The Cygnus Allscale Survey of Chemistry and Dynamical Environments: CASCADE: VI. Molecular outflows in the DR21 ridge
Abstract
Star formation takes place in varied environments, from isolated clumps to massive molecular cloud complexes. However, whether the environment in which a star forms has any effect on the formation process remains a matter of debate. The molecular outflows, launched during the formation of protostars present a more easily accessible way to study star formation in different environments. The DR21 ridge, in the Cygnus-X high-mass star-forming complex, hosts a high number of massive dense cores and embedded protostars with outflows. We aim to identify molecular outflows associated with dense molecular cores along the DR21 ridge, and investigate whether the extended environment impacts the formation process of stars within it. We identified molecular outflows along the DR21 ridge using HCO+ J=1-0, H13CO+ J=1-0, and SiO J=2-1 observations obtained with the IRAM 30m telescope and NOEMA as part of the CASCADE program. We calculated outflow properties and performed statistical comparisons between the DR21 ridge sources and a literature sample of low- to high-mass outflow sources. Based on the morphology of HCO+, H13CO+ and SiO, we identify molecular outflows in 14 out of 34 dense cores (41%) along the DR21 ridge. Despite the high density of star formation in DR21, the resulting outflow properties are found to be in good agreement with the established correlations between outflow and source properties. Little variation is seen in the outflow properties of sources along the ridge, with the exception of sources located at the intersection of the DR21 ridge with large-scale (~1 pc) accretion filaments. These sources are found to drive the most powerful outflows. Overall, our results indicate that protostellar outflow properties, even when driven by sources forming in an extreme and clustered region, such as the DR21 ridge, remain largely unaffected.
Related
- Sub-arcsecond imaging of HCN and CN in the Orion Bar. UV-driven warm nitrogen chemistry in dense environments
- Determination of the Angular Distributions of Dynamical and Emission Parameters of GRB Relativistic Outflows
- Tracing gas outflows in molecular gas-rich galaxies with the SKA
- Determination of the Angular Distributions of Dynamical and Emission Parameters of Gamma-Ray Burst Relativistic Outflows
- Competitive roles of turbulence and magnetic field on the formation of unipolar outflows in isolated molecular cloud cores
BibTeX
@misc{skretas2026cygnus,
title = {{The Cygnus Allscale Survey of Chemistry and Dynamical Environments: CASCADE: VI. Molecular outflows in the DR21 ridge}},
author = {I. M. Skretas and A. Karska and F. Wyrowski and H. Beuther and W. -J. Kim and C. Gieser and D. A. Semenov and A. Hernández-Gómez and N. Schneider and T. Csengeri and A. Hacar},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2608.29190},
eprint = {2608.29190},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.29190},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - The Cygnus Allscale Survey of Chemistry and Dynamical Environments: CASCADE: VI. Molecular outflows in the DR21 ridge
AU - I. M. Skretas
AU - A. Karska
AU - F. Wyrowski
AU - H. Beuther
AU - W. -J. Kim
AU - C. Gieser
AU - D. A. Semenov
AU - A. Hernández-Gómez
AU - N. Schneider
AU - T. Csengeri
AU - A. Hacar
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/29
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2608.29190
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.29190
AB - Star formation takes place in varied environments, from isolated clumps to massive molecular cloud complexes. However, whether the environment in which a star forms has any effect on the formation process remains a matter of debate. The molecular outflows, launched during the formation of protostars present a more easily accessible way to study star formation in different environments. The DR21 ridge, in the Cygnus-X high-mass star-forming complex, hosts a high number of massive dense cores and embedded protostars with outflows. We aim to identify molecular outflows associated with dense molecular cores along the DR21 ridge, and investigate whether the extended environment impacts the formation process of stars within it. We identified molecular outflows along the DR21 ridge using HCO+ J=1-0, H13CO+ J=1-0, and SiO J=2-1 observations obtained with the IRAM 30m telescope and NOEMA as part of the CASCADE program. We calculated outflow properties and performed statistical comparisons between the DR21 ridge sources and a literature sample of low- to high-mass outflow sources. Based on the morphology of HCO+, H13CO+ and SiO, we identify molecular outflows in 14 out of 34 dense cores (41%) along the DR21 ridge. Despite the high density of star formation in DR21, the resulting outflow properties are found to be in good agreement with the established correlations between outflow and source properties. Little variation is seen in the outflow properties of sources along the ridge, with the exception of sources located at the intersection of the DR21 ridge with large-scale (~1 pc) accretion filaments. These sources are found to drive the most powerful outflows. Overall, our results indicate that protostellar outflow properties, even when driven by sources forming in an extreme and clustered region, such as the DR21 ridge, remain largely unaffected.
ER -