The Effects of Stellar Feedback On Molecular Clumps in The Lagoon Nebula (M8)

Astronomy & Astrophysics manuscript no.
M8 ©ESO 2024
April 12, 2024
The effects of stellar feedback on molecular clumps in

the Lagoon Nebula (M8)⋆
K. Angelique Kahle1, 2 , Friedrich Wyrowski1 , Carsten König1 , Ivalu Barlach Christensen1 , Maitraiyee Tiwari1 , and
Karl M. Menten1
1
Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Auf dem Hügel 69, 53121 Bonn, Germany
2
Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie, Königstuhl 17, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany
e-mail: kahle@mpia.de
Received Dec 19, 2023; accepted April 04, 2024

arXiv:2404.07920v1 [astro-ph.GA] 11 Apr 2024
ABSTRACT
Context. The Lagoon Nebula (M8) is host to multiple regions with recent and ongoing massive star formation, due to which it appears
as one of the brightest H II regions in the sky. With M8-Main and M8 East, two prominent regions of massive star formation have
been studied in detail over the past years, while large parts of the nebula and its surroundings have received little attention. These
largely unexplored regions comprise a large sample of molecular clumps that are affected by the presence of massive O- and B-type
stars. Thus, exploring the dynamics and chemical composition of these clumps will improve our understanding of the feedback from
massive stars on star-forming regions in their vicinity.
Aims. We establish an inventory of species observed towards 37 known molecular clumps in M8 and investigate their physical
structure. We compare our findings for these clumps with the galaxy-wide sample of massive dense clumps observed as part of the
APEX Telescope Large Area Survey of the Galaxy (ATLASGAL). Furthermore, we investigate the region for signs of star formation
and stellar feedback.
Methods. To obtain an overview of the kinematics and chemical abundances across the sample of molecular clumps in the M8 region,
we conducted an unbiased line survey for each clump. We used the Atacama Pathfinder EXperiment (APEX) 12 m submillimeter
telescope and the 30m telescope of the Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM) to conduct pointed on-off observations
on 37 clumps in M8. These observations cover bandwidths of 53 GHz and 40 GHz in frequency ranges from 210 GHz to 280 GHz
and from 70 GHz to 117 GHz, respectively. Temperatures are derived from rotational transitions of acetonitrile, methyl acetylene
and para-formaldehyde. Additional archival data from the Spitzer, Herschel, MSX, APEX, WISE, JCMT and AKARI telescopes are
used to investigate the morphology of the region and to derive physical parameters of the dust emission by fitting spectral energy
distributions to the observed flux densities.
Results. Across the observed M8 region, we identify 346 transitions from 70 different molecular species, including isotopologues.
While many species and fainter transitions are detected exclusively toward M8 East, we also observe a large chemical variety in many
other molecular clumps. While we detect tracers of photo-dissociation regions across all the clumps, 38% of these clumps show signs
of star formation. In our sample of clumps with extinctions between 1 and 60 mag, we find that PDR tracers are most abundant in
clumps with relatively lower H2 column densities. When comparing M8 clumps to ATLASGAL sources at similar distances, we find
them to be slightly less massive (median 10 M⊙ ) and have compatible luminosities (median 200 L⊙ ) and radii (median 0.16 pc). In
contrast, dust temperatures of the clumps in M8 are found to be increased by approximately 5 K (25%) indicating substantial external
heating of the clumps by radiation of the present O- and B- type stars.
Conclusions. This work finds clear and widespread effects of stellar feedback on the molecular clumps in the Lagoon Nebula. While
the radiation from the O- and B-type stars possibly causes fragmentation of the remnant gas and heats the molecular clumps externally,
it gives rise to extended PDRs on the clump surfaces. Despite this fragmentation, the dense cores within 38% of the observed clumps
in M8 are forming a new generation of stars.
Key words. ISM: clouds – ISM: photon-dominated region (PDR) – ISM: individual objects: M8 – Stars: protostars – Techniques:
spectroscopic
1. Introduction fected by the radiation of already existing massive O- and B-type

stars.
To understand the origins of our own Solar System and the dis- Studying the effects of stellar feedback on star formation is
tribution of the stars around us, it is important to have a broad crucial (e.g. Schneider et al. 2020). On one hand, the transferred
understanding of the formation of stellar objects and their subse- momentum from stars can lead to a compression of the surround-
quent feedback on the molecular clouds where they were born. ing molecular gas, inducing star formation in dense regions. On
While models explaining the formation of individual low-mass the other hand, stellar radiation can contribute to the disruption
stars are well established, the processes involved in high-mass of molecular clumps, preventing star formation.
star formation are more complicated due to their formation in
clusters (Zinnecker & Yorke 2007; Krumholz et al. 2014; Motte ⋆
Tables D.1, D.2 and G.1 are only available in electronic format at
et al. 2018). Usually star-forming sites are located in close prox- the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or via
imity inside large-scale molecular clouds and these sites are af- http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/.
Article number, page 1 of 44

A&A proofs: manuscript no. M8
Maxwell Telescope2 (JCMT), towards which they observed the

CO J = 2 − 1 line. As shown in Fig. 2, most of these clumps
were loosely assigned to the west central region (WC), the east
central ridge (EC) and two filaments in the southern part of the
cloud (SE and SC).
Apart from the study conducted by Tothill et al. (2002),
the molecular content of M8 and its environment has received
little attention. However, this changed recently with Tiwari
et al. (2018) studying the WC massive star-forming region (M8-
Main), where they reported that the WC clumps are located be-
hind the optically visible H II region. Their spectroscopic obser-
vations revealed a photo-dissociation region (PDR, see e.g. Tie-
lens & Hollenbach 1985) with a face-on geometry towards these
sources, which is powered by Sgr 9 and Her 36 (see their Fig.
15).
Further studies by Tiwari et al. (2020) focused on the eastern
part of the Lagoon Nebula (M8 East), hosting clumps E, SE7 and
SE8. This region is mainly illuminated by an embedded young
stellar object (YSO), M8E-IR, which is likely to become a BO
star (Linz et al. 2008). Tiwari et al. (2020) also observed an ioni-
sation front moving in the south-east direction. These recent ob-
Fig. 1: Image of the Lagoon Nebula observed by using B, V and servations suggest that the remaining M8 clumps are also ideal
R broadband filters. Blue and green stars respectively mark the targets to study the effects of stellar feedback on the remnant gas
positions of O- and early B-type stars associated with the M8 in the region. Broad-bandwidth spectroscopic observations to-
region, according to Table 1 of Wright et al. (2019). The black wards most molecular clumps in M8 are still missing. Through
dashed box marks the molecular gas examined by Tothill et al. this work, we explore the complete sample of molecular clumps
(2002). Data credits: Felipe Mac Auliffe1 . in M8 by combining the results of new spectroscopic observa-
tions at millimetre wavelengths with the information retrieved
from archival infrared dust continuum images.
The Lagoon Nebula (Messier 8, M8) is an interesting tar- Section 2 gives an overview of the observations and the data
get for investigating the effects of stellar feedback, as it is an reduction strategy. In Sect. 3, the dust continuum images are
H II region associated with a star-forming (Kumar & Anandarao analysed and the physical properties of the clumps are derived
2010) molecular cloud complex. It is located at a distance of by fitting spectral energy distributions to the flux densities of all
1325 pc (Damianí et al. 2019) in the Sagittarius-Carina arm. Its clumps. Section 4 details the complete line survey of the 1.3 mm
angular extend of about 40′ can be translated to a physical size and 3 mm atmospheric windows towards the clumps in M8. The
of 15 pc. The position of M8 corresponds to galactic coordinates observed line emission is analysed in Sect. 5. The results derived
of approximately l = 6◦ , b = −1.3◦ , which locates the region from the analysis of the dust continuum and the line survey are
slightly below the inner Galactic plane, not far from the direc- discussed in Sect. 6. The last Sect. 7 summarises the results of
tion to the Galactic centre. Based on Gaia proper motion data this study.
of associated cluster members, Damianí et al. (2019) concluded
that the cloud complex crossed the Galactic plane around 4 Myr
ago, which may have been the initial trigger for its recent star 2. Observations and Data Reduction
formation activity. We use archival infrared (IR) to submillimeter wavelength data
At optical wavelengths, M8 appears as a reddish emission of the dust continuum emission from M8 in addition to new
nebula, with two particularly bright regions in the centre (see spectroscopic data taken with the Atacama Pathfinder EXperi-
Fig. 1). One of these is the prominent H II region of the Lagoon ment (APEX) 12 metre submillimetre telescope and the 30 me-
Nebula, which is powered by the spectroscopic binary O-star tre telescope of the Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique
9 Sagittarii (9 Sgr, Rauw et al. 2012) and the multiple stellar (IRAM). The spectroscopic observations were conducted in on-
system Herschel 36 (Her 36, Arias et al. 2010) in the west. The off mode on the 37 molecular clumps identified by Tothill et al.
other is the eastern illuminated region, associated with the open (2002) (see Appendix A). After inspecting the APEX spectra of
cluster NGC 6530 (Prisinzano et al. 2005), which is part of M8 all clumps, we decided to change the coordinates of WC3, SE8,
and contains several massive stars. An overview of high-mass and SC5 for the observations with the IRAM 30m telescope, in
stars (of O- and early B-type) identified in this region was given order to properly match the peak dust emission of the respective
by Wright et al. (2019) (see their Table 1) and their positions are clumps. Therefore, the APEX observations of these three clumps
shown in Fig. 1 by the coloured star symbols. are taken at the coordinates suggested by Tothill et al. (2002),
Special attention to the interstellar medium (ISM) in the M8 while the observations taken with the IRAM 30m telescope are
region was attracted by White et al. (1997), who reported the La- offset by up to 1′ .
goon Nebula as the second brightest CO emitting source in our A fixed reference position M8REF at the coordinates
Galaxy known by 1996. This study was followed up by Tothill RA=18h 04m 40.0s , DEC=−24◦ 23′ 00.0′′ (J2000) was chosen,
et al. (2002), who identified 37 individual dense clumps in the which is only slightly contaminated with line emission of 12 CO
inner region of the Lagoon Nebula based on dust continuum and 13 CO. In order to characterise the emission in M8REF, it was
maps at 450 µm and 850 µm observed with the James Clerk
2
https://www.eaobservatory.org/jcmt
1
https://clusteroneobservatory.com

K. A. Kahle et al.: Stellar feedback in M8
Fig. 2: SCUBA
850 µm image of
the Lagoon Nebula
adapted from Tothill
et al. (2002). Mark-
ers show the position
of the molecular
clumps in the La-
goon Nebula. The
blue and green rect-
angles, respectively
indicate the regions
examined by Ti-
wari et al. (2018)
and Tiwari et al.
(2020).
observed with a completely clean reference position at an offset The system temperature during the observations typically
of (+2000′′ , −2000′′ ) from M8REF. ranged from 70 K to 250 K, with few scans at system temper-
Inadvertently, first observations with APEX used the posi- atures of up to 460 K.
tion switching mode with relative reference positions. This data The conversion between antenna temperature T A∗ and
is used to increase the sensitivity when the profiles of the thus the main-beam brightness temperature T MB is given by
observed lines agree with the data using the fixed reference po- T MB = T A∗ × ηFW /ηMB , where ηMB is the main-beam efficiency
sition. and ηFW the forward coupling efficiency. Based on Jupiter con-
tinuum pointings during the observation period of this project4 ,
we estimate an average conversion factor of ηFW /ηMB =
2.1. APEX observations with nFLASH230
0.95/0.8. The heterodyne line intensity monitoring5 between
The Atacama Pathfinder Experiment is a 12 m diameter sub- July and October 2021 suggests systematic calibration uncer-
millimetre telescope located on the Llano de Chajnantor in the tainty of 5% for the nFLASH230 observations. A more conser-
Chilean High Andes at an altitude of 5107 m (Güsten et al. vative estimate of 10% will be applied for the further analysis of
2006). The data were taken under project M-0107.F-9530C- the APEX data.
2021 (P.I. Karl M. Menten) during several runs between 2021 The full with at half maximum (FWHM) width of the APEX
July and October with the new FaciLity APEX Submillimetre beam, θB , at frequency ν (in GHz), in arcseconds is given by
Heterodyne instrument (nFLASH3 ). The nFLASH receiver is a θB [′′ ] = 7.′′ 8 × (800/ν[GHz]) (Güsten et al. 2006) and thus varies
dual sideband (2SB) dual polarisation heterodyne receiver with at the observed frequencies between 22.3′′ and 29.3′′ (respec-
two tunable frequency modules, of which we used the lower tively corresponding to 0.14 pc and 0.18 pc at the distance of
frequency nFLASH230 band for our observations. The centre M8).
of upper and lower sideband (USB and LSB) are separated by
16 GHz and both cover a 7.9 GHz bandwidth in two polarisations 2.2. IRAM 30m telescope observations with EMIR 090
each. Four observed setups cover a total bandwidth of 58.3 GHz
in a frequency range between 210 GHz and 280 GHz (see Ap- The IRAM 30m telescope is located in the Spanish Sierra
pendix A). Nevada on Pico Veleta at an altitude of 2850 m6 . The data were
The receiver was connected to modules of the APEX fast taken under project ID 141-21 (P.I. Friedrich Wyrowski) during
Fourier transform spectrometer (FFTS), which is an evolved several runs between 2022 March and June using the 3 mm band
version of the instrument described by (Klein et al. 2012) and (“Band 1”) of the heterodyne Eight MIxer Receiver (EMIR 090,
records each sideband and polarisation with partially overlap- Carter et al. 2012). Similar to nFLASH, EMIR is a 2SB two
ping 4 GHz wide FFTS processor units. These units provide each polarisation heterodyne receiver with a central sideband separa-
a total of 216 channels per 4 GHz bandwidth, resulting in a chan- tion of 16 GHz and individual sideband bandwidths of 8 GHz.
nel spacing of 61.04 kHz. At our lowest and highest frequencies Using three setups, the observations cover a total bandwidth of
of 213.1 GHz and 279.7 GHz, this results in velocity resolutions 40.3 GHz between 70 GHz and 117 GHz. Additional on-off data
of 0.09 km s−1 and 0.07 km s−1 , respectively. For analysing the 4
The data of Jupiter are publicly available at https://www.
data, each two adjacent channels are averaged. While this re- apex-telescope.org/telescope/efficiency
duces the velocity resolution to values between 0.18 km s−1 and 5
A regular line monitoring is performed with all heterodyne instru-
0.14 km s−1 , the resulting resolution is sufficient to resolve well ments of the APEX telescope. The results are made publicly avail-
all observed spectral lines. At this velocity resolution, the spectra able at http://www.apex-telescope.org/grafana/d/-T6wuS_
show a typical average root mean square (RMS) noise of 28 mK. Mz/heterodyne-line-intensity-monitoring
6
3
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique, https://www.
https://www.mpifr-bonn.mpg.de/5278273/nflash iram-institute.org/EN/30-meter-telescope.php

of clump E taken by Tiwari et al. (2020) are used to increase the 2009) Galactic plane surveys and data from WISE (Wright et al.
sensitivity and frequency coverage for this particular position. 2010) satellite. We fit the Spectral Energy Distributions (SEDs)
An overview of the frequency setups is shown in Appendix A. analogous to Urquhart et al. (2018) in order to compare the M8
EMIR was used in combination with the FFTS backend clumps to the clumps identified through the ATLASGAL sur-
FTS200 that provides a total of 20737 frequency channels vey of the inner Galactic plane. Since M8 is located at a galactic
per 4 GHz wide sideband, resulting in a channel spacing of latitude of b = −1.3◦ , the Hi-GAL maps do not fully cover the
192.89 kHz. This corresponds to 0.82 km s−1 and 0.50 km s−1 at nebula. Due to this, these surveys will be supplemented with data
our lowest and highest observed frequencies of 70.3 GHz and from the AKARI (Doi et al. 2015) all-sky survey. In addition, we
116.5 GHz, respectively. While this resolution is sufficient for also use the 850 µm data of the Lagoon Nebula taken with the
the broader bright lines, weak and narrow spectral lines are only Submillimetre Common-User Bolometer Array (SCUBA, Hol-
covered by a few channels. At this resolution, the data have an land et al. 1999) of the JCMT by Tothill et al. (2002).
average RMS noise level of 0.17 K. The flux densities of each clump are extracted analogously to
The EMIR system temperatures during the observations var- Urquhart et al. (2018) using several tools of the astropy (As-
ied for frequencies below 80 GHz between 130 K and 290 K, tropy Collaboration et al. 2022) and Photutils (Bradley et al.
from 80 GHz to 105 GHz between 80 K and 200 K, and above 2022) packages for Python. For this, the flux density of each
105 GHz between 150 K and 480 K. The conversion from an- clump is extracted in an aperture of 2 or 3 times the clump
tenna temperature T A∗ to main-beam brightness temperature T MB size derived by Tothill et al. (2002), depending on the proxim-
is given by T MB = T A∗ × ηFW /ηMB , with the main-beam effi- ity of neighbouring clumps. This flux density is corrected for
ciency ηFW and the forward coupling efficiency ηFW . Based on background flux based on the median flux density in an annulus
the average observed frequency of 93.4 GHz, we assume the de- around the respective clump. The RMS of the Gaussian noise is
fault conversion factor7 described by ηFW = 0.946 and ηMB = calculated respectively for each band, based on emission inside
0.797 for the calibration. a defined mask of all annuli around the clumps, which excludes
The FWHM beam width, θB , of the 30m telescope is given the clump emission.
by7 θB [′′ ] = 2460/ν[GHz], with ν being the observed frequency The AKARI full width at half maximum (FWHM) beam
in GHz. Therefore, the beam widths vary between 35.0′′ and sizes of 63.4′′ at 65 µm (N60), 77.8′′ at 90 µm (WIDE-S),
21.1′′ (corresponding to 0.22 pc and 0.13 pc at the distance of and 88.3′′ for the 140 µm and 160 µm bands (WIDE-L and
M8) for frequencies between 70.3 GHz and 116.5 GHz, respec- N160) (Takita et al. 2015) are not sufficient to resolve the M8
tively. clumps that have FWHM sizes smaller than 40′′ . Due to this,
the AKARI flux density is extracted at the exact position of the
M8 clumps (see Table A.1). This allows the determination of
2.3. Data reduction of spectroscopic data
the flux density within the corresponding AKARI beam, which
The spectra taken with the APEX and the IRAM 30m telescope covers most of the respective emission for the M8 clumps. In
are reduced using the CLASS program of the GILDAS8 software cases where multiple clumps are contained inside the extracted
package developed by IRAM. The spectra taken for each clump AKARI beam, the individual contribution of each clump is esti-
are combined and a first-order baseline is subtracted that was mated based on the area fraction of each of the respective clumps
determined by averaged spectral channels located off, but in the inside the beam and the corresponding 350 µm Hi-GAL flux den-
vicinity, of the individual spectral lines. sities of the clumps. Due to the low resolution, we estimate the
In order to correct the CO and 13 CO signal affected by a con- AKARI flux densities to have a measurement uncertainty of 50%
taminated reference position, the spectrum observed at M8REF in addition to the uncertainty introduced by the RMS noise. In
is re-added to the corresponding transitions. APEX observations order to verify that the use of AKARI instead of Hi-GAL PACS
obtained in frequency switching mode were compared to the on- leads to results that are comparable to the ATLASGAL sample
off observations and combined if the residual between both spec- of clumps (Urquhart et al. 2018), we tested the modified method
tra did not show emission with a significance above three times on a sample of clumps in the NGC 6334 cloud complex, which
the baseline RMS. is similar in distance to M8. This comparison is presented in
The observations taken with the IRAM 30m telescope in Appendix B, where we find almost identical luminosities and
2022 June were affected by a technical defect that caused a fre- only minor deviations in the derived masses, which can likely be
quency and sideband-dependent shift of the observed frequen- attributed to the different methods in source size computation,
cies by approximately 4 MHz. This shift was corrected for all instead of the usage of PACS rather than AKARI data.
setups based on a comparison of the spectra at clump E taken be-
fore and during June. As this clump was observed at the start of
3. Dust continuum emission at M8
each observing day, and also previously by Tiwari et al. (2020),
it was possible to obtain a correction of the frequency scale for Figure 3 shows the MIPSGAL 24 µm image overlaid with the
each band based on Gaussian fits to the strongest optically thin contours of the ATLASGAL 870 µm emission. In contrast to the
transitions. optical image (see Fig. 1), the dust continuum emission at 24 µm
not only shows an emission peak at M8-Main (at clump HG,
extending to WC1-6) but also a peak of similar brightness at
2.4. Archival continuum data
clump E in the massive star-forming region M8 East. The po-
To derive the physical properties of the M8 clumps, we used sition of HG is within a few arc seconds coincident with that
archival data from the GLIMPSE (Churchwell et al. 2009), of the O7.5V star Her 36, one of main the ionisation sources.
MSX (Price et al. 2001), MIPSGAL (Carey et al. 2009), Hi- Additional fainter, point-like sources can be seen in the vicin-
GAL (Molinari et al. 2010), and ATLASGAL (Schuller et al. ity of the clumps WC7, SE2, SE3, SE7, SE8, and SC1. These
7
infrared bright (IR bright) clumps may contain intermediate-
https://publicwiki.iram.es/Iram30mEfficiencies to high-mass YSOs, of which the infrared radiation penetrates
8
http://www.iram.fr/IRAMFR/GILDAS the surrounding colder dust (König et al. 2017). Further 24 µm
Fig. 3: Dust continuum

image of M8 at 24 µm
from MIPSGAL. The
ATLASGAL 870 µm
emission is shown as
contours. Blue and
green stars show the
positions of O- and
early B-type stars in
this region (Wright
et al. 2019), respec-
tively. The image is
saturated near the
H II region M8-Main.
are compared to the ATLASGAL sample of clumps examined

by Urquhart et al. (2018). Analogous to these authors’ analysis,
we reconstruct the cold dust SED of the clumps using a modified
blackbody model
!β 
870 µm 
 
Fλ (T d , τλ,ref ) = Ωd · Bλ (T d ) · 1 − exp −τλ,ref  . (1)
 
λ
In this model, the dust black body emission, Bλ (T d ), at the dust
temperature T d is modified by a factor that is composed of the
opacity τλref at the reference wavelength λref = 870 µm and
a wavelength-dependent power law. This reference wavelength
was chosen such that it matches the value used by Urquhart et al.
(2018). The spectral index β is set to a fixed value of 1.75, which
corresponds to the mean value across the dust models of Os-
senkopf & Henning (1994) for star-forming regions. The clump
size Ωd is given by πR2d with the clump radius Rd , which we set
to half of the FWHM source size of the respective clumps.
A two-component model is used for describing the full SED
Fig. 4: 8 µm dust continuum image obtained from the GLIMPSE of clumps where we presume internal heating based on the exam-
survey. Blue and green stars respectively mark the positions of ination of the 24 µm emission. The second component resembles
present O- and B-type stars (Wright et al. 2019). Contours of the a black body spectrum of a hotter embedded object:
ATLASGAL 870 µm emission are shown in grey.
Fλ (T d , τλ,ref , T h , Ωh ) = Fλ (T d , τλ,ref ) + Ωh · Bλ (T h ) (2)
In addition to the parameters used in the single-component
emission is located in the vicinity of the EC region, slightly off- model, the size of the compact black body component Ωh and
set from the M8 clumps and extending to the central region of its temperature T h are determined.
the nebula. As this emission does not coincide with the 870 µm For the cold component fit, only data points with wave-
emission from the clumps, it likely originates from a diffuse fore- lengths longer than 65 µm are used. Due to the presence of dif-
ground gas layer. Individual point-like 24 µm sources in this re- fuse warm gas in the vicinity of M8-Main and the EC region,
gion coincide with the positions of stars from the open cluster mid-infrared flux densities extracted at the associated clump po-
NGC 6530 (see Fig. 3). sitions are likely to be unrelated to the actual clump emission
As shown in Fig. 4, the 8 µm emission extends in a bubble- and are therefore also excluded for the fitting.
like structure around the main condensations of the Lagoon Neb- As mentioned above, the 8 µm band is dominated by the
ula; see Deharveng et al. (2010) for other examples. Further in- emission of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the outer layers
spections of the individual clumps additionally reveal that the of the clumps. Flux detected at this wavelength is used as upper
emission is strongest on the edges of the clumps traced by the limit when fitting the hot SED component, to avoid overestimat-
870 µm emission (see Fig. 5). The 8 µm band includes fluores- ing the continuum flux originating from the embedded object.
cent emission from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs, Since the 65 µm band might contain additional emission from
Draine & Li 2007), which is pumped by FUV photons radiated very small grains (Compiègne et al. 2010), the flux density at
by the present O-type stars. This is a clear indicator of the feed- this wavelength will also be used as an upper limit, in order to
back from the stars on the surrounding remnant gas. In particular, avoid an overestimation of the dust temperature.
the emission peaking on the clump edges indicates the presence Mass M and H2 column density N(H2 ) of the clumps are cal-
of PDRs on clump surfaces across the nebula. culated according to the equations (1) and (2) of Schuller et al.
To examine the impact of stellar feedback on the physi- (2009). The bolometric luminosity L of the clumps is derived by
cal properties of molecular clumps in the Lagoon Nebula, they integrating the flux density of the reconstructed models between

Fig. 5: 8 µm dust
continuum image of
the southern clumps
in the Lagoon Neb-
ula obtained from
the GLIMPSE sur-
vey. Contours of the
ATLASGAL 870 µm
emission are shown
in grey.
In the first step, we visually inspected the spectrum of E,

as we expect the lines to be brightest towards this massive star-
forming region and because E has the longest integrated observ-
ing time of the clumps in the sample. Each significant line de-
tected towards E was matched to a transition in the JPLC and
CDMS with upper-level energy Eup < 200 K. If transitions of
multiple species have rest frequencies close to observed transi-
tions, the identification favours species commonly present in the
ISM and transitions with low Eup and high Einstein A coeffi-
cients Aij .
For the remaining M8 clumps, we executed a CLASS script to
examine the respective spectra for line emission. The script flags
emission inside a 10 km s−1 interval around the respective clump
velocities (see Sect. 5.1) for all rest frequencies of transitions
identified at E. All of the spectra were then visually inspected to
identify any lines that are not present at E and to rule out false de-
tections due to emission from unrelated nearby transitions. This
visual inspection led to the detection of N2 D+ , which is not seen
at E.
Fig. 6: Dust temperatures (upper panel) and masses (lower panel) A transition is considered to be detected if it has at least three
of clumps in the Lagoon Nebula. The circle size corresponds adjacent channels with intensity higher than three times the base-
to the aperture size used for flux extraction in the analysis. For line RMS noise for velocity resolutions of 0.4 km s−1 (APEX) or
the temperatures, the smaller inner circles visualise the derived 0.7 km s−1 (IRAM 30m). Line candidates that show at least one
temperatures for the hot components. The greyscale background channel above three times the RMS noise are confirmed based on
image shows the JCMT SCUBA 870 µm dust continuum flux as their appearance in both polarisations and the presence of other
orientation (see Fig. 2). transitions of the same species in the corresponding clump.
Across all clumps in the nebula, it was possible to identify a
total of 346 transitions of 70 molecular species, including iso-
1 µm and 1000 µm and assuming isotropically radiating sources. topologues. Table 1 provides an overview of all the detected
The derived quantities and the corresponding SED plots can be species in the M8 region.
found in Appendix C. Fig. 6 illustrates the derived distribution All species (except N2 D+ ) and most of their emission lines
of dust temperatures and clump masses. In particular, the cen- were observed towards clump E, which hosts the embedded
tral clumps C1–2 and clumps surrounding the central condensa- young stellar object M8E-IR. The large chemical richness of
tions in M8-Main show increased temperatures and comparably this object is explained by it being an early-stage massive star-
small clump masses. As will be discussed further in Sect. 6, these forming region with an associated PDR. In addition, it was pos-
lower masses and increased dust temperatures are found for the sible to detect also fainter transitions in the 3 mm band towards
whole sample of M8 clumps when comparing them to the AT- this clump, as the increased observing time at E reduces the RMS
LASGAL sample of clumps in the inner galaxy. noise of the combined spectrum to 10 mK, as compared to 17 mK
on average for the other clumps.
4. Line survey of M8 clumps Fig. 7 shows that almost all M8 clumps have a complex
chemistry that varies across the cloud with an average of 30
The rotational molecular line transitions in the M8 clumps have species detected at each position. While the category of O-
been identified by matching rest frequencies from the Jet Propul- bearing species contains mostly molecules with bright lines de-
sion Laboratory line catalog (JPLC9 , Pickett et al. 1998) and tected in the entire cloud, the clumps show interesting differ-
the Cologne Database for Molecular Spectroscopy (CDMS10 , ences in the number of (and ratio between) detections of N-
Müller et al. 2001, 2005; Endres et al. 2016) to the observed bearing, S-bearing, and deuterated species. For instance, the
spectra. number of nitrogen- and sulphur-bearing species detected in the
9
SE region is overall larger than in the SC clumps. In contrast, we
https://spec.jpl.nasa.gov
10 observe each region to have a few individual clumps with a large
https://cdms.astro.uni-koeln.de

Table 1: Molecular species detected in the M8 region.
Carbon chains S-bearing O-bearing N-bearing Deuterated COMs Others

c-C3 H2 SO H2 CO CN HDCO CH3 OH SiO
C2 H 34
SO H13
2 CO
13
CN C2 D 13
CH3 OH CF+
C13 CH H2 S HCO N 2 H+ DCO+ CH3 SH
C4 H HCS+ HCO+ HCN N 2 D+ CH3 CHO
HC3 N H2 CS H13 CO+ H13 CN DNC CH3 C2 H
H13 CCCN H34
2 CS HC18 O+ HC15 N DCN CH3 CN
HC13 CCN SO2 CO HNC DC3 N
HCC13 CN SO+ 13
CO HN13 C NH2 D
HCCC15 N NS C17 O H15 NC HDCS
c-C3 H OCS C18 O HNCO
C3 H+ CS 13 18
C O HCNO
13
HC5 N CS H2 C2 O NO
C33 S t-HCO2 H
C34 S
13 34
C S
C2 S
Notes. With the exception of N2 D+ , all species are detected in clump E. Here, some of the listed N-bearing species also contain an O atom.
velocity components of the same transition are fitted simulta-

neously. If well-resolved, a maximum of two Gaussian compo-
nents of the same transition are fitted as possible additional com-
ponents were almost exclusively detected for transitions of CO
isotopes.
The spectra partially resolve the hyperfine structure due to
the non-zero nuclear spin of 14 N for DCN, HCN, H13 CN, N2 H+ ,
N2 D+ and NH2 D. In addition, a splitting of the transitions of
C33 S and C17 O is observed as a consequence of the non-zero
nuclear spin of 33 S and 17 O. Corresponding transitions show
a non-Gaussian line profile and are therefore fitted using the
HFS method of MINIMIZE, which additionally returns the op-
tical depths of the transitions. This function was also used to fit
the well-resolved hyperfine components of lines from NS, NO,
HCO, c-C3 H, CN, 13 CN, C2 H, C2 D, and C13 CH.
We note that the observed line intensities of the CN 226 GHz
Fig. 7: Distribution of species across the M8 clumps. Differ- transitions do not match the relative intensities expected based
ent colours differentiate between S-, O-, N-bearing, deuterated on the HFS calculations provided by the CDMS. A similar be-
species, carbon chains, complex organic molecules (COMs), and havior was noted by Kim et al. (2020) for the HFS transitions
other species, as given in Table 1. of CN at 113 GHz and HCO at 87 GHz, which they attribute to
optical depth effects and non-local thermodynamic equilibrium
excitation. As the corresponding transitions of CN and HCO are
number of deuterated species, without a pronounced trend of a only weakly affected in the M8 clumps, we can use the respec-
whole filament with a higher deuteration fraction. tive HFS fits for the column density estimation in Sect. 5.4. In
The chemistry seen in the individual clumps will be dis- contrast, we will refrain from column density computations for
cussed further in Sect. 5.4 and 6.3. A detailed description of the CN 226 GHz transitions.
the individual detected transitions in each clump can be found A complete overview of the fitted line profiles for detected
in Appendix D, which lists the line parameters of each detected transitions is provided in Table D.2 of Appendix D. For emis-
transition in Table D.1 as well as the derived line properties in sion lines with multiple velocity components that are blended
Table D.2. due to small differences in their observed frequencies, we give
the integrated intensities over the full line profiles. The results of
this survey will be analysed and discussed in Sects. 5 and 6.
4.1. Line properties
In order to further analyse the chemical properties of the clumps 4.2. Radio recombination lines
in M8, Gaussian profiles have been fitted to all detected transi-
tions. In general, the fits are performed using the GAUSS method In addition to the molecular rotational transitions, radio recombi-
of the MINIMIZE function of CLASS, which returns the inte- nation lines (RRL) of hydrogen, helium and carbon are detected
grated intensity I, the FWHM line width ∆v and the line of sight in the vicinity of M8-Main. In particular, the frequency setups
(LOS) velocity with respect to the local standard of rest (LSR) observed with the IRAM 30m telescope cover H Nα, He Nα and
3LSR of a given line. Partially blended transitions and blended C Nα recombination lines with N=39–42 and N=44. Towards

Fig. 8: Intensity and LOS velocities of the

H 39–44α transitions observed at the posi-
tions of the clumps in the Lagoon Nebula.
The fillings of the coloured dots indicate
the intensities, while the borders describe
the velocities. Blue and green stars respec-
tively mark the positions of present O- and
B-type stars. The greyscale background im-
age shows the JCMT SCUBA 870 µm dust
continuum flux as orientation (see Fig. 2).
warm gas of the PDR between the dense molecular clump and
the H II region, as indicated by the narrow line widths and ve-
locity shift of the C Nα transitions. This is confirmed by the ob-
servations of the 157 µm C II transition at HG from Tiwari et al.
(2018), which is shown as the blue spectrum in Fig. 9. While
the 3LSR of the stronger emitting C II component agrees with the
velocities of the C Nα RRLs, the weaker component at approx-
imately 6 km s−1 is likely associated with the hotter foreground
layer. This foreground gas contributes to most of the H Nα and
He Nα emission and is expanding towards us with relative veloc-
ities between 2 km s−1 to 6 km s−1 .
In contrast to HG, the remaining clumps in the Lagoon Neb-
ula either only show the H 39–44α lines, or no RRL emission
at all (see Fig. 8). Unsurprisingly, the brightest recombination
lines are observed in the vicinity of HG, where the clumps, in
projection, are closest to the O-type stars (Her 36 and Sgr 9).
The velocities in this region hereby largely follow the trend ob-
served for the CII emission in Fig. 6 of Tiwari et al. (2018). Their
Fig. 9: C II 157 µm transition (blue) and stacked spectra of the channel maps indicate an enhanced ionisation of the molecu-
He Nα and C Nα RRLs with N=39–42 and 44 (black) towards lar gas in WC4, which could possibly explain the low degree
clump HG (Her 36). The velocity scale of the RRLs is computed of chemical variety observed at this position (see Fig. 7). Ad-
based on the rest frequency of the C Nα lines. The Gaussians ditional weak H 39–44α emission is detected toward the EC
fitted to the RRLs are displayed in red. The temperature scale of clumps. The weak line strengths and the measured velocities of
the 158 µm C II fine structure transition is divided by a factor of 3LSR = 0 km s−1 imply that the emission does not originate from
2000 in order to compare it with the RRLs. the associated clumps, which we observe at velocities of order
3LSR = 16 km s−1 . Instead, we might observe a less dense fore-
ground gas layer, which is affected by the radiation of the nearby
HG, which coincides with the main ionisation source Her 36, massive stars.
we additionally detect multiple H Nβ and H Nγ transitions with
N=48–56 and N=54–63 respectively. Using APEX, we also de- 4.3. Methanol maser emission
tect the H 29–30α and H 36–38β lines at HG.
For the analysis of the RRLs, we focus on the H Nα, He Nα Methanol masers are commonly associated with star formation.
and C Nα transitions with N=39–42 and N=44. The covered As described by Menten (1991), these objects can be classified
transitions with different N are averaged along the velocity axis into two distinct classes. The Class II methanol masers are asso-
to create individual combined spectra of the respective RRL to- ciated with the presence of high-mass protostars (Urquhart et al.
wards each clump. Gaussians are fitted to each combined spec- 2015), where they are presumably pumped by the radiation of
trum, in order to derive the line properties for the detected RRLs. the surrounding warm dust (Sobolev et al. 1997). In contrast,
The results of these fits are given in Appendix E, where we also Class I methanol masers are collisionally pumped (Lees 1973),
give the line parameters of the H Nβ and H Nγ lines at HG. Fig- due to which they are associated with the shocked material of
ure 8 provides an overview of clumps with H 39–44α emission protostellar outflows (Cyganowski et al. 2009).
and the respective line intensities. Leurini et al. (2016) provide an overview of all known Class I
While the H Nα and He Nα RRLs observed towards HG have maser transitions, some of which are also detected in the clumps
broad spectral line profiles and central velocities close to the sys- of the Lagoon Nebula. Of these, the transitions with the high-
temic LSR velocity (between 2 km s−1 and 4 km s−1 ), the C Nα est detection rate for clumps in M8 are the lines at 84.5 GHz,
lines are observed to be relatively narrower and shifted to ve- 95.2 GHz, and 218.4 GHz. The detection of these transitions
locities of 11.1 km s−1 (see Fig. 9). These findings are in agree- alone does not automatically imply the presence of maser emis-
ment with the structure of M8-Main derived by Tiwari et al. sion, as the corresponding transitions could also be thermally
(2018), who place the dense molecular gas in the background excited. In order to probe if this is the case, the line properties
of the H II region at velocities between 10 km s−1 and 13 km s−1 . derived in Sect. 4.1 are used to examine the line widths of these
The main fraction of ionised carbon hereby originates from the transitions.

sition are about 0.8 times the respective median methanol line
widths of non-masing transitions.
The line widths provide a reliable indicator of the presence
of methanol masers in M8. A confirmation of the maser activi-
ties in the clumps would require high angular resolution interfer-
ometric observations, supported by a detailed radiative transfer
modeling of maser and thermally excited methanol transitions,
which would go beyond the scope of this work. Furthermore,
interferometry alone of the M8 clumps could confirm maser ac-
tion.
5. Analysis
5.1. Systemic clump velocities
A first overview of the velocity structure of the Lagoon Neb-
ula was obtained by Tothill et al. (2002) based on observations
of 13 CO and C18 O. While they note the presence of double-
peaked line profiles, they only give the central line velocity for
the stronger component at each clump. To gain a more detailed
view of the velocities in the Lagoon Nebula, the analysis of CO
line profiles is repeated based on our new APEX data of the
J = 2 − 1 transitions at each clump.
While the profiles of 12 CO and 13 CO lines show wings and
optical depth effects, the transitions of the less abundant iso-
topes C18 O and C17 O are mostly optically thin. Due to this, we
use the C18 O and C17 O J = 2 − 1 transition data to derive the
Fig. 10: Typical line profiles of the discussed maser transitions.
LOS velocities 3LSR of the clumps (see Sect. 4.1). For positions
(upper panel) Methanol maser emission of the 84.5 GHz and
at which both transitions are detected, the weighted average of
95.2 GHz transitions at clump E, respectively shown in blue and
both shifts is computed. For clumps with multiple velocity com-
red. (lower panel) Maser emission of the 218.4 GHz transition at
ponents observed in these optically thin transitions, we chose the
the position of SE7.
peak velocity for the strongest two components. Table 2 gives an
overview of the derived 3LSR at each clump position. As WC3,
As methanol masers amplify the emission from the respec- SE8 and SC5 have been observed at deviating coordinates with
tive transitions, typical line profiles are narrow and do not neces- both telescopes, the velocities at these clump positions observed
sarily possess Gaussian shapes. Figure 10 shows the line pro- with the IRAM 30m telescope have been estimated based on the
files of the maser transitions observed at E and SE7, which J = 1 − 0 transitions of the same species.
are characteristic of the line profiles observed at the remaining As can be seen in the upper panel of Fig. 11, the clumps
clumps. The methanol 84.5 GHz and 95.2 GHz transitions at E in M8 show velocity gradients along the filaments. This sug-
have FWHM line widths of 1.04 km s−1 and 1.17 km s−1 respec- gests that the clumps in the respective cloud parts are likely to be
tively, less than half the median line width of 2.45 km s−1 for kinematically related. In contrast, the systemic velocities of the
non-masing methanol transitions at this source. The 218.4 GHz individual filaments differ across the nebula. With respect to the
transition at SE7 has a width of 1.06 km s−1 , which is about 0.8 southern clumps, the WC clumps in M8-Main show blue-shifted
times the median width of 1.37 km s−1 for non-masing methanol emission, while the EC clumps of the central ridge show sig-
transitions at SE7. nificantly high redshifted velocities. This relatively larger scale
M8 East is a known host to Class I methanol masers (see, for velocity gradient in the western half of M8 is also apparent in
example, Kogan & Slysh 1998; Sarma & Momjian 2009), which the position-velocity (PV) diagram shown in the lower panel of
is in agreement with it showing the brightest 95.2 GHz transition Fig. 11 and might be caused by the radiation or mechanical feed-
of the sample. The narrow line profiles indicate maser emission back of the massive stars on the remnant gas. The SE clumps do
for the two transitions at 84.5 GHz and 95.2 GHz, originating not seem to follow this trend, as they branch out to lower veloc-
from the vicinity of M8 East, the massive star-forming region ities in the PV diagram. The cloud-scale kinematics in M8 will
containing clump E. Similar narrow line widths between 0.5 and be discussed further in Sect. 6.2.
0.8 times the median line width of non-masing methanol lines
are detected for the 95.2 GHz transition at HG, WC1 and SE7, 5.2. Kinetic temperatures and H2 volume densities from
while only SE2 shows potential maser emission at 84.5 GHz. para-formaldehyde
In contrast to the bright transitions in the 3 mm atmospheric
band, the potential maser transitions observed at 218.4 GHz are The dust temperatures of the clumps in M8 have been derived
very faint (see Fig. 10). Given that only a few sources have been in Sect. 3 using the SEDs obtained from the dust continuum im-
reported to detect 218.4 GHz maser emission (Hunter et al. 2014; ages. In order to complement the derived temperatures with val-
Leurini et al. 2016), it is not surprising that the emission ob- ues from the line emission, we estimate the rotational temper-
served at M8 is also not very strong. Nevertheless, we potentially atures of para-formaldehyde (p-H2 CO), acetonitrile (CH3 CN),
observe 218.4 GHz masers at the positions of HG, EC4, EC5, and methyl acetylene (CH3 C2 H) in the following two sections.
SE1, SE7 and SC8, where the line widths of the 218.4 GHz tran- Formaldehyde in particular has been shown in the past to be
a good thermometer for dense molecular clumps (Mangum &

Table 2: Line of sight velocities of the M8 clumps.
Clump 31,LSR 32,LSR

(km s−1 ) (km s−1 )
HG 9.75 5.87
WC1 8.09 -
WC2 8.48 -
WC3* 10.40 -
WC4 11.53 -
WC5 9.89 7.96
WC6 9.59 7.79
WC7 12.61 9.29
WC8 9.25 -
WC9 9.65 -
SW1 8.95 11.30
EC1 14.97 12.68
EC2 12.35 15.43
EC3 12.64 16.21
EC4 16.61 -
EC5 16.90 -
E 10.73 -
SE1 13.53 - Fig. 11: LOS velocities of clumps in the Lagoon Nebula. (Upper
SE2 13.78 17.47 panel) The circles mark the positions of the individual clumps,
SE3 12.70 - with the greyscale image showing the JCMT SCUBA 870 µm
SE4 12.24 - dust continuum flux as orientation (see Fig. 2). The circle size
SE5 12.12 - corresponds to the beam size of the on-off observations with
SE6 10.71 - APEX and the IRAM 30m telescope. Two-coloured circles vi-
SE7 9.95 - sualise distinct velocity components observed in the same beam.
SE8* 10.83 - (Lower panel) LOS velocity of the M8 clumps as a function of
SC1 9.84 - RA separation from the cloud centre at RA=18h 04m 06s Multiple
SC2 9.82 8.80 velocity components inside one beam are shown as individual
SC3 9.94 8.97 points.
SC4 12.49 10.64
SC5* 12.55 11.16
p-H2 CO column density N, adding the J = 1−0 transition allows
SC6 12.32 -
us to estimate the H2 volume density nH2 in the M8 clumps.
SC7 11.24 13.78
In order to derive the physical properties of the M8 clumps,
SC8 12.50 -
we follow the approach introduced by Christensen et al. (in
SC9 13.25 -
prep.) by utilising the Python wrapper pyradex for the non-LTE
C1 13.88 9.67
radiative transfer code RADEX (van der Tak et al. 2007) in com-
C2 12.24 10.55
bination with the emcee (Yang et al. 2017) package for Python,
C3 15.60 -
which implements a Markov-Chain-Monte-Carlo (MCMC) al-
Notes. These values are based on the line profiles of the 18 CO (2-1) and gorithm. For obtaining line parameters of p-H2 CO with pyradex,
17
CO (2-1) transitions. The clumps marked with a * have been observed we assume a background temperature of T bkg = 2.7315 K and
at deviating coordinates with APEX and the IRAM 30m telescope. The use the collisional rate coefficients calculated by Wiesenfeld &
table lists the LOS velocities on the position observed with the IRAM Faure (2013). We fix the line width in the computation to the
30m telescope based on the 18 CO and 17 CO transitions with J=1-0. weighted average line width of the p-H2 CO transitions at the
individual clumps. This line width should have minimal varia-
tions from line to line as all transitions should be probing the
Wootten 1993). As this molecule is a slightly asymmetric rotor same gas. The line properties in M8 derived in Sect. 4.1 are then
(described by JKa ,Kc ), each respective energy level is split further fit to obtain the physical parameters of volume density, kinetic
into multiple levels with different K values as a consequence of gas temperature and p-H2CO column density. The starting po-
different projections of the rotational axis on the symmetry axis sition for the MCMC is obtained by scipy.curve_fit, after
of the molecule. While line ratios involving transitions with dif- which the MCMC algorithm explores the parameter space within
ferent angular momentum quantum number J are sensitive to nH2 = 10 − 107 cm−3 , T = 10 − 300 K and N = 1010 − 1017 cm−2 .
density deviations, transitions with the same J can be used to ob- For each clump, 1100 steps are taken where the first 100 are
tain reliable temperature estimates of the gas (Mangum & Woot- discarded, and the last 1000 steps are converging on the best fit
ten 1993). physical conditions. This process is detailed in Christensen et
The abundances of ortho- and para-formaldehyde are not al. (in prep.). Derived temperatures and column densities as well
equal, which is why transitions of the same symmetry state have as the posterior probability distributions visualising the explored
to be considered when deriving temperatures and densities. As parameter space are shown in Appendix F.
a consequence, we limit this analysis to the p-H2 CO transitions Formaldehyde is ubiquitous in the ISM and its transi-
30,3 −20,2 , 32,2 −22,1 , 32,1 −22,0 , and 10,1 −00,0 . While the J = 3−2 tions studied by us probe gas layers with temperatures <
transitions enable the derivation of rotational temperature T and 100 K (Mangum & Wootten 1993). Hence, it is not surprising

planation of the method, the derived physical parameters, and

the respective rotation diagrams are shown in Appendix F. Fig-
ure 13 visualises the rotational temperatures of acetonitrile and
methyl acetylene alongside the kinetic temperatures from para-
formaldehyde.
The analysed transitions of CH3 C2 H and CH3 CN are ex-
cited either internally by star formation or externally by the
feedback from the surrounding massive stars. In contrast to the
p-H2 CO temperatures, the temperatures derived with CH3 C2 H
and CH3 CN do not correlate with the dust temperatures (see
Fig. 12), which may suggest that we primarily observe inter-
nal heating. Overall, we find similar to slightly higher rotational
temperatures for acetonitrile as compared to methyl acetylene.
In particular, we measure comparably high acetonitrile temper-
atures for the clumps EC1, EC3, and SC8, which do not have a
temperature estimate based on methyl acetylene. Finding higher
acetonitrile temperatures is compatible with the results of Gian-
Fig. 12: Temperatures derived from the rotational transitions of netti et al. (2017), who conclude that the gas layers traced by
para-formaldehyde, acetonitrile and methyl acetylene as func- CH3 C2 H extend further to the outer parts of the clump core than
tion of dust temperatures at the clumps in M8. The legend in the the regions traced by CH3 CN. Interestingly, the opposite is seen
upper left corner provides the Pearson correlation coefficients R for the HG and WC1 clumps in the vicinity of M8-Main, where
and the P values for the respective samples. methyl acetylene traces higher temperatures. A possible expla-
nation may be an influence of the nearby H II region, which ex-
ternally heats the outer layers of these clumps, where methyl
that it has a high detection rate among the clumps in M8. As can acetylene is more common than acetonitrile. Overall, the tem-
be seen in Fig. 12, the temperatures derived from para-H2 CO peratures derived from CH3 C2 H and CH3 CN are within the ex-
data are on average 20 K higher than the dust temperatures. To pected values for the warm gas component surrounding clump
probe the presence of a linear correlation between dust and ro- cores derived by Giannetti et al. (2017).
tational temperatures, we calculate the corresponding Pearson Despite being bright in the 24 µm dust continuum (see
correlation coefficients R and P values with the python module Fig. 3), no CH3 CN emission is detected towards the WC7 core.
scipy.stats (Virtanen et al. 2020). Given the Pearson coef- This missing line emission hints at the absence of a hot core at
ficient R of 0.72, the dust temperatures and p-H2 CO rotational this position, which implies that the observed mid-infrared emis-
temperatures are linearly correlated in the M8 sample. This indi- sion at this position is unrelated to the clump. This is further
cates that the analysed formaldehyde transitions probe the clump confirmed by the methanol emission at WC7, which we only
envelope. detect in the lowest energy transitions at 96.7 GHz. These tran-
As the upper-level energy of both the H2 CO 32,2 − 22,1 and sitions are typically very strong and therefore also detected in
32,1 − 22,0 transitions is 68 K above the para ground state, only most infrared infrared dark clouds (e.g. Leurini et al. 2007). The
the warmer gas contributes to the H2 CO temperature measure- non-detection of higher energy methanol transitions towards this
ment. In particular, the WC4 clump shows relatively higher tem- clump suggests a low excitation of this species and therefore the
peratures compared to the surrounding clumps. As discussed in absence of a hot core at WC7.
Sect. 4.2, Tiwari et al. (2018) detect an influence of the ionised
gas on the position of WC4, which might also attribute to the
heating of the clump. 5.4. Column densities
Using the line intensities, I, derived in Sect. 4.1, column den-
5.3. Rotational temperatures of acetonitrile and methyl sities of the detected species can be computed. Assuming opti-
acetylene cally thin emission and local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE),
the column density, N, can be described as a function of I, the
Both acetonitrile and methyl acetylene are symmetric top clump temperature T , and the background temperature T bg ac-
molecules (described by JK ) that show multiple transitions with cording to
the same angular momentum quantum number J and with dif-
ferent values for the projected angular momentum K at simi-
lar frequencies. Thus, both species have been found to provide Q(T ) exp kEBuT
good temperature estimates for astrophysical environments (e.g. thin
Ntotal (T, I, T bg ) = ·
Askne et al. 1984; Bisschop et al. 2007). A study of galactic gu exp khν −1
BT
molecular clumps by Giannetti et al. (2017) revealed that both 1 8πν3 I
these species trace warm gas in the clumps, while higher en- · · 3 , (3)
ergy CH3 CN transitions additionally trace even warmer embed- Jν T − Jν (T bg ) c Aul f
ded hot cores. Based on their findings, all the transitions we by introducing the Rayleigh-Jeans equivalent temperature
detected towards the M8 clumps are arising from the extended Jν (T )=hν/[kB (exp(hν/(kB T )) − 1)] (Mangum & Shirley 2015).
warm component. Additional parameters are the Planck constant h, the Boltzmann
We use rotation diagrams with a simple least-squares fit constant kB , the speed of light c, and the transition-specific fre-
to derive temperatures and column densities of CH3 CN and quency ν, upper-level energy Eu , upper-level degeneracy gu and
CH3 C2 H assuming LTE. This is done for the M8 clumps to- spontaneous Einstein A coefficient Aul . In order to account for
wards which we detect at least 3 spectral lines. A detailed ex- the clump sizes θS , the measured intensities are corrected by the

Fig. 13: Temperatures in clumps in the La-

goon Nebula derived from different molec-
ular species. Coloured circles show the ki-
netic temperatures from para-formaldehyde
(annuli) and the rotational temperatures of
acetonitrile (left inner circle), and methyl
acetylene (right inner circle). The size of
the inner circles correspond to the ap-
proximate beam size of the observations.
The greyscale background image shows
the JCMT SCUBA 870 µm dust continuum
flux as orientation (see Fig. 2).
ing to
τ
Ntotal = Ntotal
thin
· . (4)
1 − e−τ
For other optically thick transitions, the derived column densi-
thin
ties Ntotal act as lower limits to the actual column density of the
species.
If multiple transitions of a species are detected in a molecu-
lar clump, the median of the column densities derived from each
line is computed. For species that remain undetected in some
clumps, we estimated upper limits to their column densities by
using the RMS of the detected lines of these species in other
clumps of M8. For all possible transitions of the species, we in-
dependently calculate an upper limit of the column density based
on the median line width at the respective clump and a peak in-
tensity equal to three times the spectrum RMS close to the non-
detected transition. The lowest limit obtained with this method
is then considered to be the upper limit of the column density.
All derived column densities and upper limits are presented
in Table G.1 of Appendix G. Figure 14 shows an overview of all
Fig. 14: Column densities of species detected in at least 10 M8 species that have been detected in at least 10 clumps of M8.
clumps. The colour scale gives the relative abundance of a re- In addition to the most common tracers of dense clumps in
spective species to the column density of C18 O at the same po- the ISM, we also detect PDR tracers such as HCO, c-C3 H2 , CN
sition. White cells indicate the non-detection of a species in the and C2 H (see Kim et al. 2020 and the references therein), in
associated clump. a large fraction of clumps in M8. This is consistent with the
widespread 8 µm emission detected on the surfaces of the M8
clumps (see Sect. 3). About half of the clumps also show the
beam filling factor f = θS2 /(θS2 + θB2 ) with the HPBW θB . The cor- presence of shocks, as indicated by the detection of SiO (e.g.
responding clump sizes for this are adopted from Tothill et al. Bergin & Tafalla 2007; Schilke et al. 1997; Bachiller et al.
(2002). Analogous to Kim et al. (2020), we approximate the ki- 1991a). In contrast, some clumps also show the presence of
netic temperature T in Eq. 3 with the dust temperatures T dust cold and dense gas tracers such as NH2 D, N2 D+ and DNC. A
derived in Sect. 3, as these are available for the full sample of more detailed comparison of the chemical conditions in the M8
M8 clumps. This approximation can lead to an underestimation clumps is given in Sect. 6.3 and 6.4.
of the derived column densities, as the dust temperature of a re-
spective clump tends to be lower than its actual kinetic temper- 6. Discussion
ature, especially for species tracing the warmer gas component,
like H2 CO, CH3 CN and CH3 C2 H. A more precise approxima- 6.1. Dust continuum clump properties
tion for the kinetic temperatures of the clumps are the excita-
The physical properties of the M8 clumps have been derived in
tion temperatures derived from rotational transitions of certain
Sect. 3. In this section, they are compared to the overall popula-
molecular species (see Sect. 5.2). Nevertheless, we use the dust
tion of clumps in the inner Galactic plane examined by Urquhart
temperatures here since these are available for all M8 clumps,
et al. (2018). Their sample of clumps is based on the ATLAS-
while deriving rotational temperatures was only possible for a
GAL survey of the Galactic plane and therefore contains a large
sub-sample of them.
variety of different sources.
The assumptions mentioned above do not hold in many
ATLASGAL has the highest source densities at distances be-
cases, for example where emission is optically thick like in CO,
tween 2 and 4 kpc, further away than the M8 clumps, which
HCN or CS. As the optical depth τ of transitions with fitted hy-
have a distance of 1.3 kpc. This imposes constraints on the spa-
perfine structure is known (see Table D.2), the derived column
tial resolution and sensitivity, implying that the typical ATLAS-
densities for the corresponding species will be corrected accord-
GAL source will have a larger physical size and is more mas-
sive compared to the clumps in M8. At these larger distances,
it is even possible that the corresponding ATLASGAL sources

contain sub-structure similar to multiple M8 clumps. In order
to compare similar objects, we will therefore also compare the
clumps of M8 with a distance-limited sample of the ATLASGAL
clumps, containing only sources that are at distances smaller
than 1.5 kpc.
Furthermore, the ATLASGAL survey is likely to be incom-
plete for clumps below a few 100 M⊙ . For instance, out of the
37 molecular clumps studied in this work, only 14 are retrieved
in the ATLASGAL survey. While the comparably bright clumps
such as SC1-3 might have been rejected due to their extended
elongated shapes, other adjacent clumps like EC4 and 5 are
recognised as a single clump. In contrast, the 870 µm peak emis-
sion from the weaker clumps SW1 and C1-3 is below the de-
tection threshold of about 0.4 Jy beam−1 , which has been applied
for the source extraction of the ATLASGAL compact source cat-
alog (Contreras et al. 2013). To account for these differences in
source selection, we will compare the distance-limited ATLAS-
GAL sample with both, the full sample of M8 clumps and a sub-
sample of M8 clumps that do have an ATLASGAL counterpart.
We performed two-sample Kolmogorov-Smirnov (KS) tests
between physical properties of clumps in the ATLASGAL and
the M8 samples using the Python module scipy.stats. These
tests estimate the p-value, which indicates the likelihood that the
properties of both samples are distributed equally. A low p-value
indicates that both samples originate from different distributions,
while values above p > 0.0013 suggest that the samples have the
same underlying distribution (i.e. Urquhart et al. 2018). Cumula-
tive distribution plots of the clumps’ radii, masses, luminosities,
L/M ratios, and dust temperatures are shown alongside the cor-
responding p-values in Fig. 15 and 16.
The clump masses and physical radii are compared in
Fig. 15. Effective radii for the ATLASGAL sources are provided
by Urquhart et al. (2018) (see their Table 5), who derive the val-
ues by multiplying the geometric mean of the deconvolved semi- Fig. 15: Cumulative distributions of the clump radii derived
major and semi-minor axes with a factor of 2.4 (Contreras et al. by Tothill et al. (2002) (upper panel) and masses (lower panel)
2013). The radii of the M8 clumps are calculated analogously in M8 and for the full and distance-limited sample of ATLAS-
based on the distance of 1.3 kpc and the clump sizes derived GAL clumps. The M8 clump masses shown in orange colour
by Tothill et al. (2002) (See their Table 1). are corrected based on the results of Appendix B. The dotted or-
Both masses and radii are significantly lower in the M8 ange distribution only contains M8 clumps that have a nearby
clumps compared to the full ATLASGAL sample of clumps. counterpart in the ATLASGAL sample. The p-values of KS tests
While for the clumps in M8, the median radius and mass is about between selected samples are provided as grey text.
0.16 pc and 10 M⊙ , respectively, the ATLASGAL clumps tend
to be larger and more massive with a median radius of 0.37 pc
and a median mass of about 500 M⊙ . As argued above, this dis- initial trigger of the star formation in M8 is estimated to have
crepancy is less pronounced when comparing with the distance- occurred around 4 Myr (Damianí et al. 2019) ago. As a conse-
limited sample that has median radii of 0.12 pc and masses of quence, the M8 cloud might be allowing for a stronger disper-
50 M⊙ . sal of the clumps, while in the G305 complex the fragmentation
The sample of M8 clumps with ATLASGAL counterparts has only started recently, maybe as a consequence of a previ-
has a median mass of 25 M⊙ , which is only a factor of 2 ously triggered star formation phase. Furthermore, the distance
smaller than the median mass of the distance-limited ATLAS- of G305 of about 4 kpc suggests that it is not possible to resolve
GAL clumps. However, the p-value of p = 7.7 × 10−4 , obtained the sub-structures in that complex in the same detail as in M8.
when comparing these samples, suggests that the underlying dis- With a median value of 200 L⊙ , luminosities in the M8 sam-
tribution of masses still differs. A possible physical mechanism ple are only lower by a factor of 4 compared to the typical lumi-
that could cause these smaller clump masses is the fragmentation nosities of about 800 L⊙ observed for the full sample of clumps
of the filaments by the radiation pressure of the nearby O-stars in the inner Galactic plane. Additionally, the M8 luminosities are
in M8. Advocation this mechanism, however, is in contrast with slightly higher when compared to nearby ATLASGAL clumps,
a recent study by Mazumdar et al. (2021), who examined the who have a median luminosity of 83 L⊙ (see upper panel of
clump properties in the star-forming complex G305. They found Fig. 16). As shown in the middle panel of Fig. 16, the combi-
increased clump masses as a result of the collect and collapse nation of small measured masses and comparable luminosities
feedback mechanism. We believe this contradiction is due to the leads to increased L/M ratios with a median of 17 L⊙ M⊙ −1 for
differences in the ages and star formation histories of M8 and the M8 clumps as compared to about 2 L⊙ M⊙ −1 for the ATLAS-
G305. While the ages of the stellar clusters in the G305 com- GAL samples.
plex vary between 1 Myr and 3 Myr Davies et al. (2012), the

Moreover, the derived dust temperatures of the M8 clumps,

shown in the bottom panel of Fig. 16, are higher by approxi-
mately 5 K with respect to the ATLASGAL sources. The full
and close-by samples of ATLASGAL clumps have median dust
temperatures of 18.6 K and 19.2 K. In contrast, the median dust
temperature of M8 clumps is 23.6 K, indicating that the tempera-
tures are approximately 25% higher. The evolutionary sequence
for dense clumps introduced by König et al. (2017) and refined
by Urquhart et al. (2018) predicts these conditions of increased
temperatures and large L/M ratios only for clumps associated
with evolved, massive young stellar objects and H II regions.
While such sources exist in the major star-forming regions (M8-
Main and M8 East) of the Lagoon Nebula, arguably not every
observed clump is host to a massive stellar object. For instance,
some of the warmest clumps are the central clumps C1-2, which
due to their low masses below 3 M⊙ are not capable of harbour-
ing a massive object.
In addition to evolved star-forming regions, a likely cause for
the higher temperatures and luminosities is the presence of an ex-
ternally heating source. As shown in Sect. 3, almost all clumps
in the Lagoon Nebula are being exposed to the radiation from
the nearby massive stars, which is revealed by the presence of
numerous PDRs traced by 8 µm PAH emission, which is the flu-
orescent result of UV radiation from the nearby O stars that heats
the outer regions of the clumps. This external heating increases
the luminosities of low-mass M8 clumps, which intrinsically are
likely to have low luminosities characteristic for clumps of the
inner Galactic plane.
When only considering the M8 sample of clumps that have
an ATLASGAL counterpart, this temperature offset seemingly
vanishes at higher temperatures. A reason for this might be that
the higher temperature clumps also correspond to the less mas-
sive clumps offset from the filament which were rejected in the
ATLASGAL survey. We therefore conclude that especially these
less massive clumps are affected by the external heating.
6.2. Kinematics in the Lagoon Nebula

The velocities of the individual LOS components towards the
M8 clumps have been examined in Sect. 5.1 based on the posi-
tion of the peak intensities of the optically thin C18 O and C17 O
spectral lines. The 3LSR overview in Fig. 11 shows velocity gra-
dients of the clumps along the filaments. For example, the LOS
velocity gradually changes from 13.5 km s−1 to 12.1 km s−1 for
the SE1-SE5 clumps. The only exception is the other relatively
fainter redshifted component of SE2 that likely originates from
a more diffuse gas component.
The distinct velocity components observed in lines from
many species towards M8-Main have been examined in detail
by Tiwari et al. (2018), who observe the dense gas components
to be seen with higher systemic velocities above 10 km s−1 , while
the blue-shifted gas is accelerated towards us and is powered by
the radiation of the nearby O-type stars. The two velocity com-
Fig. 16: Cumulative distributions of the clump luminosities (up- ponents found in our observations are consistent with that inter-
per panel), the L/M ratios of the respective clumps (middle pretation. We note that we only analysed one bright component
panel), and clump dust temperatures (lower panel) in M8 and of the WC1 clumps, while the CO line profiles suggest the pres-
for sources of the full and distance-limited ATLASGAL sample. ence of multiple weak components in this region.
The M8 distributions shown in the orange colour are corrected Another striking example of velocity and intensity gradients
based on the results of Appendix B. The dotted orange distribu- is observed toward the EC ridge whose C18 O (2-1) line profiles
tion only contains M8 clumps that have a nearby counterpart in are shown in Fig. 17. While the component at 12 km s−1 shows
the ATLASGAL sample. The p-values of KS tests between se- approximately the same LOS velocity for all EC1-EC3 clumps,
lected samples are provided as grey text. the peak of the redshifted component at about 15 km s−1 shifts
by 1.3 km s−1 along the ridge. It is also interesting to examine
the intensities of the respective components, as the brightness of

LOS velocity. This suggests similar motions of both gas layers,

indicating that they are exposed to the same external forces.
On larger scales, the velocity distribution in the ISM around
M8 shows two distinct northern regions, with the blueshifted
components between 7 km s−1 and 12 km s−1 in the fore- and
background of M8-Main, and the redshifted EC ridge in the
backgound of the NGC 6530 cluster with velocities between
12 km s−1 and 17 km s−1 . In contrast, the LOS velocities of the
southern clumps are more clustered around a systemic velocity
of 10 to 12 km s−1 . This small variation in velocity for the south-
ern clumps only reflects their motion along the LOS. It is there-
fore possible that the southern filament instead moves perpendic-
ular to the LOS, which may be due to an acceleration in southern
direction caused by the massive stars located in the north.
6.3. Chemistry of the M8 clumps

The line survey towards all the clumps in M8 was described in
Sect. 4, based on which we estimated the column densities of
all the detected species in Sects. 5.2, 5.3, and 5.4. The detection
and column density distributions of the observed species across
all the clumps are summarised in Table 1 and Figs. 7 and 14,
respectively.
In general, a large variety of molecular species is detected
towards all the clumps, including COMs and deuterated species.
Especially M8 East shows an overall higher number of detected
species, which can attributed to its hosting of an embedded mas-
sive star-forming region (Tothill et al. 2008) and a PDR on the as-
sociated clump surface (Tiwari et al. 2020). The impact of these
physical conditions extends to the nearby clumps SE7 and SE8,
which also show a large number of observed species. In gen-
eral, the south eastern filament is chemically the richest, which
is likely caused by the presence of PDRs on the northern clump
surfaces (i.e. see Fig. 4) that alter their chemistry. The high num-
(a) ber of detected species in the SE1 clump hereby may be due to
its location at the western end of the filament. As large parts of
Fig. 17: Line profiles of the C18 O (2-1) transition for clumps its surface are exposed to the incoming radiation from the O-
located in the east central ridge. and B-type stars, a large fraction of the observed beam might be
occupied with the PDR towards this clump. As PDR tracers are
detected towards all of the clumps in M8, they will be discussed
the 12 km s−1 component increases from south to north, while the in detail in Sect. 6.4.
15 km s−1 emission gets fainter along this direction. The EC4 and In other regions of M8, the individual clumps EC4, EC5, and
EC5 clumps follow the velocity shift in northern direction, with SC8 also show an enhanced number of species, possibly hinting
bright emission centred at approximately 17 km s−1 . In contrast at a rich chemistry. As will be discussed further in Sect. 6.5, the
to the three southern clumps, these clumps show no emission EC4 and SC8 clumps are found to be forming low-mass stars.
component at 12 km s−1 . This can also be seen in their chemical composition, which con-
As both EC velocity components are seen in high-density tains cold and dense gas tracers such as N2 D+ and DCO+ in ad-
tracers such as HNC, it is probable that both components corre- dition to the shock tracer SiO, possibly tracing an outflow from a
spond to dense gas layers. Nevertheless, it is difficult to judge if low-mass protostar. In contrast, we detect neither SiO nor N2 D+
the two components actually interact, as these findings are purely in EC5, indicating that the condensation may not yet have cooled
based on selected on-off observations, while a complete mapping enough to initiate star formation.
of the region is still missing. The overall redshifted emission Towards the C1-3 and WC4 clumps, we only detect a few
of the east central ridge may be explained by a location of the species that are mostly limited to those with the highest detection
clumps behind the massive stars of the open cluster NGC 6530. rates in the M8 cloud. As mentioned previously in Sect. 4.2, the
It is possible that the radiation from the associated massive stars position of WC4 is strongly affected by the ionising radiation of
transfers momentum to the dense molecular gas, which would the nearby massive stars, possibly halting more complex chem-
explain the observed high redshift velocity component with re- ical mechanisms in this clump. Comparing them to the remain-
ceding clump motions. ing M8 clumps, all WC3-7 clumps show a decrease in chemical
In contrast to the EC region, the velocity components ob- complexity, which is likely also caused by the radiation of the
served in the SC2 and SC3 clumps are less separated and approx- M8-Main H II region. While the C1-3 clumps are located at a
imately show the same intensities for both clumps. The similarity larger distance from the massive stars, their small masses (see
in the spectral line profiles for both clumps is caused by an over- Table C.1) enable the ionising radiation to penetrate the clump
lap of the observed beams. In contrast, the close proximity of the surfaces, reducing the chemical complexity of the clumps. More-
two line components shows that the two gas layers have a similar

Fig. 18: HCO column densities at the M8

clumps. The circle markers correspond to
the positions of the individual clumps, with
the greyscale image showing the JCMT
SCUBA 870 µm dust continuum flux as ori-
entation (see Fig. 2). The circle size cor-
responds to the beam size of the on-off
observations with APEX and the IRAM
30m telescope. Two-coloured circles visu-
alise distinct velocity components observed
in the same beam.
over, it is possible that the incoming radiation could lead to a termined in Sect. 3. As explained in Appendix B, the method
complete disintegration of the clumps, due to their small masses. used to calculate H2 column densities overestimates the corre-
A cold and dense gas tracer, the N2 D+ emission line, is de- sponding values by approximately a factor of 100.3 for source
tected in a total of 10 clumps, which are distributed over various sizes around 30′′ . Due to this, Fig. 19 also shows data points
regions across the nebula. computed with H2 column densities that are corrected by this
Bright emission of N2 D+ is detected in the SE6-8 clumps, factor. The top axis of this figure displays the visual extinction
which are neighbouring the M8 East star-forming region. This Av , as derived according to the conversion Av = N(H2 )/1.88 ×
further strengthens the argument of Tiwari et al. (2020), who 1021 cm−2 (Bohlin et al. 1978; Frerking et al. 1982).
suggest that the compression of gas introduced by the ionisation It can be seen that the observed c-C3 H2 and HCO abun-
front north of M8 East may trigger star formation in this region. dances in the M8 clumps are in agreement with the trend ob-
Interestingly, we do not detect N2 D+ directly at the E clump. As served by Kim et al. (2020). Additionally, this trend can also
E is associated with an IR bright source, the absence of N2 D+ be seen in the clumps with relatively lower observed column
could indicate a more evolved protostellar object in the clump densities in M8. This is an extension of the study by Kim et al.
core (Emprechtinger et al. 2009). (2020), who purely relied on massive clumps. The HCO column
The shocked regions traced by SiO generally coincide well densities observed towards the clumps in M8 are systematically
with the positions toward which we detect star formation; see higher than the values derived by Kim et al. (2020). While we
Sect. 6.5. In addition, this species is also observed in almost all used all transitions of the HCO hyperfine structure line for de-
clumps of the SE filament. This indicates that the ionisation front riving the column density, Kim et al. (2020) only consider the
which may be triggering star formation in M8 East also extends weakest component.
to the SE clumps located in the west. In addition to HCO and c-C3 H2 , the estimated abundances
for CN and C2 H also follow the same trend as the clumps ob-
served by Kim et al. (2020). This further confirms the sugges-
6.4. PDR tracers in the Lagoon Nebula
tion of PDR species being located at the outer edges of the dense
PDR tracers such as HCO and c-C3 H2 , CN, and C2 H are detected molecular clumps.
towards all the clumps in M8. As shown in Fig. 18, clumps as-
sociated with the known PDRs at M8-Main and M8 East show 6.5. Star formation in M8
higher HCO column densities as compared to the surrounding
clumps. In addition, the southern clumps SC8 and SC9 have sim- This study of the Lagoon Nebula illustrates several signatures of
ilar column densities when compared to the known PDR regions star formation in the clumps based on the analysis of the dust
M8-Main and M8 East, while the column densities observed to- continuum emission and the observed chemical species. In order
wards the SC1–SC4 clumps are significantly higher. Comparing to provide an overview of the star-forming clumps in M8, the
the location of these clumps with the 8 µm emission in Fig. 4, most reliable probes are introduced in this section and the results
it can be seen that these SC clumps are associated with bright are compared in Fig. 20.
PAH emission coming from a structure that looks like an ioni- The large abundance of 12 CO in the ISM makes the line
sation front, which is receding away from the HG region. The wings of its transition commonly used tracers to identify pro-
C2 clump can also be associated with this structure, which may tostellar outflows (e.g. Duarte-Cabral et al. 2013; Kahle et al.
explain the high HCO column densities in this overall lower den- 2022). In M8, the spectral line profiles of 12 CO are too complex
sity clump. for such an analysis due to the presence of many different ve-
Kim et al. (2020) examined PDR tracer abundances for a locity components along the LOS. As a consequence, we instead
sample of massive clumps in the inner Galactic plane and found use Formylium (HCO+ ) as a probe for outflow activities, since
a relation of decreasing abundances with increasing H2 column the line profiles of this species are also very sensitive to motions
densities. This relation can be interpreted such that these species of the associated gas layers (e.g. Wyrowski et al. 2016). Excess
are more abundant in the less shielded outer parts of the PDRs, emission in the line wings of the HCO+ therefore indicates the
which are associated with stronger UV emission from external presence of a protostellar outflow in the clump and that of a pro-
sources. tostellar object driving it.
To investigate whether this anti-correlation is also seen in For examining the M8 clumps, spectral line profiles of the
the clumps of M8, Fig. 19 shows the PDR tracer abundances HCO+ (1-0) and (3-2) transitions from each clump were in-
(X(HCO) =N(HCO)/N(H2 ) and X(c-C3 H2 )=N(c-C3 H2 )/N(H2 )) spected for this excess emission by comparing the spectra of
as a function of the Hydrogen column densities (N(H2 )) de- the line wings with fitted Gaussian profiles for the line emis-

Fig. 19: Abundance of HCO (left panel) and c-C3 H2 (right panel) as a function of H2 column density. The Pearson correlation
coefficient R and the P value for the M8 clumps are given in the upper right corner.
Fig. 20: Venn diagram visualising the detected signs of star for-
mation in the M8 clumps. Clumps shown in the overlapping re-
gions show multiple tracers of star formation.
Fig. 21: Line profiles of the HCO+ (1-0) and (3-2) transitions at
SE3 with the corresponding Gaussian fits displayed in red. Ex-
sion. As an example, excess emission in the line profile at SE3 cess emission can be seen around 15 km s−1 .
is shown in Fig. 21. Among the clumps where we detect excess
emission, about half show a one-sided excess at redshifted ve-
locities like SE3, while the other half show excess emission in fainter point-like sources. The associated clumps might contain a
both line wings. The kinematic complexity of the region makes bright internal heating source whose infrared emission is strong
it difficult to pinpoint the origin of this excess. While it is pos- enough to escape the molecular clump. As a consequence, the
sible that excess emission is hidden by the presence of a second IR bright clumps might be sites of intermediate to high-mass
velocity component, weak emission from additional gas layers star formation. All IR bright clumps are included in the diagram
might be mistaken for excess emission originating from molec- shown in Fig. 20, although it is not clear if the emission observed
ular outflows. towards the clumps in the M8-Main region originates from the
Examining the mid-infrared dust continuum towards M8 in clumps themselves or from the surrounding H II region.
Sect. 3 resulted in the identification of IR bright sources that CH3 CN has often been used to probe hot molecular
comprise all the clumps in the M8-Main region and several cores (e.g. Bisschop et al. 2007). While we find temperatures in

CH3 CN emission implies that the corresponding clumps do not

harbour a hot core. Consequently, the observations do not con-
firm star formation in these clumps. It is likely that the associ-
ated infrared emission corresponds to the foreground H II region,
while lines that suggest an origin in outflows rather trace emis-
sion from unrelated gas layers.
As a tracer species for shocked gas, SiO is also commonly
used to identify outflows of protostars (e.g. Bachiller et al.
1991b; Hirano et al. 2001). We detect it in most of the possi-
bly star-forming clumps discussed above, except for EC1, EC3,
SC1, and SC9. The absence of SiO may indicate that the ob-
served excess emission in the line wings of HCO+ is not related
to outflow activity at these clumps. However, this does not rule
out weaker embedded outflows, as the detection of CH3 CN im-
plies that these clumps host warm cores. In addition to the star-
forming clumps, SiO is also detected at WC7, EC2, SC2, SC6,
SE4, and SE5. As we do not expect the presence of protostellar
outflows at these clumps, their gas is likely shocked by external
factors.
Recent star formation in the Lagoon Nebula was previously
Fig. 22: Spitzer IRAC3 5.8 µm image of the Lagoon Nebula
examined by Arias et al. (2007) and Kumar & Anandarao (2010)
adapted from Kumar & Anandarao (2010). Red circles and
based on optical and near-infrared observations. Both studies
blue triangles mark the positions of IRAC class 0/I and class
find a variety of pre-main sequence objects in the Lagoon Nebula
II sources, respectively. Stars show the position of M8 clumps
and the associated cluster NGC 6530. Fig. 22 shows an overview
as indicated in Table 1 of Tothill et al. (2002). Clumps associ-
of the YSOs identified by Kumar & Anandarao (2010) in the La-
ated with star formation based on the analysis presented here are
goon Nebula. We have highlighted the clumps (in yellow) where
shown in yellow. White contours show young stellar object den-
star formation is observed in our study. It can be seen that most of
sities of 5 YSO pc−2 and 10 YSO pc−2 .
the clumps which show signs of active star formation are located
inside regions with the highest number of YSOs. While the EC
the clumps of M8 that are lower than in typical hot cores (which clumps are associated with nearby IRAC class 0/I sources, the
are about 100 K), CH3 CN does seem to probe warm parts of the remaining clumps are primarily found in the vicinity of class II
clumps that do not correlate with their general dust envelope (see sources. As the IRAC class 0/I and II sources are associated with
Sect. 5.2). Therefore we use the CH3 CN emission here as a probe class 0/I and II protostars (Billot et al. 2010), this implies that the
for additional heating within the clumps. protostars contained in the EC clumps may be less evolved than
In contrast to the mid-infrared emission, the millimetre line objects in the remaining M8 clumps.
emission of CH3 CN escapes the molecular clumps even if the
contained protostar is not very bright. The detection of this 7. Summary
species therefore allows us to additionally trace ongoing low-
mass star formation in the M8 clumps. In this work, we presented the first spectroscopic observations
Based on these criteria, at least 8 of the M8 clumps show towards 37 dense molecular clumps in the Lagoon Nebula since
signs of intermediate to high-mass star formation. In addition to their identification by Tothill et al. (2002). Using the hetero-
the known sites of high-mass star formation in HG and E, the dyne receivers nFLASH230 and EMIR at APEX and the IRAM
clumps WC1, SE2, SE3, SE7, SE8 and SC1 are likely to con- 30m telescope, we conducted pointed on-off observations in the
tain a protostellar object. WC1 and SC1 correspond to some of complete frequency ranges from 210 GHz to 280 GHz and from
the closest clumps to the O-star Her 36, which drives the H II re- 70 GHz to 117 GHz.
gion at M8-Main. Due to this, the star formation in these objects We identified a total of 346 transitions from 70 different
might have been triggered by the compression introduced by the molecular species towards the dense clumps, confirming the
radiation of this star. The SE7 and SE8 clumps are located in chemical complexity of the nebula. For every spectral line, we
the region observed by Tiwari et al. (2020), who found signs of determined its parameters, which were further used to estimate
triggered star formation across M8 East. The independent ob- temperatures and column densities towards every clump consid-
servation of star formation in this region presented in this study ering optically thin approximation and assuming LTE.
validates their findings. Combining the insights from the spectral line analysis with
In addition to sites of intermediate to high-mass star forma- archival dust continuum maps, we investigated the morphology
tion, the clumps EC3, EC4, SE1, SC8 and SC9 are likely to and kinematics of the region. We observed velocity gradients
contain low-mass protostellar objects. This follows from the de- along the filaments with many clumps showing multiple emis-
tection of CH3 CN toward these clumps together with signs of sion components, that may originate from kinematically related
outflows, while the absence of IR emission hints at very weakly gas layers. On larger scales, we found a velocity gradient be-
emitting embedded objects. While the presence of excess emis- tween the central EC clumps and the western WC clumps, that
sion could not be completely justified towards EC1 due to its may be attributed to the momentum transfer from the massive
complex velocity structure (see Fig. 17), the CH3 CN emission stars into the surrounding gas. The intermediate LOS velocities
towards this clump indicates the presence of a hot core. of the clumps in the southern filaments indicate their motion in
The clumps WC2, WC3, WC4 and C1 show signs of out- the southern direction.
flows and mid-infrared emission. Nevertheless, the lack of Heating from the O- and B-type stars in M8 is responsible for
radiative feedback, due to which extended PDRs are observed
throughout the nebula. Apart from the widespread Spitzer 8 µm Duarte-Cabral, A., Bontemps, S., Motte, F., et al. 2013, A&A, 558, A125
emission, we detected PDR tracers such as HCO, c-C3 H2 , CN Emprechtinger, M., Caselli, P., Volgenau, N. H., Stutzki, J., & Wiedner, M. C.
and C2 H towards all the clumps. Furthermore, the ionising ra- 2009, A&A, 493, 89
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providing the dust continuum maps of the Lagoon Nebula at 450 µm and Motte, F., Bontemps, S., & Louvet, F. 2018, ARA&A, 56, 41
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Appendix A: Observational parameters:

coordinates and setups
The on-off observations of the Lagoon Nebula were conducted
towards 37 clumps identified by Tothill et al. (2002). Coordi-
nates of the observed positions are given in Table A.1. Further
inspection of the dust continuum emission and the APEX spec-
tra revealed that the clumps WC3, SE8 and SC5 are at an offset
from the observed positions given in Tothill et al. (2002). Thus,
the coordinates for these clumps were adjusted for the new ob-
servations taken with the IRAM 30m telescope. The frequency
setups used with each telescope are shown in Fig. A.1.
Table A.1: Coordinates of all the clumps observed with the

APEX and the IRAM 30m telescopes.
Clump DEC (J2000) RA (J2000)

HG 18h 03m 40.7s -24◦ 22′ 40′′
WC1 18h 03m 36.6s -24◦ 22′ 14′′
WC2 18h 03m 33.7s -24◦ 21′ 49′′
WC3* 18h 03m 44.8s -24◦ 21′ 23′′
WC4 18h 03m 44.6s -24◦ 22′ 16′′
WC5 18h 03m 35.9s -24◦ 23′ 10′′
WC6 18h 03m 34.6s -24◦ 23′ 25′′
WC7 18h 03m 26.2s -24◦ 22′ 34′′
WC8 18h 03m 28.5s -24◦ 21′ 50′′
WC9 18h 03m 25.3s -24◦ 21′ 39′′ Fig. A.1: Visualisation of the frequency coverage. The spectra
SW1 18h 03m 25.8s -24◦ 28′ 11′′ used in this figure originate from the observations of E which
EC1 18h 04m 21.6s -24◦ 24′ 27′′ are divided by a factor of 2 (upper panel) or 3 (lower panel)
EC2 18h 04m 22.5s -24◦ 23′ 25′′ and shifted on the temperature scale for illustrative purposes.
Upper panel: The four setups used in the APEX observations.
EC3 18h 04m 22.4s -24◦ 22′ 57′′
Lower panel: The setups in colour show the new observations
EC4 18h 04m 19.2s -24◦ 22′ 26′′ conducted with the IRAM 30m telescope. Grey spectra show the
EC5 18h 04m 18.0s -24◦ 22′ 05′′ additional frequency bands covered by the on-off observations
E 18h 04m 52.6s -24◦ 26′ 35′′ of Tiwari et al. (2020), which are used to supplement our data at
SE1 18h 04m 21.6s -24◦ 28′ 17′′ the position of clump E.
SE2 18h 04m 24.4s -24◦ 28′ 39′′
SE3 18h 04m 31.1s -24◦ 28′ 53′′
SE4 18h 04m 32.9s -24◦ 29′ 08′′ Appendix B: Testing AKARI data as a substitute for
SE5 18h 04m 34.4s -24◦ 29′ 05′′ Hi-GAL-PACS data in SEDs
SE6 18h 04m 43.1s -24◦ 28′ 32′′
In order to derive SEDs for the clumps in M8, data from
SE7 18h 04m 48.5s -24◦ 27′ 33′′ the AKARI satellite was used to estimate flux densities be-
SE8* 18h 04m 50.5s -24◦ 26′ 59′′ tween 65 µm and 160 µm. In comparison to data from the Hi-
SC1 18h 03m 47.5s -24◦ 25′ 31′′ GAL survey, the AKARI images have a lower resolution, with
SC2 18h 03m 48.1s -24◦ 26′ 18′′ FWHM beamwidths of 63.4′′ at 65 µm (N60), 77.8′′ at 90 µm
SC3 18h 03m 47.3s -24◦ 26′ 33′′ (WIDE-S), and 88.3′′ for the 140 µm and 160 µm bands (WIDE-
SC4 18h 03m 43.9s -24◦ 27′ 28′′ L and N160) (Takita et al. 2015). As a consequence, the M8
SC5* 18h 03m 40.7s -24◦ 27′ 59′′ clumps with FWHM sizes lower than 38.3′′ are not spatially re-
SC6 18h 03m 57.6s -24◦ 26′ 22′′ solved, consequently the flux extraction method used here for
SC7 18h 03m 57.0s -24◦ 28′ 12′′ the AKARI images differs from the method applied by Urquhart
SC8 18h 04m 09.5s -24◦ 27′ 30′′ et al. (2018). Instead of extracting the AKARI flux in an aperture
SC9 18h 04m 12.2s -24◦ 28′ 58′′ with a radius based on the source size, the flux density within an
C1 18h 03m 54.1s -24◦ 25′ 40′′ AKARI beam is extracted at the exact position of the M8 clump
C2 18h 03m 51.2s -24◦ 24′ 14′′ (see Table A.1), which accounts for most of a clump’s emission.
C3 18h 04m 08.2s -24◦ 24′ 30′′ In order to compare the M8 clumps to the sample of AT-
LASGAL clumps located in the inner Galactic plane examined
Notes. For clumps marked with an asterisk, we used corrected by Urquhart et al. (2018), it is necessary to identify possible dif-
coordinates when observing with the IRAM 30m telescope and ferences in the results of the two flux retrieval methods. For this,
when extracting flux density from the dust continuum maps the SEDs of a sample of clumps in the NGC 6334 region were
(WC3: 18h 03m 44.8s , -24◦ 21′ 03′′ ; SE8: 18h 04m 50.5s , -24◦ 27′ 33′′ ; SC5: computed with the AKARI images as a replacement for the Hi-
18h 03m 40.7s , −24◦ 26′ 59′′ ). GAL PACS data. The clumps in this region provide ideal tar-
gets for testing the usability of AKARI data for our cause, as
NGC 6334 is located at a distance of 1.34 pc (Urquhart et al.

2018), which is similar to the distance of the Lagoon Nebula. Firstly, we verified the calibration of the AKARI data in or-
This ensures that the method is tested on objects with similar der to exclude the possibility of a systematic under- or overesti-
properties as the M8 clumps. mation of the derived flux densities. This is done by extracting
From the clumps covered by both AKARI and Hi-GAL, a se- the flux densities measured by AKARI-FIS and Hi-GAL-PACS
lection was made considering only bright sources which are well according to the method explained in Sect. 2.4. As shown in the
separated from other objects in the region. While AKARI con- upper panel of Fig. B.1, the flux densities extracted from the
ducted an all-sky survey that covers 99% of the sky, the data has Hi-GAL data sets at 70 µm and 160 µm are in good agreement
a large image defect covering the brightest sources of NGC 6334, with the flux densities derived from AKARI images. The slightly
limiting the sample size of sources suitable for this test to 16. lower flux density values of AKARI in the 70 µm band are likely
The flux densities of the NGC 6334 clumps are extracted due to the different wavelengths covered by the respective re-
analogously to the M8 clumps, as explained in Sect. 2.4. Since ceivers. While the AKARI band is centred on 65 µm, the PACS
there is no available SCUBA data from the JCMT that covers band is centred on 70 µm. This difference is also seen when com-
the whole NGC 6334 region, the 870 µm flux density is derived paring the spectral response functions of both instruments shown
purely based on the ATLASGAL data. Because the 870 µm data in Fig. 1 of Shirahata et al. (2009) and Fig. 6 of Poglitsch et al.
of the JCMT and ATLASGAL are in good agreement for the M8 (2010).
clumps, the SEDs should be unaffected by this change. To test the influence of the different extraction methods ap-
plied for the AKARI bands, the SED fitting procedure is applied
to all sample sources, and the physical parameters are derived
analogously to Urquhart et al. (2018) using the equations given
by Schuller et al. (2009). The lower panel of Fig. B.1 shows a
comparison between the computed luminosities and the values
derived by Urquhart et al. (2018) for the same sources. The lu-
minosities derived using both methods are in good agreement for
the examined range between 10 and 104 M⊙ . A linear fit leads to
a slope slightly below 1, indicating that lower luminosities might
be overestimated, while higher luminosities could be underesti-
mated. This can be explained by the constant extraction size of
one AKARI beam size, which for larger and brighter sources
may not cover the full source emission. Thus, when dealing with
much larger sources, it might be beneficial to extract the AKARI
emission with a defined aperture analogous to the other bands. In
contrast, accurate luminosity values for weak sources cannot be
assured if multiple sources are located within the AKARI beam.
As shown in the upper panel of Fig. B.2, the applied
method introduces a slight overestimation of the clumps masses,
which is similar across the considered clump masses between
3 and 300 M⊙ . Nevertheless, there is a good correlation be-
tween the derived masses, and the values computed by Urquhart
et al. (2018). On the contrary, The derived H2 column densi-
ties do not show a clear correlation to the column densities de-
rived by Urquhart et al. (2018) (see lower panel of Fig. B.2).
While the column density is overestimated for intermediate to
larger clumps, the column density is underestimated for smaller
clumps. Both quantities are beam-specific quantities, and might
differ due to the different methods used to derive the source sizes.
While we use the source FWHM based on the ATLASGAL mea-
surements as size estimate, Urquhart et al. (2018) base their size
estimate on the extent of the 350 µm emission inside the extrac-
tion aperture.
Finally, the dust temperatures between 15 K and 30 K derived
by both methods are consistent with one another, independent of
the respective source sizes (see Fig. B.3). This is expected, as the
cold gas component usually is broadly extended, such that it fills
the beam in all considered cases.
This analysis demonstrates that AKARI has the potential to
be used for deriving SEDs of clumps away from the Galactic
Fig. B.1: (Upper panel) Comparison of the flux density ex- plane, which were not covered by the PACS instrument of Her-
tracted inside a 40.9′′ beam for the AKARI and PACS images schel. We note that the lower resolutions of the AKARI images,
of selected clumps in NGC 6334. (Lower panel) Luminosities of as compared to Hi-GAL, limits the use of the data in crowded
these clumps as derived from fitting SEDs with the AKARI data regions, as the large beam may capture emission from neigh-
as compared to the luminosities derived by Urquhart et al. (2018) bouring sources. While it is possible to correct for the influence
for the same clumps. The fitted linear relation and the Pearson of additional sources inside the AKARI beam as described in
correlation coefficient R and the P value are given in the upper Sect. 2.4, this method may become inaccurate for regions with
left corner. a higher number of sources than in M8. We note that for large

Fig. B.3: Comparison of the computed dust temperatures for se-

lected clumps in NGC 6334 to the values derived by Urquhart
et al. (2018) for the same clumps. The fitted linear relation and
Pearson correlation coefficient R and the P value are given in the
upper left corner.
Fig. B.2: Comparison of the computed masses (upper panel) and

column densities (lower panel) for selected clumps in NGC 6334
to the values derived by Urquhart et al. (2018) for the same
clumps. The Pearson correlation coefficient R and the P value
are given in the lower right and upper left corner, respectively,
where also the fitted linear relations are indicated.
sources it will be beneficial to extract the AKARI flux density

inside an aperture that is based on the source size, as applied
for the data of other surveys. This would prevent emission in the
outer areas of these extended sources from being excluded.

Appendix C: Physical properties of the M8 clumps

Sect. 3 describes the procedure we used for modeling the SEDs of the M8 clumps. This appendix provides an overview of the
physical properties obtained from the modeling in Table C.1. The fitted SEDs for all clumps in M8 are shown in Fig. C.1-C.5.
Table C.1: Clump properties derived from SED fits to the dust continuum emission.
Clump T dust τ870 µm T hot rhot M L nH2

(K) (10−4 ) (K) (10−2 ′′ ) (M⊙ ) (L⊙ ) (1020 cm−2 )
HG 34.1 ± 11.9 22.1 ± 20.5 152.0 ± 21.8 38.9 ± 16.8 65.2 ± 43.9 8860.0 ± 1360.0 612.2 ± 401.7
WC1 25.9 ± 3.4 12.0 ± 3.5 - - 22.0 ± 6.5 473.0 ± 72.8 168.2 ± 42.0
WC2 22.5 ± 1.4 8.4 ± 1.2 - - 30.8 ± 6.0 310.0 ± 47.8 117.6 ± 14.2
WC3 30.0 ± 4.5 3.5 ± 1.1 - - 5.0 ± 1.6 248.0 ± 38.2 48.9 ± 13.6
WC4 37.6 ± 5.8 1.7 ± 0.5 - - 6.5 ± 2.0 1190.0 ± 184.0 24.2 ± 6.5
WC5 36.1 ± 7.5 1.0 ± 0.4 - - 2.1 ± 0.8 303.0 ± 46.5 13.4 ± 4.9
WC6 30.0 ± 3.9 2.4 ± 0.6 - - 7.6 ± 2.2 376.0 ± 57.9 33.9 ± 8.2
WC7 28.0 ± 3.8 5.3 ± 1.5 251.0 ± 78.5 2.0 ± 1.2 15.5 ± 4.5 626.0 ± 96.4 75.2 ± 18.8
WC8 19.7 ± 1.9 2.4 ± 0.6 - - 8.1 ± 2.1 39.5 ± 6.1 34.2 ± 7.1
WC9 37.0 ± 6.8 0.7 ± 0.3 - - 1.3 ± 0.5 222.0 ± 34.2 9.4 ± 3.1
SW1 20.7 ± 1.0 2.3 ± 0.3 - - 7.6 ± 1.4 48.6 ± 7.5 32.1 ± 3.3
EC1 18.9 ± 1.3 24.7 ± 4.8 - - 53.9 ± 11.6 204.0 ± 31.4 345.2 ± 52.1
EC2 19.9 ± 2.2 7.5 ± 2.2 - - 24.7 ± 6.8 130.0 ± 20.0 105.7 ± 24.1
EC3 20.0 ± 2.2 8.4 ± 2.5 - - 25.4 ± 7.1 135.0 ± 20.8 117.5 ± 27.2
EC4 15.7 ± 0.4 19.7 ± 2.0 - - 47.9 ± 7.9 58.6 ± 9.0 275.6 ± 15.8
EC5 17.9 ± 2.6 9.2 ± 3.9 - - 29.5 ± 10.5 82.5 ± 12.7 129.7 ± 41.6
E 25.4 ± 4.5 36.6 ± 15.0 224.0 ± 87.8 10.5 ± 9.0 92.8 ± 35.2 3560.0 ± 547.0 543.1 ± 188.0
SE1 19.8 ± 2.2 12.7 ± 3.7 - - 40.3 ± 11.1 202.0 ± 31.1 177.3 ± 40.5
SE2 22.9 ± 2.9 4.8 ± 1.4 321.0 ± 155.0 0.8 ± 0.6 15.4 ± 4.5 217.0 ± 33.3 67.3 ± 16.7
SE3 21.0 ± 3.0 7.0 ± 2.4 213.0 ± 66.4 1.9 ± 1.4 28.0 ± 9.1 249.0 ± 38.2 99.6 ± 28.5
SE4 21.0 ± 2.8 5.0 ± 1.8 - - 4.9 ± 1.5 34.4 ± 5.3 70.2 ± 19.2
SE5 23.3 ± 3.0 2.3 ± 0.7 - - 5.4 ± 1.6 66.8 ± 10.3 32.3 ± 8.2
SE6 19.9 ± 6.7 5.9 ± 5.1 - - 19.6 ± 14.0 102.0 ± 15.7 82.8 ± 57.7
SE7 20.8 ± 2.7 32.8 ± 10.9 347.0 ± 215.0 0.7 ± 0.7 56.1 ± 17.1 416.0 ± 63.9 458.8 ± 120.2
SE8 21.2 ± 3.0 17.1 ± 6.2 244.0 ± 104.0 1.2 ± 1.0 37.1 ± 12.1 302.0 ± 46.5 240.1 ± 68.9
SC1 24.5 ± 2.6 11.7 ± 2.8 463.0 ± 73.1 0.5 ± 0.2 20.2 ± 5.2 411.0 ± 63.3 163.6 ± 33.3
SC2 21.3 ± 1.9 8.7 ± 1.9 - - 32.3 ± 7.6 243.0 ± 37.3 121.5 ± 21.6
SC3 21.3 ± 1.8 7.8 ± 1.7 - - 16.7 ± 3.9 126.0 ± 19.4 109.6 ± 18.9
SC4 27.6 ± 2.4 3.8 ± 0.7 - - 13.5 ± 3.0 416.0 ± 64.1 52.9 ± 8.5
SC5 23.9 ± 0.5 3.1 ± 0.2 - - 5.4 ± 0.9 76.1 ± 11.7 44.1 ± 1.8
SC6 27.0 ± 4.7 5.2 ± 1.8 - - 6.9 ± 2.5 190.0 ± 29.2 72.9 ± 23.8
SC7 25.1 ± 3.5 1.7 ± 0.5 - - 2.9 ± 0.9 53.6 ± 8.2 23.3 ± 6.3
SC8 20.9 ± 0.8 11.8 ± 1.2 - - 53.6 ± 9.4 362.0 ± 55.6 165.5 ± 13.8
SC9 21.3 ± 1.5 5.0 ± 0.9 - - 29.0 ± 6.2 222.0 ± 34.2 70.5 ± 10.3
C1 43.2 ± 16.4 0.3 ± 0.3 - - 0.6 ± 0.4 245.0 ± 37.7 4.3 ± 2.8
C2 30.4 ± 7.2 1.6 ± 0.8 - - 2.3 ± 1.1 124.0 ± 19.1 22.6 ± 9.9
C3 25.0 ± 4.2 2.5 ± 1.0 - - 3.0 ± 1.1 55.3 ± 8.5 35.4 ± 11.6
Notes. Values which could not be derived are marked with a minus sign.

Fig. C.1: Fit to the SEDs of HG, E, WC1, SC9 and SW1. Single-component fits only consider flux at wavelengths longer than 65 µm
to avoid a contribution from unrelated diffuse warm gas to the clumps’ SEDs. SCUBA 450 µm emission was not considered, as we
found it to systematically underestimate the flux of all clumps. Flux densities at 8 µm and 65 µm are considered as upper limits due
to the possible contributions of PAHs and very small grains.

Fig. C.2: Fits to the SEDs of the WC2–9 clumps. Single-component fits only consider flux at wavelengths longer than 65 µm to
avoid a contribution from unrelated diffuse warm gas to the clumps’ SEDs. SCUBA 450 µm emission was not considered as we
found it to systematically underestimate the flux of all clumps. Flux densities at 8 µm and 65 µm are considered as upper limits due
to the possible contributions of PAHs and very small grains.

Fig. C.3: Fits to the SED of the SE1–8 clumps. Single-component fits only consider flux at wavelengths longer than 65 µm to avoid
a contribution from unrelated diffuse warm gas to the clumps’ SEDs. SCUBA 450 µm emission was not considered as we found it
to systematically underestimate the flux of all clumps. Flux densities at 8 µm and 65 µm are considered as upper limits due to the
possible contributions of PAHs and very small grains.

Fig. C.4: Fits to the SED of the EC1–5 clumps and the clumps C1-3. Single-component fits only consider flux at wavelengths
longer than 65 µm to avoid a contribution from unrelated diffuse warm gas to the clumps’ SEDs. SCUBA 450 µm emission was not
considered as we found it to systematically underestimate the flux of all clumps. Flux densities at 8 µm and 65 µm are considered as
upper limits due to the possible contributions of PAHs and very small grains.

Fig. C.5: Fits to the SED of the SC1–8 clumps. Single-component fits only consider flux at wavelengths longer than 65 µm to avoid
a contribution from unrelated diffuse warm gas to the clumps’ SEDs. SCUBA 450 µm emission was not considered as we found it
to systematically underestimate the flux of all clumps. Flux densities at 8 µm and 65 µm are considered as upper limits due to the
possible contributions of PAHs and very small grains.

Appendix D: Identified Transitions and line parameters

This appendix provides a full overview of molecular rotational transitions observed in the Lagoon Nebula. As an example of the
analysed data, spectrum extracts of SE1 are shown in Fig. D.1.
Table D.1 lists the name of each species, the quantum numbers or identifiers of the transition, the associated frequency in MHz,
the upper-level energy, Eup , in K, the Einstein A coefficient, Aij , in s−1 and the degeneracy gup according to the information provided
by the databases (last column).
The second column describes the transition according to the values stated by the respective database (usually J or JF for linear
molecules, JK for symmetric tops and JKa ,Kc for asymmetric tops). The third subscript number for NH2 D describes the symmetry
state, where the antisymmetric state is labelled 1 and the symmetric state is labelled 0. An exception is methanol, for which the
symmetry state and, as subscript, k for the E-type and K for the A-type species are given. Lines from NO, NS, CN, C2 H and C2 D
are described as N J,F , where the additional subscript of NO and NS states the parity. HCO and c-C3 H lines are described as NKa ,Kc ,J,F
in order to fully identify the transitions. The descriptions of 13 CN and C13 CH lines additionally contain the intermediate quantum
numbers as NF1 ,F2 ,F and N J,F1 ,F respectively.
Table D.2 gives a detailed overview of the derived line properties for detected emission from rotational transitions towards all
M8 clumps. The full version of this table will be made available at the CDS.
Fig. D.1: Spectrum extracts of the data obtained with the IRAM 30m telescope (upper panel) and APEX (lower panel) at SE1.

Table D.1: Overview of the identified molecular transitions in the Lagoon Nebula
Molecule Transition Frequency Eup Aij gup origin

(MHz) (K) (s−1 )
H13
2 CO 10,1 − 00,0 71024.788 (10) 3.4 7.6e-06 3 CDMS
HC5 N 27 − 26 71889.595 (0) 48.3 4.0e-05 165 CDMS
DCO+ 1−0 72039.312 (1) 3.5 2.2e-05 3 CDMS
C2 S 65 − 54 72323.789 (20) 19.2 1.6e-05 11 CDMS
DCN 1−0 72414.694 (0) 3.5 1.3e-05 9 CDMS
Notes. Overview of the identified molecular transitions in the Lagoon Nebula. Frequency, upper-level energy Eup , spontaneous emission Einstein
(A) coefficient Aij and upper-level degeneracy gup are listed for each transition according to the values stated by the database given in the last
column. The frequency uncertainty for each transition is given in parenthesis in units of kHz and was rounded to integers. Partially blended
transitions are indicated with superscript markers a) to u). The full table with all transitions will only be made available at the CDS.
Table D.2: Line parameters of transitions identified at the M8 clumps.
Clump Species Frequency RMS Iintegration Ifit,1 31 ∆31 T peak,1 τ1

(GHz) (mK) (K km s−1 ) (K km s−1 ) (km s−1 ) (km s−1 ) (K)
HG H13
2 CO 71.025 32.0 - - - - - -
HG HC5 N 71.890 27.0 - - - - - -
HG DCO+ 72.039 24.0 - - - - - -
HG C2 S 72.324 26.0 - - - - - -
HG DCN 72.415 28.4 0.73 ± 0.12 0.42 ± 0.05 9.33 ± 0.25 2.50 ± 0.47 - 0.10 ± 3.39
HG HC13 CCN 72.475 24.0 - - - - - -
HG HC13
2 CN 72.482 25.0 - - - - - -
HG SO2 72.758 31.0 - - - - - -
HG HC3 N 72.784 25.7 1.04 ± 0.11 0.78 ± 0.05 8.69 ± 0.07 2.24 ± 0.17 0.33 ± 0.03
HG H2 CO 72.838 21.1 3.08 ± 0.09 2.68 ± 0.11 9.90 ± 0.06 2.80 ± 0.14 0.90 ± 0.06 -
Clump Species Frequency Ifit,2 32 ∆32 T peak,2 τ2

(GHz) (K km s−1 ) (km s−1 ) (km s−1 ) (K)
HG H13
2 CO 71.025 - - - - -
HG HC5 N 71.890 - - - - -
HG DCO+ 72.039 - - - - -
HG C2 S 72.324 - - - - -
HG DCN 72.415 - - - - -
HG HC13 CCN 72.475 - - - - -
HG HC13
2 CN 72.482 - - - - -
HG SO2 72.758 - - - - -
HG HC3 N 72.784 - - - - -
HG H2 CO 72.838 0.29 ± 0.12 6.06 ± 0.51 2.65 ± 1.55 0.10 ± 0.07 -
Notes. This table shows the line parameters of the first 10 transitions at HG. Clump, species, and frequency of the corresponding transition are
given in the first three columns. For lines with HFS, we give the central frequency of all considered components. The fourth column provides the
RMS noise level in the vicinity of the respective transition in mK. The fifth column gives the integrated intensity of the whole line profile, including
all possibly occurring components. The remaining columns state the fitted line parameters for the Gaussian and HFS fits: The line intensity Ifit,i (6,
11), the transition LOS velocity with respect to the LSR 3i (7, 12), and the FWHM line width ∆3i (8, 13). For Gaussian fits we additionally give
the peak temperature of the respective transition T peak,i (9, 14), while for the HFS fits we give the optical depth τi obtained by the fit (10, 15). If
present, we fitted up to two line-components i per clump. The columns 11 to 15 are presented in the lower part of the table, after a repetition of
clump name, species, and frequency. Values that were not derived or where the transition has not been detected are marked with a minus (-). The
full table with all transitions at all clumps will only be made available at the CDS.

Appendix E: Radio recombination lines detected in with the speed of light c, the Planck constant h, the frequency
M8 ν of a respective transition and the corresponding spontaneous
emission Einstein (A) coefficient Aul .
Table E.1 provides an overview of the computed Gaussian pro- By rearranging Eq. F.1 as
files for the combined spectra of the detected radio recombina- ! !
tion lines. Nu 1 Ntotal
ln =− Eu + ln , (F.3)
Table E.1: Line parameters of identified radio recombination gu kB T rot Q(T rot )
lines in the M8 region. it can be seen that the logarithm of the column density of an
upper energy level Nu is proportional to the energy of the re-
Clump Transition I 3LSR ∆v spective level. This relation can be used to perform a linear fit
K km s−1 km s−1 km s−1 on the known values of ln(Nu /gu ) and Eu , in order to obtain the
HG H 39-44α 12.69 ± 0.04 3.5 ± 0.1 26.7 ± 0.1 rotation temperature T rot from the slope and the column density
He 39-44α 0.84 ± 0.03 1.9 ± 0.3 19.7 ± 0.8 from the ordinate interception.
C 39-44α 0.11 ± 0.02 11.1 ± 0.2 4.1 ± 0.6 For this analysis, transitions of the same acetonitrile or
H 48-56β 3.78 ± 0.09 3.3 ± 0.3 26.8 ± 0.8 methyl acetylene multiplets are fit simultaneously with multiple
H 54-63γ 1.75 ± 0.03 3.7 ± 0.3 26.6 ± 0.7 Gaussian components of the same width and velocity shift to ac-
WC1 H 39-44α 1.46 ± 0.04 -2.4 ± 0.3 22.0 ± 0.7 count for line blending. According to Equation F.2, the values of
WC2 H 39-44α 0.92 ± 0.05 0.5 ± 0.7 25.8 ± 1.7 Nu and therefore of ln(Nu /gu ) depend on the velocity-integrated
WC3 H 39-44α 1.04 ± 0.06 0.2 ± 0.6 22.8 ± 1.4 line intensity I. Their uncertainty is therefore derived by propa-
WC4 H 39-44α 1.97 ± 0.06 6.4 ± 0.5 29.2 ± 1.0 gating the uncertainty of I, which is composed of the fit uncer-
WC5 H 39-44α 1.64 ± 0.05 1.7 ± 0.4 23.8 ± 0.8 tainty for the line profiles with the MINIMIZE function of CLASS,
WC6 H 39-44α 1.12 ± 0.05 1.3 ± 0.5 23.9 ± 1.4 and an additional 10% uncertainty to account for the calibration
EC1 H 39-44α 0.39 ± 0.04 -0.1 ± 0.8 18.3 ± 2.1 uncertainty of the data.
EC2 H 39-44α 0.39 ± 0.05 0.1 ± 1.0 16.0 ± 2.4
SC6 H 39-44α 0.79 ± 0.05 -0.4 ± 0.8 21.9 ± 1.4
Notes. Fits for the α RRLs with N=39-44 include lines with N=39-42
and N=44. Similarly, our observations do not cover RRLs with N=53
and 54 for β and N=61 for γ transitions, due to which these are not used
for the combined spectra.
Appendix F: Temperatures and column densities of

acetonitrile and methyl acetylene and
formaldehyde
As described in Sect. 5.2 and Sect. 5.3, we derived the ki-
netic temperatures, H2 volume densities and column densities
of formaldehyde with an MCMC method, and the properties
of acetonitrile and methyl acetylene using rotation diagrams.
This appendix gives a short overview of the concepts used in
rotation diagrams and provides the resulting physical quanti-
ties in Table F.1 alongside the corresponding rotation diagrams
in Fig. F.1–F.15 and MCMC posterior density distributions in
Fig. F.16–F.38.
When multiple transitions of the same species are detected, it
is possible to derive rotation temperatures T rot and column den-
sities Ntotal of the respective species. In the frame of an energy
level system, the Boltzmann distribution can be written as
!
Nu gu Eu
= exp − , (F.1)
Ntotal Q(T rot ) kB T rot
with the Boltzmann constant kB , the column density of a respec-
tive upper energy level Nu , and the degeneracy gu and energy
Eu of the same level. Q(T rot ) is the rotational partition function
which describes the sum over all rotational energy levels in a Fig. F.1: Rotation diagrams of CH3 C2 H (upper panel) and
molecule for a given rotation temperature (Mangum & Shirley CH3 CN (lower panel) at HG. Black data points are inferred from
2015). Nu can be computed in the optically thin limit from the the line intensities, the red line shows the least squares linear fit.
measured intensity I of a transition between upper energy level
u and lower energy level l, according to (Goldsmith & Langer
1999).
8πkB ν2
Nuthin = I, (F.2)
hc3 Aul
Fig. F.4: Rotation diagram of CH3 CN at EC1. Black data points

are inferred from the line intensities, the red line shows the least
squares linear fit.
Fig. F.2: Rotation diagrams of CH3 C2 H (upper panel) and

CH3 CN (lower panel) at WC1. Black data points are inferred
from the line intensities, the red line shows the least squares lin-
ear fit.
Fig. F.5: Rotation diagram of CH3 CN at EC3. Black data points
squares linear fit.
Fig. F.3: Rotation diagram of CH3 C2 H at WC2. Black data

points are inferred from the line intensities, the red line shows
the least squares linear fit.

Fig. F.6: Rotation diagrams of CH3 C2 H (upper panel) and Fig. F.7: Rotation diagrams of CH3 C2 H (upper panel) and
CH3 CN (lower panel) at EC4. Black data points are inferred CH3 CN (lower panel) at E. Black data points are inferred from
from the line intensities, the red line shows the least squares lin- the line intensities, the red line shows the least squares linear fit.
ear fit.

CH3 CN (lower panel) at SE1. Black data points are inferred from CH3 CN (lower panel) at SE3. Black data points are inferred from
the line intensities, the red line shows the least squares linear fit. the line intensities, the red line shows the least squares linear fit.

CH3 CN (lower panel) at SE7. Black data points are inferred from CH3 CN (lower panel) at SE8. Black data points are inferred from
the line intensities, the red line shows the least squares linear fit. the line intensities, the red line shows the least squares linear fit.
Fig. F.12: Rotation diagram of CH3 CN at SC1. Black data points

squares linear fit.

log10(nH2 [cm 3]) = 5.34+0.10

0.10 M8HG
Nlines 4
log10(Tkin [K]) = 1.74+0.07

0.06
2.0
log10(Tkin [K])
1.9
1.8
1.7
1.6
log10(NH2CO/dv [km
cm 2 ]) = 13.73+0.03
s1 0.03
cm 2 ])
log10(NH2CO/dv [km s1
4.9 0 5 0 5 0
.6 .6 .7 .7 .8
13 13 13 13 13
Fig. F.13: Rotation diagrams of CH3 C2 H at SC2. Black data
points are inferred from the line intensities, the red line shows
the least squares linear fit.
5
0
5
0
5
0
1.6
1.7
1.8
1.9
13 .0
.60
.65
.70
.75
.80
5.1
5.2
5.4
5.5
5.7
13
13
13
13
log10(nH2 [cm 3]) log10(Tkin [K]) log10(NH2CO/dv [ cm 21 ])
km s
Fig. F.16: Posterior probability distributions of the H2 volume

density nH2 , kinetic temperature T kin , and H2 CO column density
per velocity bin NH2CO /dv at HG.
log10(nH2 [cm 3]) = 4.87+0.11

0.11 M8WC1
Nlines 4
log10(Tkin [K]) = 1.59+0.05

0.05
.28 .36 .44 .52 .60 .68 .44 1.52 1.60 1.68 1.76

log10(Tkin [K])
squares linear fit.
log10(NH2CO/dv [km
cm 2 ]) = 13.47+0.06
s1 0.05
cm 2 ])
13 13 13 13 13 13 1
0
5
0
5
0
5
4
2
0
8
6
.28
.36
.44
.52
.60
.68
4.5
4.6
4.8
4.9
5.1
5.2
1.4
1.5
1.6
1.6
1.7
13
13
13
13
13
13

km s

per velocity bin NH2CO /dv at WC1.

squares linear fit.

log10(nH2 [cm 3]) = 4.93+0.13

0.13 M8WC4 log10(nH2 [cm 3]) = 4.72+0.10
0.11 M8EC2
Nlines 3 Nlines 4
log10(Tkin [K]) = 1.93+0.14

0.12 log10(Tkin [K]) = 1.78+0.08
0.07
1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 2.0 2.1

2.4
log10(Tkin [K])
log10(Tkin [K])
2.2
2.0
1.8
1.6
log10(NH2CO/dv [km
cm 2 ]) = 12.75+0.07
s1 0.08 log10(NH2CO/dv [km
cm 2 ]) = 12.94+0.06
s1 0.06
cm 2 ])
cm 2 ])
s1
s1
.72 .80 .88 .96 .04 .12
log10(NH2CO/dv [km
log10(NH2CO/dv [km
12 12 12 12 13 13
.90
12
.75
12
.60
12
.45
12
4.6
4.8
5.0
5.2
5.4
1.6
1.8
2.0
2.2
2.4
.45
.60
.75
.90
5
0
5
0
5
0
1.6
1.7
1.8
1.9
2.0
122.1
.72
.80
.88
.96
.04
.12
4.3
4.5
4.6
4.8
4.9
5.1
12
12
12
12
12
12
12
13
13
log10(nH2 [cm 3]) log10(Tkin [K]) log10(NH2CO/dv [ cm 21 ]) log10(nH2 [cm 3]) log10(Tkin [K]) log10(NH2CO/dv [ cm 21 ])
km s km s
Fig. F.18: Posterior probability distributions of the H2 volume Fig. F.20: Posterior probability distributions of the H2 volume
density nH2 , kinetic temperature T kin , and H2 CO column density density nH2 , kinetic temperature T kin , and H2 CO column density
per velocity bin NH2CO /dv at WC4. per velocity bin NH2CO /dv at EC2.
log10(nH2 [cm 3]) = 4.73+0.11

0.13 M8EC1 log10(nH2 [cm 3]) = 4.64+0.11
0.12 M8EC3
Nlines 3 Nlines 3
log10(Tkin [K]) = 1.57+0.05

0.05 log10(Tkin [K]) = 1.69+0.07
0.07
4 2 0 8 6
1.4 1.5 1.6 1.6 1.7
log10(Tkin [K])
log10(Tkin [K])
1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9
log10(NH2CO/dv [km
cm 2 ]) = 13.32+0.07
cm 2 ]) = 13.02+0.07
s1 0.06
cm 2 ])
cm 2 ])
.1 .2 .3 .4 .5 .6
s1
s1
13 13 13 13 13 13
log10(NH2CO/dv [km
log10(NH2CO/dv [km
.8 .9 .0 .1 .2
12 12 13 13 13
4.4
4.6
4.8
5.0
4
2
0
8
6
.1
.2
.3
.4
.5
.6
0
5
0
5
0
5
1.5
1.6
1.7
1.8
1.9
.8
.9
.0
.1
.2
1.4
1.5
1.6
1.6
1.7
4.2
4.3
4.5
4.6
4.8
4.9
13
13
13
13
13
13
12
12
13
13
13
km s km s
per velocity bin NH2CO /dv at EC1. per velocity bin NH2CO /dv at EC3.

log10(nH2 [cm 3]) = 4.25+0.33

1.04 M8EC4 log10(nH2 [cm 3]) = 4.74+0.17
0.21 M8E
Nlines 4 Nlines 4
log10(Tkin [K]) = 1.58+0.22

0.08 log10(Tkin [K]) = 1.68+0.10
0.08
log10(Tkin [K])
log10(Tkin [K])
5
5
2.2
1.9
0
0
2.0
1.8
5
5
1.7
1.6
0
0
1.5
1.5
log10(NH2CO/dv [km
cm 2 ]) = 14.05+0.83
cm 2 ]) = 14.42+0.13
s1 0.10
cm 2 ])
cm 2 ])
s1
s1
log10(NH2CO/dv [km
log10(NH2CO/dv [km
.6 4.4 5.2 6.0 6.8
.8
14
1 1 1 1
.6
14
.4
14
.2
14
13
1
2
3
4
5
0
5
0
5
.6
.4
.2
.0
.8
3.9
4.2
4.5
4.8
5.1
5.4
0
5
0
5
.2
.4
.6
.8
1.5
1.7
2.0
2.2
1.5
1.6
1.8
1.9
13
14
15
16
16
14
14
14
14
km s km s
per velocity bin NH2CO /dv at EC4. per velocity bin NH2CO /dv at E.
log10(nH2 [cm 3]) = 4.22+0.28

0.93 M8EC5 log10(nH2 [cm 3]) = 4.89+0.10
0.11 M8SE1
Nlines 4 Nlines 4
log10(Tkin [K]) = 1.62+0.18

0.07 log10(Tkin [K]) = 1.68+0.06
0.05
2.2
log10(Tkin [K])
log10(Tkin [K])
2 0 8 6 4
1.5 1.6 1.6 1.7 1.8
2.0
1.8
1.6
log10(NH2CO/dv [km
cm 2 ]) = 13.88+0.77 log10(NH2CO/dv [km
cm 2 ]) = 13.47+0.05
.6 .4 .2 .0 .8 .4
s1 0.20 s1 0.05
cm 2 ])
cm 2 ])
13 14 15 16 16 1
s1
s1
log10(NH2CO/dv [km
log10(NH2CO/dv [km
.28 .36 .44 .52 .60
13 13 13 13 13
1
2
3
4
5
1.4
1.6
1.8
2.0
2.2
.6
.4
.2
.0
.8
0
5
0
5
0
5
2
0
8
6
4
.28
.36
.44
.52
.60
4.5
4.6
4.8
4.9
5.1
5.2
1.5
1.6
1.6
1.7
1.8
13
14
15
16
16
13
13
13
13
13
km s km s
per velocity bin NH2CO /dv at EC5. per velocity bin NH2CO /dv at SE1.

log10(nH2 [cm 3]) = 4.63+0.11

0.13 M8SE2 log10(nH2 [cm 3]) = 4.79+0.09
0.10 M8SE4
Nlines 4 Nlines 4
log10(Tkin [K]) = 1.71+0.07

0.06 log10(Tkin [K]) = 1.65+0.05
0.05
4
1.8
log10(Tkin [K])
log10(Tkin [K])
1.9
6
1.7
1.8
8
1.6
1.7
0
1.6
1.6
2
log10(NH2CO/dv [km
cm 2 ]) = 13.44+0.08 log10(NH2CO/dv [km
cm 2 ]) = 13.16+0.06
1.5
s1 0.07 s1 0.05
cm 2 ])
cm 2 ])
.2 .3 .4 .5 .6 .7 .5
13 13 13 13 13 13 1
s1
s1
.96 3.04 3.12 3.20 3.28 3.36
log10(NH2CO/dv [km
log10(NH2CO/dv [km
12 1 1 1 1 1
4.2
4.4
4.6
4.8
5.0
1.5
1.6
1.7
1.8
1.9
.2
.3
.4
.5
.6
.7
0
5
0
5
0
2
0
8
6
4
.96
.04
.12
.20
.28
.36
4.5
4.6
4.8
4.9
5.1
1.5
1.6
1.6
1.7
1.8
13
13
13
13
13
13
12
13
13
13
13
13
km s km s
per velocity bin NH2CO /dv at SE2. per velocity bin NH2CO /dv at SE4.
log10(nH2 [cm 3]) = 4.94+0.09

0.10 M8SE3 log10(nH2 [cm 3]) = 4.85+0.09
0.10 M8SE5
Nlines 4 Nlines 4
log10(Tkin [K]) = 1.63+0.05

0.05 log10(Tkin [K]) = 1.68+0.06
0.06
1.9
log10(Tkin [K])
log10(Tkin [K])
6
1.7
1.8
8
1.6
1.7
0
1.6
1.6
2
1.5
log10(NH2CO/dv [km
cm 2 ]) = 13.35+0.05 log10(NH2CO/dv [km
cm 2 ]) = 13.08+0.05
1.5
s1 0.05 s1 0.05
cm 2 ])
cm 2 ])
s1
s1
.20 .28 .36 .44 .52
log10(NH2CO/dv [km
log10(NH2CO/dv [km
13 13 13 13 13
.96 .04 .12 .20

12 13 13 13
5
0
5
0
5
2
0
8
6
.20
.28
.36
.44
.52
0
5
0
5
0
1.5
1.6
1.7
1.8
1.9
.96
.04
.12
.20
4.6
4.8
4.9
5.1
5.2
1.5
1.6
1.6
1.7
4.5
4.6
4.8
4.9
5.1
13
13
13
13
13
12
13
13
13
km s km s

log10(nH2 [cm 3]) = 5.00+0.09

0.09 M8SE6 log10(nH2 [cm 3]) = 4.04+0.24
0.31 M8SE8
Nlines 4 Nlines 4
log10(Tkin [K]) = 1.62+0.05

0.04 log10(Tkin [K]) = 1.77+0.10
0.08
0 6 2 8 4 0
1.5 1.5 1.6 1.6 1.7 1.8
0
13 13 14 14 14 15 1.5 1.6 1.8 1.9 2.1
log10(Tkin [K])
log10(Tkin [K])
5 0 5
log10(NH2CO/dv [km
cm 2 ]) = 13.02+0.04
cm 2 ]) = 14.00+0.27
s1 0.18
.5 .8 .1 .4 .7 .0 0
cm 2 ])
cm 2 ])
s1
s1
log10(NH2CO/dv [km
log10(NH2CO/dv [km
.90 2.96 3.02 3.08 3.14
12 1 1 1 1
5
0
5
0
5
0
6
2
8
4
0
.90
.96
.02
.08
.14
2.8
3.2
3.6
4.0
4.4
4.8
0
5
0
5
0
.5
.8
.1
.4
.7
.0
4.6
4.8
4.9
5.1
5.2
1.5
1.5
1.6
1.6
1.7
1.8
1.5
1.6
1.8
1.9
2.1
13
13
14
14
14
15
12
12
13
13
13
km s km s
log10(nH2 [cm 3]) = 4.91+0.10

0.11 M8SE7 log10(nH2 [cm 3]) = 4.82+0.09
0.10 M8SC1
Nlines 4 Nlines 4
log10(Tkin [K]) = 1.61+0.05

0.04 log10(Tkin [K]) = 1.70+0.06
0.05
2 0 8 6 4 2
1.5 1.6 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9
.36 .44 .52 .60 .68 .44 1.52 1.60 1.68 1.76
log10(Tkin [K])
log10(Tkin [K])
log10(NH2CO/dv [km
cm 2 ]) = 13.49+0.05
cm 2 ]) = 12.92+0.05
s1 0.05
cm 2 ])
cm 2 ])
13 13 13 13 13 1
s1
s1
log10(NH2CO/dv [km
log10(NH2CO/dv [km
.72 .80 .88 .96 .04
12 12 12 12 13
0
5
0
5
0
5
4
2
0
8
6
.36
.44
.52
.60
.68
0
5
0
5
0
2
0
8
6
4
12.92
.72
.80
.88
.96
.04
4.5
4.6
4.8
4.9
5.1
5.2
1.4
1.5
1.6
1.6
1.7
4.5
4.6
4.8
4.9
5.1
1.5
1.6
1.6
1.7
1.8
13
13
13
13
13
12
12
12
13
km s km s
per velocity bin NH2CO /dv at SE7. per velocity bin NH2CO /dv at SC1.

log10(nH2 [cm 3]) = 4.50+0.13

0.16 M8SC2 log10(nH2 [cm 3]) = 4.51+0.11
0.12 M8SC4
Nlines 4 Nlines 3
log10(Tkin [K]) = 1.61+0.06

0.05 log10(Tkin [K]) = 1.88+0.10
0.09
4 2 0 8 6 4
1.4 1.5 1.6 1.6 1.7 1.8
5 0 5 0 5
13 13 13 13 13 13 1.6 1.8 1.9 2.1 2.2
log10(Tkin [K])
log10(Tkin [K])
log10(NH2CO/dv [km
cm 2 ]) = 13.34+0.11
cm 2 ]) = 13.51+0.07
s1 0.07
cm 2 ])
cm 2 ])
s1
s1
.3 .4 .5 .6 .7 .8
log10(NH2CO/dv [km
log10(NH2CO/dv [km
.05 3.20 3.35 3.50 3.65
13 1 1 1 1
4.0
4.2
4.4
4.6
4.8
5.0
4
2
0
8
6
4
.05
.20
.35
.50
.65
4.2
4.4
4.6
4.8
5
0
5
0
5
.3
.4
.5
.6
.7
.8
1.4
1.5
1.6
1.6
1.7
1.8
1.6
1.8
1.9
2.1
2.2
13
13
13
13
13
13
13
13
13
13
13
km s km s
per velocity bin NH2CO /dv at SC2. per velocity bin NH2CO /dv at SC4.
log10(nH2 [cm 3]) = 4.47+0.14

0.18 M8SC3 log10(nH2 [cm 3]) = 4.90+0.09
0.09 M8SC6
Nlines 3 Nlines 4
log10(Tkin [K]) = 1.61+0.09

0.08 log10(Tkin [K]) = 1.80+0.07
0.06
5
1.3 1.5 1.6 1.8 1.9
2.0
log10(Tkin [K])
log10(Tkin [K])
0
1.9
5
1.8
0
1.7
log10(NH2CO/dv [km
cm 2 ]) = 13.34+0.12 log10(NH2CO/dv [km
cm 2 ]) = 13.18+0.04
5
1.6
s1 0.09 s1 0.04
cm 2 ])
cm 2 ])
s1
s1
.02 .08 .14 .20 .26 .32
log10(NH2CO/dv [km
log10(NH2CO/dv [km
.05 .20 .35 .50 .65
13 13 13 13 13 13
13 13 13 13 13
0
5
0
5
0
5
0
5
0
5
.05
.20
.35
.50
.65
5
0
5
0
5
1.6
1.7
1.8
1.9
2.0
.02
.08
.14
.20
.26
.32
4.0
4.2
4.5
4.7
5.0
1.3
1.5
1.6
1.8
1.9
4.6
4.8
4.9
5.1
5.2
13
13
13
13
13
13
13
13
13
13
13
km s km s
per velocity bin NH2CO /dv at SC3. per velocity bin NH2CO /dv at SC6.

log10(nH2 [cm 3]) = 4.86+0.10

0.12 M8SC8
Nlines 4
log10(Tkin [K]) = 1.65+0.06

0.05
4
1.8
log10(Tkin [K])
6
1.7
8
1.6
0
1.6
2
log10(NH2CO/dv [km
cm 2 ]) = 13.52+0.06
1.5
s1 0.06
cm 2 ])
.36 .44 .52 .60 .68
13 13 13 13 13
0
5
0
5
0
5
2
0
8
6
4
.36
.44
.52
.60
.68
4.5
4.6
4.8
4.9
5.1
5.2
1.5
1.6
1.6
1.7
1.8
13
13
13
13
13

km s

per velocity bin NH2CO /dv at SC8.
log10(nH2 [cm 3]) = 4.55+0.12

0.13 M8SC9
Nlines 3
log10(Tkin [K]) = 1.67+0.07

0.07
1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9
log10(Tkin [K])
log10(NH2CO/dv [km
cm 2 ]) = 13.16+0.08
s1 0.07
cm 2 ])
.90 3.05 3.20 3.35
12 1 1 1
4.2
4.4
4.6
4.8
5.0
1.4
1.5
1.6
1.7
1.8
1.9
.90
.05
.20
.35
12
13
13
13

km s

per velocity bin NH2CO /dv at SC9.

Table F.1: Rotational temperatures and column densities derived from para-Formaldehyde (p-H2 CO), Acetonitrile (CH3 CN) and
Methyl Acetylene (CH3 C2 H). The fourth column contains the H2 volume densities derived based on the observed H2 CO transitions.
Clump T (H2 CO) N(H2 CO) nH2 T (CH3 C2 H) N(CH3 C2 H) T (CH3 CN) N(CH3 CN)
(K) (1012 cm−2 ) (104 cm−3 ) (K) (1012 cm−2 ) (K) (1012 cm−2 )
HG 55.0+7.6
−8.9 53.7+3.7
−3.7 21.9+5.0
−5.0 32.5 ± 3.5 38.2 ± 7.8 20.0 ± 8.2 1.1 ± 0.8
WC1 38.9+4.5
−4.5 29.5+3.4
−4.1 7.4+1.9
−1.9 35.0 ± 7.3 61.7 ± 22.3 20.8 ± 3.5 1.4 ± 0.4
WC2 - - - 43.6 ± 14.2 72.5 ± 39.5 - -
WC3 - - - - - - -
WC4 85.1+23.5
−27.4 5.6+1.0
−0.9 8.5+2.5
−2.5 - - - -
WC5 - - - - - - -
WC6 - - - - - - -
WC7 - - - - - - -
WC8 - - - - - - -
WC9 - - - - - - -
SW1 - - - - - - -
EC1 37.2+4.3
−4.3 20.9+3.4
−3.4 5.4+1.4
−1.6 - - 48.5 ± 10.9 2.5 ± 1.0
EC2 60.3+9.7
−11.1 8.7+1.2
−1.2 5.2+1.2
−1.3 - - - -
EC3 49.0+7.9
−7.9 10.5+1.4
−1.7 4.4+1.1
−1.2 - - 46.4 ± 20.2 2.2 ± 1.5
EC4 38.0+7.0
−19.3 112.2+62.0
−214.4 1.8+1.4
−4.3 27.7 ± 3.8 57.2 ± 14.3 27.7 ± 7.3 1.6 ± 0.7
EC5 41.7+6.7
−17.3 75.9+34.9
−134.5 1.7+1.1
−3.6 - - - -
E 47.9+8.8
−11.0 263.0+60.6
−78.7 5.5+2.2
−2.7 30.0 ± 0.5 213.1 ± 11.7 33.3 ± 1.6 7.6 ± 0.7
SE1 47.9+5.5
−6.6 29.5+3.4
−3.4 7.8+1.8
−2.0 22.3 ± 0.6 54.7 ± 4.5 33.2 ± 2.6 2.9 ± 0.4
SE2 51.3+7.1
−8.3 27.5+4.4
−5.1 4.3+1.1
−1.3 - - - -
SE3 42.7+4.9
−4.9 22.4+2.6
−2.6 8.7+1.8
−2.0 20.3 ± 1.5 31.4 ± 5.1 46.9 ± 17.2 3.3 ± 1.9
SE4 44.7+5.1
−5.1 14.5+1.7
−2.0 6.2+1.3
−1.4 - - - -
SE5 47.9+6.6
−6.6 12.0+1.4
−1.4 7.1+1.5
−1.6 - - - -
SE6 41.7+3.8
−4.8 10.5+1.0
−1.0 10.0+2.1
−2.1 - - - -
SE7 40.7+3.8
−4.7 30.9+3.6
−3.6 8.1+1.9
−2.1 14.9 ± 4.4 19.9 ± 11.7 37.5 ± 7.2 2.5 ± 0.8
+10.8
SE8 58.9−13.6 100.0+41.4
−62.2 1.1+0.6
−0.8 36.6 ± 9.4 37.7 ± 16.7 39.0 ± 5.9 2.9 ± 0.8
SC1 50.1+5.8
−6.9 8.3+1.0
−1.0 6.6+1.4
−1.5 - - 17.9 ± 7.6 0.9 ± 0.7
SC2 40.7+4.7
−5.6 21.9+4.5
−5.5 3.2+0.9
−1.2 34.1 ± 13.9 22.6 ± 16.1 - -
SC3 40.7+7.5
−8.4 21.9+4.5
−6.0 3.0+1.0
−1.2 - - - -
+15.7
SC4 75.9−17.5 32.4+5.2
−5.2 3.2+0.8
−0.9 - - - -
SC5 - - - - - - -
SC6 63.1+8.7
−10.2 15.1+1.4
−1.4 7.9+1.6
−1.6 - - - -
SC7 - - - - - - -
SC8 44.7+5.1
−6.2 33.1+4.6
−4.6 7.2+1.7
−2.0 - - 42.8 ± 13.3 3.0 ± 1.5
SC9 46.8+7.5
−7.5 14.5+2.3
−2.7 3.5+1.0
−1.1 - - 11.3 ± 3.5 0.6 ± 0.4
C1 - - - - - - -
C2 - - - - - - -
C3 - - - - - - -

Appendix G: Column densities of detected species Table G.1: Column density values and upper limits for 50 species
at all clumps in M8 at HG.
This appendix provides column density values or upper limits Clump Species N1 (Species) N2 (Species)
for all species detected in M8 for all clumps, as described in (cm −2 ) (cm −2 )
Section 5.4. HG 13
CN < 2.6 × 1013 -
HG c-C3 H < 1.7 × 1013 -
HG C13 CH < 8.2 × 1013 -
HG C2 D < 1.4 × 1014 -
HG C2 H 1.8 × 1015
HG CN 1.0 × 1015 1.2 × 1014
HG HCO 1.1 × 1014
HG NO < 1.1 × 1015 -
HG NS < 3.7 × 1013 -
HG 13
CH3 OH-A+ < 5.8 × 1013 -
13
HG CO 1.8 × 1017 1.3 × 1016
HG 13 18
C O < 2.0 × 1015 -
13
HG CS 1.1 × 1013
HG 13 34
C S < 1.7 × 1012 -
HG C 3 H+ < 1.1 × 1012 -
HG C4 H 2.6 × 1013
HG C2 S 7.1 × 1012
HG CF+ 8.1 × 1012
HG CH3 C2 H 3.8 × 1013
HG CH3 CHO-A < 2.4 × 1013 -
HG CH3 CN 1.1 × 1012
HG CH3 OH-A+ 1.9 × 1014
HG CH3 SH-E < 4.5 × 1013 -
HG CO 4.5 × 1017 1.3 × 1017
HG C17 O 5.6 × 1016
HG C18 O 2.9 × 1016 5.1 × 1014
HG CS 2.4 × 1014 4.7 × 1012
HG C33 S 9.3 × 1012
34
HG CS 3.3 × 1013
HG DC3 N < 8.8 × 1011 -
HG DCN 6.5 × 1012
HG DCO+ 6.1 × 1011
HG DNC < 2.9 × 1012 -
HG H132 CO < 2.6 × 1012 -
HG H2 C2 O < 1.2 × 1013 -
HG H2 CO 5.4 × 1013 1.4 × 1013
HG H2 CS 2.6 × 1013
HG H2 C34 S < 1.1 × 1013 -
HG H2 S < 1.1 × 1014 -
HG H13 CC2 H < 1.1 × 1012 -
HG H13 CN 1.2 × 1013
HG H13 CO+ 3.7 × 1012 2.9 × 1011
HG HC3 N 1.6 × 1013
HG HC5 N < 2.6 × 1012 -
HG HC13 CCN < 9.9 × 1011 -
HG HC13 2 CN < 9.9 × 1011 -
HG HC15 3 N < 8.2 × 1011 -
HG HCN 2.8 × 1014
HG HC15 N 2.3 × 1012
HG HCNO < 7.4 × 1011 -
Notes. Uncertainties are estimated to be of order 10% based on the
calibration uncertainty of the telescopes. If two velocity components
are detected, the column densities N1 and N2 are calculated separately.
For undetected species, an upper limit of the respective column den-
sity is calculated based on the baseline RMS. Corresponding values are
marked with a <. The complete table containing all detected species at
all M8 clumps will only be made available at the CDS.

The Effects of Stellar Feedback On Molecular Clumps in The Lagoon Nebula (M8)

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Astronomy & Astrophysics manuscript no.

The effects of stellar feedback on molecular clumps in

Received Dec 19, 2023; accepted April 04, 2024

1. Introduction fected by the radiation of already existing massive O- and B-type

Article number, page 1 of 44

Maxwell Telescope2 (JCMT), towards which they observed the

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Fig. 3: Dust continuum

are compared to the ATLASGAL sample of clumps examined

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In the first step, we visually inspected the spectrum of E,

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Table 1: Molecular species detected in the M8 region.

Carbon chains S-bearing O-bearing N-bearing Deuterated COMs Others

velocity components of the same transition are fitted simulta-

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Fig. 8: Intensity and LOS velocities of the

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Table 2: Line of sight velocities of the M8 clumps.

Clump 31,LSR 32,LSR

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planation of the method, the derived physical parameters, and

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Fig. 13: Temperatures in clumps in the La-

it is even possible that the corresponding ATLASGAL sources

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Moreover, the derived dust temperatures of the M8 clumps,

6.2. Kinematics in the Lagoon Nebula

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LOS velocity. This suggests similar motions of both gas layers,

6.3. Chemistry of the M8 clumps

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Fig. 18: HCO column densities at the M8

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CH3 CN emission implies that the corresponding clumps do not

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Appendix A: Observational parameters:

Table A.1: Coordinates of all the clumps observed with the

Clump DEC (J2000) RA (J2000)

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Fig. B.3: Comparison of the computed dust temperatures for se-

Fig. B.2: Comparison of the computed masses (upper panel) and

sources it will be beneficial to extract the AKARI flux density

Article number, page 22 of 44

Appendix C: Physical properties of the M8 clumps

Clump T dust τ870 µm T hot rhot M L nH2

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Appendix D: Identified Transitions and line parameters

Article number, page 29 of 44

Molecule Transition Frequency Eup Aij gup origin