The largest molecular cloud complexes in the first galactic quadrant

Abstract

The Columbia CO survey of the first Galactic quadrant was used to determine the locations and physical properties of the largest molecular complexes in the inner Galaxy. Within the range of the survey (l = 12-60 deg), 26 complexes were detected with masses greater than 5 x 10 to the 5th solar masses, and roughly several hundred such complexes are deduced to exist throughout the Galaxy within the solar circle. These complexes are the parent objects of much of the Population I in the Galaxy. Distances to most of the complexes were determined kinematically, the distance ambiguity being resolved with the aid of associated H II regions, OB associations, masers, and other early Population I objects. The largest complexes are good tracers of spiral structure, the Sagittarius arm in particular being delineated with unprecedented clarity. A total of 17 large complexes are distributed rather uniformly along a 15 kpc stretch of the arm with a spacing comparable to that of the strings of regularly spaced H Ii regions observed in external galaxies. Power-law relations exist between the line widths and sizes of the complexes and between their densities and sizes. The forms of these relations are in good agreement with those found previously and are extended by roughly an order of magnitude in cloud mass.