We estimate the fractal dimension of the ρ Ophiuchus Molecular Cloud Complex, associated with star forming regions. We selected a cube (v, l, b) database, obtained with J = 1−0 transition lines of 12CO and 13CO at a resolution of 22′′ using a multibeam receiver system on the 14-m telescope of the Five College Radio Astronomy Observatory. Using a code developed within IRAF, we identified slice-clouds with two threshold temperatures to estimate the fractal dimension. With threshold temperatures of 2.25 K (3σ) and 3.75 K (5σ), the fractal dimension of the target cloud is estimated to be D = 1.52–1.54, where P / AD/2 , which is larger than previous results. We suggest that the sampling rate (spatial resolution) of observed data must be an important parameter when estimating the fractal dimension, and that narrower or wider dispersion around an arbitrary fit line and the intercepts at NP = 100 should be checked whether they relate to rms noise level or characteristic structure of the target cloud. This issue could be investigated by analysing several high resolution databases with different quality (low or moderate sensitivity).

The molecular cloud, embedding AFGL 2591, has a “head-and-tail” structure with a total mass of ∼ 1800 M⊙, about half of the mass (∼ 900 M⊙) in the head (size ∼ 1.2 pc in diameter), and another half in the envelope (∼ 3.5 pc in the east-west direction). We found a new cloud in the direction toward north-east from AFGL 2591 (projected distance ∼ 2.4 pc), which is probably associated with the AFGL 2591 cloud. The 12CO spectrum clearly shows a blue-shifted high-velocity wing at around the velocity −20 ∼ −10 km s−1, but it is not clear whether this high-velocity component has a bipolar nature in our observations. The observed CN spectra also show blue-shifted wing component but the existence of the red-shifted component is not clear, either. In some CN and HCN spectra, the highvelocity components appear as a different velocity component, not a broad line-wing component. The dense cores, traced by CN and HCN, exist in the ‘head’ of the AFGL 2591 cloud with an elongated morphology roughly in the north-south direction with a size of about 0.5 pc. The abundance ratio between CN and HCN is found to be about 2 − 3 within the observed region, which may suggest a possibility that this core is being affected by the embedded YSOs or by possible shocks from outside.