Discovery of a Compact Hub-Filament System in G286.21+0.17 with JWST and ALMA: Insights into Protocluster Formation and Competitive Accretion

Clicks: 16
ID: 329016
2026
Free PDF
Article Quality & Performance Metrics
Overall Quality
Not rated
Combines reader engagement with the AI quality analysis. This article has not been analysed, so there is no overall score — reader engagement is measured and shown alongside.
AI Quality Assessment
Not analyzed
Readership in this journal
Emerging

Ranked #724 of 1,327 articles by views in monthly notices of the royal astronomical society

Most read Least read

Bar heights use a square-root scale. Only the 120 most-read articles are drawn; the journal has 1,327 in total.

Mint this article as an NFT
Not yet minted

Create a permanent, verifiable on-chain record of this article on the Scimatic Network. The NFT is held in your Journament account, and you can withdraw it to your own wallet at any time.

5 SUSD one-off · no wallet required
Sign in to mint
Abstract
Abstract We present a multi-wavelength study of the massive protocluster G286.21+0.17 (G286) using JWST near-infrared (NIR) imaging and ALMA H13CO+(1–0) observations. The JWST images uncover a compact (∼0.5 pc) hub-filament system (HFS), comprising a dense central hub connected by at least four converging filaments seen in absorption, along with multiple H2 protostellar jets/outflows. The hub hosts the dense core G286c1. H13CO+ emission confirms this HFS over [−19.2, −16.4] km s−1, while the JWST images also trace prominent photodissociation regions surrounding H ii region A, powered by a B-type star. The identified H13CO+ skeletons closely trace the major JWST absorption structures and show steep velocity gradients indicative of inflow. The radial distribution of ALMA 1.3 mm continuum cores (ALMAGAL and Cheng et al. 2020) exhibits power-law trends toward the hub center. The core number density, surface density, and core mass follow Y∝rα with αρ ∼−2.8 to −1.1, $\alpha _\Sigma$ ∼−0.4 to −0.6, and αM ∼−0.7, whereas the core diameter remains nearly constant. Together with filament mass accretion rates of 7.6–11× 10−5 M⊙ yr−1, these results are consistent with competitive accretion, highlighting preferential core growth toward the hub. Increasing filament linewidths toward the hub imply gravity-driven inflow, but misaligned local velocity gradient and gravitational force directions along filaments point to a dynamically evolved system. The HFS likely formed through large-scale gas-layer interactions aided by compression from the adjacent H ii region. Overall, star formation in G286 appears to be regulated by filamentary accretion, competitive core growth in the hub, and stellar feedback.
Reference Key
openalex_W7161273531 Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
Authors L. K. Dewangan, N. K. Bhadari, Ram K. Yadav, A. K. Maity, O. R. Jadhav, Kee-Tae Kim, Paul F. Goldsmith, A. Saha, Dana Alina, Chang Won Lee, Saurabh Sharma, Tie Liu, Patricio Sanhueza, Tapas Baug, E. Sharma, Fengwei Xu, Ariful Hoque, James O. Chibueze, Dana Makarova, Wenyu Jiao
Are you one of these authors? Claim your profile
Journal monthly notices of the royal astronomical society
Year 2026
DOI
10.1093/mnras/stag1764
URL
https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stag1764
Keywords Keywords not found

Citations

No citations found. To add a citation, contact the admin at info@scimatic.org

Comments

No comments yet. Be the first to comment on this article.