| Abstract : | Filaments are the commonly observed elongated structures of dust and molecular gas in the interstellar medium. They are found to nurture star formation activities along their long spine. However, their role in the formation of star clusters, including massive stars, is still a topic of debate. In this context, to investigate the ongoing physical processes in filament, we have carried out an analysis of multi-wavelength data of a star-forming complex in Aquila (distance ~8 kpc). The 13CO(1-0) molecular line data unveil the presence of a giant molecular filament (GMF G45.3+0.1; length ~75 pc, mass ~1.1x10^6 solar mass) in a velocity range of [53, 63] km/sec. The GMF G45.3+0.1 hosts two major star-forming complexes G045.49+00.04 (G45E) and G045.14+00.14 (G45W) at its opposite ends. We find large scale velocity oscillations along GMF G45.3+0.1, which also reveals the linear velocity gradients of -0.064 and +0.032 km/s/pc at its edges. The Herschel continuum maps, together with the 13CO(3-2) line data, unravel the presence of parsec scale hub-filament systems (HFSs) in both the sites, G45E and G45W. Based on the photometric analysis of point-like sources, clusters of young stellar objects are primarily traced toward the ends of the GMF. Our study suggests that the global collapse of GMF G45.3+0.1 is end-dominated, and the signatures of global nonisotropic collapse (GNIC) at the edges are prominent. Overall, GMF G45.3+0.1 will be the first observational sample of filament where the edge collapse and the hub-filament configurations are simultaneously investigated. These observations open up the new possibility of massive star formation, including the formation of HFSs. In this talk, all these observational results will be presented and discussed. |
