SiO in ATLASGAL-selected massive clumps

Here we analyse observations of the SiO (2-1) and (5-4) lines in a statistically significant sample to constrain the change of SiO abundance and the excitation conditions as a function of evolutionary stage of massive star-forming clumps. We performed an unbiased spectral line survey covering the 3-mm atmospheric window between 84-117GHz with the IRAM 30m telescope of a sample of 430 sources of the ATLASGAL survey, covering various evolutionary stages of massive clumps.

A smaller sample of 128 clumps has been observed in the SiO (5-4) transition with the APEX telescope to complement the (2-1) line and probe the excitation conditions of the emitting gas. We derived detection rates to assess the star formation activity of the sample, and we estimated the column density and abundance using both an LTE approximation and non-LTE calculations for a smaller subsample, where both transitions have been observed.