SOFIA/FIFI-LS spectroscopy of Gy 3-7 cluster in the Outer Galaxy

Ngân Lê, Agata Karska, Christian Fischer, Maja Kaźmierczak-Barthel, Agnieszka Mirocha, Randolf Klein, Marta Sewiło, Lars E. Kristensen and William J. Fischer

Star formation is ubiquitous in the Galaxy, but the physical and chemical conditions in star-forming sites might differ as a function of Galactocentric radius. For example, due to the negative metallicity gradient, the efficiency of gas cooling and dust shielding is expected to decrease in the outer Galaxy. Here, we present the SOFIA/FIFI-LS mapping observations toward the Gy 3-7 cluster in the Canis Major star-forming region covering highly excited CO lines from J=14-13 up to 30-29, [CII] at 158 µm, and [OI] at 63 and 145 µm. The CO rotational temperature of ∼ 200 K toward two dense cores is similar to other Galactic star-forming regions of similar masses. On the other hand, the ratio of total line emission in CO versus [OI], a tracer of metallicity, is comparable to star-forming regions in the Magellanic Clouds. Thus, Gy 3-7 is a suitable target to quantify the impact of low metallicity on star formation.

Proceedings of the Polish Astronomical Society, vol. 12, 195-197 (2022)

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