Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: We present an Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array 1.3 mm dust continuum study of the dense core mass function (CMF) in Sh2-284, a low-metallicity outer Galaxy star-forming complex with Z ∼ 1/3–1/2 Z ⊙ . The observations cover six far-infrared bright subregions at ∼0 . ″ 65 (3000 au) resolution. We identify a total of 91 candidate dense cores and define a robust catalog of 68 cores with Gaussian fitting. The high-mass CMF above 2.5 M ⊙ is well described by a Salpeter-like slope, with a fiducial forward-modeled value of α = 1.2 2 − 0.22 + 0.24 for d N / d log M ∝ M − α . Together with existing constraints on the initial mass function (IMF) of Sh2-284, the Salpeter-like CMF is consistent with a resemblance between the CMF and IMF shapes in the outer Galaxy environments, suggesting that moderately low metallicity alone does not strongly reshape the high-mass CMF/IMF slope.
Institutions: National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, University of Virginia, Chalmers University of Technology, European Southern Observatory, European Southern Observatory, Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, Institute of Science Tokyo, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai Key Laboratory for Particle Physics and Cosmology
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,400
Funders: National Science Foundation, National Radio Astronomy Observatory, European Commission, Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, National Institutes of Natural Sciences, Agencia Estatal de Investigación, NextGenerationEU
Awards: G3480869486, G3938949634, G4442677895, G4526231891, G463062595, G464105488, Probing the disk evolution in an early stage massive protocluster, Establishing the Science of Hot Disks in Massive Star Formation, G5731992407, G5881647929, G5894067328, Unveiling High-Mass Star Formation in Low Metallicity Environments through state-of-the-art Observations, G7084143925, G7123013300, 古代説話における諸寺縁起の研究
OpenAlex ID: W7214790208