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We present 500 and 700 au resolution 1 and 3 mm Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array observations, respectively, of protostellar cores in protoclusters Sagittarius B2 (Sgr B2) North (N) and Main (M), parts of the most actively star-forming cloud in our Galaxy. Previous lower-resolution (5000 au) 3 mm observations of this region detected ∼150 sources inferred to be young stellar objects (YSOs) with M > 8 M ⊙. With a 10-fold increase in resolution, we detect 371 sources at 3 mm and 218 sources in the smaller field of view at 1 mm. The sources seen at low resolution are observed to fragment into an average of two objects. About one-third of the observed sources fragment. Most of the sources we report are marginally resolved and are at least partially optically thick. We determine that the observed sources are most consistent with Stage 0/I YSOs, i.e., rotationally supported disks with an active protostar and an envelope, that are warmer than those observed in the solar neighborhood. We report source-counting-based inferred stellar mass and the star formation rate of the cloud: 2800 M ⊙ and 0.0038 M ⊙ yr−1 for Sgr B2 N and 6900 M ⊙ and 0.0093 M ⊙ yr−1 for Sgr B2 M, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We studied the unique kinematic properties in massive filament G352.63-1.07 at 103 au spatial scale with the dense molecular tracers observed with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array. We find the central massive core M1 (12 M ⊙) being separated from the surrounding filament with a velocity difference of v − v ¯ sys = − 2 km s − 1 and a transverse separation within 3″. Meanwhile, as shown in multiple dense-gas tracers, M1 has a spatial extension closely aligned with the main filament and is connected to the filament toward both its ends. M1 thus represents a very beginning state for a massive, young star-forming core escaping from the parental filament, within a timescale of ∼4000 yr. Based on its kinetic energy (3.5 × 1044 erg), the core escape is unlikely solely due to the original filament motion or magnetic field but requires more energetic events such as a rapid intense anisotropic collapse. The released energy also seems to noticeably increase the environmental turbulence. This may help the filament to become stabilized again. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A survey toward 674 Planck cold clumps of the Early Cold Core Catalogue (ECC) in the J = 1-0 transitions of 12CO, 13CO, and C18O has been carried out using the Purple Mountain Observatory 13.7 m telescope. Six hundred seventy-three clumps were detected with 12CO and 13CO emission, and 68% of the sample has C18O emission. Additional velocity components were also identified. A close consistency of the three line peak velocities was revealed for the first time. Kinematic distances are given for all the velocity components, and half of the clumps are located within 0.5 and 1.5 kpc. Excitation temperatures range from 4 to 27 K, slightly larger than those of Td. Line width analysis shows that the majority of ECC clumps are low-mass clumps. Column densities span from 1020 to 4.5 × 1022 cm–2 with an average value of (4.4 ± 3.6) × 1021 cm–2. cumulative fraction distribution deviates from the lognormal distribution, which is attributed to optical depth. The average abundance ratio of the 13CO to C18O in these clumps is 7.0 ± 3.8, higher than the terrestrial value. Dust and gas are well coupled in 95% of the clumps. Blue profile asymmetry, red profile asymmetry, and total line asymmetry were found in less than 10% of the clumps, generally indicating that star formation is not yet developed. Ten clumps were mapped. Twelve velocity components and 22 cores were obtained. Their morphologies include extended diffuse, dense, isolated, cometary, and filament, of which the last is the majority. Twenty cores are starless, and only seven cores seem to be in a gravitationally bound state. Planck cold clumps are the most quiescent among the samples of weak red IRAS, infrared dark clouds, UC H II candidates, extended green objects, and methanol maser sources, suggesting that Planck cold clumps have expanded the horizon of cold astronomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]