BFS 10: a nascent bipolar H ii region in a filamentary molecular cloud

We present a study of the compact blister H ii region BFS 10 and its highly filamentary molecular cloud. We utilize (CO)-C-12 observations from the Five College Radio Astronomy Observatory to determine the distance, size, mass, and velocity structure of the molecular cloud. Infrared observations obtained from the UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey and the Spitzer Infrared Array Camera, as well as radio continuum observations from the Canadian Galactic Plane Survey, are used to extract information about the central H ii region. This includes properties such as the ionizing photon rate and infrared luminosity, as well as identifying a rich embedded star cluster associated with the central O9 V star. Time-scales regarding the expansion rate of the H ii region and lifetime of the ionizing star reveal a high likelihood that BFS 10 will develop into a bipolar H ii region. Although the region is expected to become bipolar, we conclude from the cloud's velocity structure that there is no evidence to support the idea that star formation at the location of BFS 10 was triggered by two colliding clouds. A search for embedded young stellar objects (YSOs) within the molecular cloud was performed. Two distinct regions of YSOs were identified: one region associated with the rich embedded cluster and another sparse group associated with an intermediate-mass YSO.

Automated summary

In this study, we analyze the molecular cloud, H II region, and associated star clusters of BFS 10 using different observational data. The results suggest that BFS 10 has the potential to become a bipolar H II region based on the expansion rate and lifetime of the ionizing star. Furthermore, two distinct regions of young stellar objects are identified within the molecular cloud.