Embedded Filaments in IRAS 05463+2652: Early Stage of Fragmentation and Star Formation Activities

Abstract

We present a multiwavelength data analysis of IRAS 05463+2652 (hereafter I05463+2652) to study star formation mechanisms. A shell-like structure around I05463+2652 is evident in the Herschel column density map, which is not associated with any ionized emission. Based on the Herschel submillimeter images, several parsec-scale filaments (including two elongated filaments, “s-fl” and “nw-fl” having lengths of ∼6.4 and ∼8.8 pc, respectively) are investigated in the I05463+2652 site. The Herschel temperature map depicts all these features in a temperature range of ∼11-13 K. 39 clumps are identified and have masses between ∼ 70{--}945 {M}_⊙ . The majority of clumps (having {M}_{clump}≳ 300 {M}_⊙ ) are distributed toward the shell-like structure. 175 young stellar objects (YSOs) are selected using the photometric 1-5 μm data and a majority of these YSOs are distributed toward the four areas of high column density (≳ 5× {10}²¹ cm^-2 A _V ∼ 5.3 mag) in the shell-like structure, where massive clumps and a spatial association with filament(s) are also observed. The knowledge of observed masses per unit length of elongated filaments and critical mass length reveals that they are supercritical. The filament “nw-fl” is fragmented into five clumps (having {M}_{clump}∼ 100{--}545 {M}_⊙ ) and contains noticeable YSOs, while the other filament “s-fl” is fragmented into two clumps (having {M}_{clump}∼ 170{--}215 {M}_⊙ ) without YSOs. Together, these observational results favor the role of filaments in the star formation process in I05480+2545. This study also reveals the filament “s-fl,” containing two starless clumps, at an early stage of fragmentation.