1088/0004-637X/716/1/433 Terms of Use: This article is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Open Access Policy Articles, as set forth at http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of-use#OAP Citable link to this page: http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:4258984 Downloads of this work: