Pillars of creation among destruction: star formation in molecular clouds near R136 in 30 doradus

Abstract

We present new sensitive CO(2-1) observations of the 30 Doradus region in the Large Magellanic Cloud. We identify a chain of three newly discovered molecular clouds that we name KN1, KN2, and KN3 lying within 2-14 pc in projection from the young massive cluster R136 in 30 Doradus. Excited H-2 2.12 mu m emission is spatially coincident with the molecular clouds, but ionized Br gamma emission is not. We interpret these observations as the tails of pillar-like structures whose ionized heads are pointing toward R136. Based on infrared photometry, we identify a new generation of stars forming within this structure.