Mapping Molecular Emission in Vela Molecular Ridge Cloud D

Abstract

We present the 12CO(1-0) and 13CO(2-1) line maps obtained observing with the SEST, a ~1deg×1deg region of the Vela Molecular Ridge, cloud D. This cloud is part of an intermediate-mass star-forming region that is relatively close to the Sun. Our observations reveal, over a wide range of spatial scales (from ~0.1 to a few parsecs), a variety of dense structures such as arcs, filaments, and clumps that are in many cases associated with far-IR pointlike sources, recognized as young stellar objects and embedded star clusters. The velocity field analysis highlights the presence of possible expanding shells, extending over several parsecs, probably related to the star-forming activity of the cloud. Furthermore, the analysis of the line shapes in the vicinity of the far-IR sources allowed the detection of 13 molecular outflows. Considering a hierarchical scenario for the gas structure, a cloud decomposition was obtained for both spectral lines by means of the CLUMPFIND algorithm. The CLUMPFIND output has been discussed critically, and a method is proposed to reasonably correct the list of the identified clumps. We find that the corresponding mass spectrum shows a spectral index α~1.3-2.0, and the derived clump masses are below the corresponding virial masses. The mass-radius and velocity dispersion-radius relationships are also briefly discussed for the recovered clump population.