Large-scale molecular gas distribution in the M17 cloud complex: dense gas conditions of massive star formation?

Abstract

The non-uniform distribution of gas and protostars in molecular clouds is caused by combinations of various physical processes that are difficult to separate. We explore this non-uniform distribution in the M17 molecular cloud complex that hosts massive star formation activity using the $^{12}$CO ($J=1-0$) and $^{13}$CO ($J=1-0$) emission lines obtained with the Nobeyama 45m telescope. Differences in clump properties such as mass, size, and gravitational boundedness reflect the different evolutionary stages of the M17-H{\scriptsize II} and M17-IRDC clouds. Clumps in the M17-H{\scriptsize II} cloud are denser, more compact, and more gravitationally bound than those in M17-IRDC. While M17-H{\scriptsize II} hosts a large fraction of very dense gas (27\%) that has column density larger than the threshold of $\sim$ 1 g cm$^{-2}$ theoretically predicted for massive star formation, this very dense gas is deficient in M17-IRDC (0.46\%). Our HCO$^+$ ($J=1-0$) and HCN ($J=1-0$) observations with the TRAO 14m telescope, {\nlqb trace all gas with column density higher than $3\times 10^{22}$ cm$^{-2}$}, confirm the deficiency of high density ($\gtrsim 10^5$ cm$^{-3}$) gas in M17-IRDC. Although M17-IRDC is massive enough to potentially form massive stars, its deficiency of very dense gas and gravitationally bound clumps can explain the current lack of massive star formation.