2017A&A...602A..37K

Aims. Observations of millimeter wavelength radio recombination lines (mm-RRLs) are used to search for HII regions in an unbiased way that is complementary to many of the more traditional methods previously used (e.g., radio continuum, far-infrared colors, maser emission). The mm-RRLs can be used to derive physical properties of HII regions and to provide velocity information of ionized gas.
Methods. We carried out targeted mm-RRL observations (39 ≤ principal quantum number (n)≤65 and Δn = 1, 2, 3, and 4, named Hnα, Hnβ, Hnγ, and Hnδ) using the IRAM 30 m and Mopra 22 m telescopes. In total, we observed 976 compact dust clumps selected from a catalog of ∼10000 sources identified by the APEX Telescope Large Area Survey of the Galaxy (ATLASGAL). The sample was selected to ensure a representative mix of star-forming and quiescent clumps such that a variety of different evolutionary stages is represented. Approximately half of the clumps are mid-infrared quiet while the other half are mid-infrared bright.
Results. We detected Hnα mm-RRL emission toward 178 clumps; Hnβ, Hnγ, and Hnδ were also detected toward 65, 23, and 22 clumps, respectively. This is the largest sample of mm-RRLs detections published to date. Comparing the positions of these clumps with radio continuum surveys we identified compact radio counterparts for 134 clumps, confirming their association with known HII regions. The nature of the other 44 detections is unclear, but 8 detections are thought to be potentially new HII regions while the mm-RRL emission from the others may be due to contamination from nearby evolved HII regions. Broad linewidths are seen toward nine clumps (linewidth>40km/s) revealing significant turbulent motions within the ionized gas; in the past, such wide linewidths were found toward very compact and dense HII regions. We find that the systemic velocity of the associated dense molecular gas, traced by H¹³CO⁺(1-0), is consistent with the mm-RRL velocities and confirms them as embedded HII regions. We also find that the linewidth of the H¹³CO⁺(1-0) emission is significantly wider than those without mm-RRL detection, indicating a physical connection between the embedded HII region and their natal environments. We also find a correlation between the integrated fluxes of the mm-RRLs and the 6cm continuum flux densities of their radio counterparts (the correlation coefficient, ρ, is 0.70). By calculating the electron densities we find that the mm-RRL emission is associated with HII regions with n_e<10⁵cm^–3 and HII region diameter >0.03pc.
Conclusions. We detected mm-RRLs toward 178 clumps and identified eight new HII region candidates. The broad mm-RRL from nine clumps may indicate that they arise in very young hyper-compact HII regions. The mm-RRLs trace the radio continuum sources detected by high-resolution observations and their line parameters show associations with the embedded radio sources and their parental molecular clumps.