https://ogma.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Index ${session.getAttribute("locale")} 5 https://ogma.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:34924 10⁴ M_⊙), remains an open problem, largely because they are so rare that examples of their cold, dense, molecular progenitors continue to be elusive. The molecular cloud G337.342−0.119, the "Pebble," is a candidate cold progenitor. Although G337.342−0.119 was originally identified as four separate ATLASGAL clumps, the similarities in their molecular line velocities and line widths in the MALT90 data set demonstrate that these four clumps are in fact one single, coherent cloud. This cloud is unique in the MALT90 survey for its combination of both cold temperatures (T _dust ~ 14 K) and large line widths (ΔV ~ 10 km s−1). The near/far kinematic distance ambiguity is difficult to resolve for G337.342−0.119. At the near kinematic distance (4.7 kpc), the mass is 5000 M_⊙ and the size is 7 × 2 pc. At the far kinematic distance (11 kpc), the mass is 27,000 M_⊙ and the size is 15 × 4 pc. The unusually large line widths of G337.342−0.119 are difficult to reconcile with a gravitationally bound system in equilibrium. If our current understanding of the Galaxy's Long Bar is approximately correct, G337.342−0.119 cannot be located at its end. Rather, it is associated with a large star-forming complex that contains multiple clumps with large line widths. If G337.342−0.119 is a prototypical cold progenitor for a high-mass cluster, its properties may indicate that the onset of high-mass star cluster formation is dominated by extreme turbulence.]]> Tue 03 Sep 2019 17:58:48 AEST ]]> https://ogma.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:34952 ⊙), cold (14 K) 3.6–70 μm dark IRDC, G331.372-00.116. This infrared dark cloud (IRDC) has the potential to form high-mass stars, and given the absence of current star formation signatures, it seems to represent the earliest stages of high-mass star formation. We have mapped the whole IRDC with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) at 1.1 and 1.3 mm in dust continuum and line emission. The dust continuum reveals 22 cores distributed across the IRDC. In this work, we analyze the physical properties of the most massive core, ALMA1, which has no molecular outflows detected in the CO (2–1), SiO (5–4), and H₂CO (3–2) lines. This core is relatively massive (M = 17.6 M _⊙), subvirialized (virial parameter α _vir = M_vir/M = 0.14), and is barely affected by turbulence (transonic Mach number of 1.2). Using the HCO⁺ (3–2) line, we find the first detection of infall signatures in a relatively massive, prestellar core (ALMA1) with the potential to form a high-mass star. We estimate an infall speed of 1.54 km s⁻¹ and a high accretion rate of 1.96 × 10⁻³ M _⊙ yr⁻¹. ALMA1 is rapidly collapsing, out of virial equilibrium, which is more consistent with competitive accretion scenarios rather than the turbulent core accretion model. On the other hand, ALMA1 has a mass ~6 times larger than the clumps Jeans mass, as it is in an intermediate mass regime (M_J = 2.7 ⊙), contrary to what both the competitive accretion and turbulent core accretion theories predict.]]> Tue 03 Sep 2019 17:56:50 AEST ]]> https://ogma.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:34953 Tue 03 Sep 2019 17:56:40 AEST ]]>