A Comprehensive All-Sky Catalog of 3345 Molecular Clouds from Three-dimensional Dust Extinction

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Wang, Tao, Yuan, Haibo, Chen, Bingqiu, Li, Guangxing, Huang, Bowen, Guo, Helong, Zhang, Ruoyi
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Wang, Tao
Yuan, Haibo
Chen, Bingqiu
Li, Guangxing
Huang, Bowen
Guo, Helong
Zhang, Ruoyi
author_facet Wang, Tao
Yuan, Haibo
Chen, Bingqiu
Li, Guangxing
Huang, Bowen
Guo, Helong
Zhang, Ruoyi
contents Understanding the distribution and properties of molecular clouds is crucial for tracing the structure and evolution of the interstellar medium and the large-scale morphology of the Milky Way. Here we present an all-sky catalog of 3,345 molecular clouds identified from our previous three-dimensional dust reddening map using a dendrogram-based clustering method with distance-adaptive parameters. The catalog spans heliocentric distances from 90 pc to 4.3 kpc and includes key physical properties for each cloud, including position, size, mass, surface density, and dust density. Approximately 650 clouds in our catalog are associated with the boundary of the Local Bubble, while around 740 clouds (excluding those associated with the Local Bubble) are located at high Galactic latitudes ($|b| > 20^\circ$). The spatial distribution of the cataloged clouds reveals prominent large-scale features in the Galactic disk, including coherent spur-like structures, large-scale cavities, and a more detailed view of the Local Bubble shell. These findings refine our understanding of how molecular clouds trace the Galactic spiral arm network and provide new insight into the spatial structure of the Local Bubble. The catalog serves as a valuable resource for future studies of star formation, Galactic structure, and the interaction between molecular clouds and large-scale ISM features.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2509_07670
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle A Comprehensive All-Sky Catalog of 3345 Molecular Clouds from Three-dimensional Dust Extinction
Wang, Tao
Yuan, Haibo
Chen, Bingqiu
Li, Guangxing
Huang, Bowen
Guo, Helong
Zhang, Ruoyi
Astrophysics of Galaxies
Understanding the distribution and properties of molecular clouds is crucial for tracing the structure and evolution of the interstellar medium and the large-scale morphology of the Milky Way. Here we present an all-sky catalog of 3,345 molecular clouds identified from our previous three-dimensional dust reddening map using a dendrogram-based clustering method with distance-adaptive parameters. The catalog spans heliocentric distances from 90 pc to 4.3 kpc and includes key physical properties for each cloud, including position, size, mass, surface density, and dust density. Approximately 650 clouds in our catalog are associated with the boundary of the Local Bubble, while around 740 clouds (excluding those associated with the Local Bubble) are located at high Galactic latitudes ($|b| > 20^\circ$). The spatial distribution of the cataloged clouds reveals prominent large-scale features in the Galactic disk, including coherent spur-like structures, large-scale cavities, and a more detailed view of the Local Bubble shell. These findings refine our understanding of how molecular clouds trace the Galactic spiral arm network and provide new insight into the spatial structure of the Local Bubble. The catalog serves as a valuable resource for future studies of star formation, Galactic structure, and the interaction between molecular clouds and large-scale ISM features.
title A Comprehensive All-Sky Catalog of 3345 Molecular Clouds from Three-dimensional Dust Extinction
topic Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.07670