Molecular clouds in the vicinity of W3, W4, and W5

Abstract

An extensive and well-sampled map of CO emission over the entire complex consisting of the H II regions W3 (IC 1795), W4 (IC 1805), and W5 (IC 1848) is presented which was obtained at an angular resolution of 8 arcmin. A contour map of integrated (C-12)O emission overlaid on the corresponding fields of the Palomar Sky Survey is provided along with a map of the peak (C-12)O brightness temperature for the W3-W4 region. Two large cloud complexes are found within the area surveyed, and three bright CO condensations are resolved in the peak-temperature map. Column densities and masses are estimated for the cloud complex in the W3-W4 region, and it is suggested that the ionization front of W4 and the molecular cloud are interacting physically. Two condensations associated, respectively, with W3 and W3 (OH) are shown to contain unmistakable evidence for recent OB star formation.