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Description
Understanding massive star formation requires comprehensive knowledge about the initial conditions of this process. The cradles of massive stars are believed to be located in dense and massive molecular clumps. In this study, we present an unbiased sample of the earliest stages of massive star formation across 20deg^2^ of the sky. Within the region 10{deg}<l<20{deg} and |b|<1{deg}, we search the ATLASGAL survey at 870um for dense gas condensations. These clumps are carefully examined for indications of ongoing star formation using YSOs from the GLIMPSE source catalog as well as sources in the 24um MIPSGAL images, to search for starless clumps. We calculate the column densities as well as the kinematic distances and masses for sources where the v_lsr_ is known from spectroscopic observations. Within the given region, we identify 210 starless clumps with peak column densities >10^23^cm^-2^. In particular, we identify potential starless clumps on the other side of the Galaxy. The sizes of the clumps range between 0.1pc and 3pc with masses between a few tens of M_{sun}_ up to several ten thousands of M_{sun}_.
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