Outflows and Bubbles in Taurus: Star-formation Feedback Sufficient to Maintain Turbulence

Abstract

We have identified outflows and bubbles in the Taurus molecular cloud based on the ~100 deg^2 Five College Radio Astronomy Observatory ^(12)CO(1-0) and ^(13)CO(1-0) maps and the Spitzer young stellar object catalogs. In the main 44 deg^2 area of Taurus, we found 55 outflows, of which 31 were previously unknown. We also found 37 bubbles in the entire 100 deg^2 area of Taurus, none of which had been found previously. The total kinetic energy of the identified outflows is estimated to be ~3.9 x 10^(45) erg, which is 1% of the cloud turbulent energy. The total kinetic energy of the detected bubbles is estimated to be ~9.2 x 10^(46) erg, which is 29% of the turbulent energy of Taurus. The energy injection rate from the outflows is ~1.3 x 10^(33) erg s^(-1), which is 0.4–2 times the dissipation rate of the cloud turbulence. The energy injection rate from bubbles is ~6.4 x 10^(33) erg s^(−1), which is 2–10 times the turbulent dissipation rate of the cloud. The gravitational binding energy of the cloud is ~1.5 x 10^(48) erg, that is, 385 and 16 times the energy of outflows and bubbles, respectively. We conclude that neither outflows nor bubbles can provide sufficient energy to balance the overall gravitational binding energy and the turbulent energy of Taurus. However, in the current epoch, stellar feedback is sufficient to maintain the observed turbulence in Taurus.

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