IRAS results on outer galaxy star formation

An infrared defined (60 micron) sample of IRAS sources were systematically studied in order to investigate star formation in the outer Galaxy. Five percent of the sample are point sources with IRAS spectra that suggest the emission is from a dust shell surrounding a mature star. Ninety five percent have spectra where flux density strictly rises with wavelength. The sources are extended, and it is shown that Point Source Catalog fluxes seriously underestimate total fluxes. CO kinematic distances were reliably assigned to two thirds of the sources. Most of the infrared luminosities correspond to B spectral types. Six cm continuum emission were detected from all sources inferred to have spectral type B1 or earlier. The combined IRAS/CO/6 cm data show these sources are young, moderately massive stars that are embedded in interstellar clouds. The young embedded sources define a distinct band in an IRAS color-colar diagram. Normal IRAS galaxies fall in the same band, consistent with the interpretation that their infrared emission is due to star formation

The Power of SOFIA/FORCAST in Estimating Internal Luminosities of Low Mass Class 0/I Protostars

With the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) routinely operating science flights, we demonstrate that observations with the Faint Object infraRed CAmera for the SOFIA Telescope (FORCAST) can provide reliable estimates of the internal luminosities, $L_{\rm int}$, of protostars. We have developed a technique to estimate $L_{\rm int}$ using a pair of FORCAST filters: one "short-wavelength" filter centered within 19.7-25.3 $\mu$m, and one "long-wavelength" filter within 31.5-37.1 $\mu$m. These $L_{\rm int}$ estimates are reliable to within 30-40% for 67% of protostars and to within a factor of 2.3-2.6 for 99% of protostars. The filter pair comprised of F25.3$\mu$m and F37.1$\mu$m achieves the best sensitivity and most constrained results. We evaluate several assumptions that could lead to systematic uncertainties. The OH5 dust opacity matches observational constraints for protostellar environments best, though not perfectly; we find that any improved dust model will have a small impact of 5-10% on the $L_{\rm int}$ estimates. For protostellar envelopes, the TSC84 model yields masses that are twice those of the Ulrich model, but we conclude this mass difference does not significantly impact results at the mid-infrared wavelengths probed by FORCAST. Thus, FORCAST is a powerful instrument for luminosity studies targeting newly discovered protostars or suspected protostars lacking detections longward of 24 $\mu$m. Furthermore, with its dynamic range and greater angular resolution, FORCAST may be used to characterize protostars that were either saturated or merged with other sources in previous surveys using the Spitzer Space Telescope or Herschel Space Observatory.Comment: 17 pages, 9 figures. Accepted for publication in Ap

IRAS colors of VLA identified objects in the galaxy

Infrared Astronomy Satellite (IRAS) sources found within 4 degrees of l = 125 deg, b = 2 deg on the 3rd HCON 60 micron Sky Brightness Images were observed at the Very Large Array (VLA). Regions were to be identified where massive stars are forming by looking for small areas of radio continuum emissions. The IRAS sources could be divided into three groups by their IRAS 12 micron/25 micron and 60 micron/100 micron color. The group identified with star forming regions contained essentially all of the objects with extended radio emission. In all of these cases the extended radio emission showed a morphology consistent with the identification of these objects as HII regions. The conclusion drawn is that star formation regions can be distinguished from other objects by their infrared colors

A correlation between the IRAS infrared cirrus at 60 or 100 microns and neutral atomic hydrogen in the outer galaxy

A linear correlation was found between the infrared cirrus at 100 or 60 microns and neutral atomic hydrogen near the galactic plane. Infrared Astronomy Satellite (IRAS) Sky Brightness images were compared to the 0.5 deg resolution Weaver-Williams HI survey in two regions of the outer Galaxy near l = 125 deg and l = 215 deg. The dust temperature inferred is nearly uniform and in reasonable agreement with theoretical predictions of thermal dust emission

Large Amplitude Photometric Variability of the Candidate Protoplanet TMR-1C

In their HST/NICMOS observations, Terebey et al. 1998 detected a candidate protoplanet, TMR-1C, that lies at a separation of about 10" (~1000 AU) from the Class I protobinary TMR-1 (IRAS 04361+2547). A narrow filament-like structure was observed extending south-east from the central proto-binary system towards TMR-1C, suggesting a morphology in which the candidate protoplanet may have been ejected from the TMR-1 system. Follow-up low-resolution spectroscopy could not confirm if this object is a protoplanet or a low-luminosity background star. We present two epochs of near-infrared photometric observations obtained at the CFHT of TMR-1C. The time span of ~7 years between the two sets of observations provides with an opportunity to, (a) check for any photometric variability similar to that observed among young stellar objects, which would indicate the youth of this source, and, (b) determine the proper motion. TMR-1C displays large photometric variability between 1 and 2 mag in both the H- and Ks-bands. From our 2002 observations, we find a (H-Ks) color of 0.3 mag, which is much bluer than the value of 1.3 mag reported by T98 from HST observations. Also, we observe brightening in both the H- and Ks-bands when the colors are bluer, i.e. the object gets redder as it becomes fainter. We have explored the possible origins for the observed variability, and find extinction due to the presence of circumstellar material to be the most likely scenario. The observed large-amplitude photometric variations, and the possible presence of a circumstellar disk, are strong arguments against this object being an old background star.Comment: Accepted in A&

Evolutionary Signatures In The Formation Of Low-Mass Protostars. II. Toward Reconciling Models And Observations

A long-standing problem in low-mass star formation is the "luminosity problem," whereby protostars are underluminous compared to the accretion luminosity expected both from theoretical collapse calculations and arguments based on the minimum accretion rate necessary to form a star within the embedded phase duration. Motivated by this luminosity problem, we present a set of evolutionary models describing the collapse of low-mass, dense cores into protostars. We use as our starting point the evolutionary model following the inside-out collapse of a singular isothermal sphere as presented by Young & Evans. We calculate the radiative transfer of the collapsing core throughout the full duration of the collapse in two dimensions. From the resulting spectral energy distributions, we calculate standard observational signatures (L(bol), T(bol), L(bol)/L(smm)) to directly compare to observations. We incorporate several modifications and additions to the original Young & Evans model in an effort to better match observations with model predictions; we include (1) the opacity from scattering in the radiative transfer, (2) a circumstellar disk directly in the two-dimensional radiative transfer, (3) a two-dimensional envelope structure, taking into account the effects of rotation, (4) mass-loss and the opening of outflow cavities, and (5) a simple treatment of episodic mass accretion. We find that scattering, two-dimensional geometry, mass-loss, and outflow cavities all affect the model predictions, as expected, but none resolve the luminosity problem. On the other hand, we find that a cycle of episodic mass accretion similar to that predicted by recent theoretical work can resolve this problem and bring the model predictions into better agreement with observations. Standard assumptions about the interplay between mass accretion and mass loss in our model give star formation efficiencies consistent with recent observations that compare the core mass function and stellar initial mass function. Finally, the combination of outflow cavities and episodic mass accretion reduces the connection between observational class and physical stage to the point where neither of the two commonly used observational signatures (T(bol) and L(bol)/L(smm)) can be considered reliable indicators of physical stage.NASA 1224608, 1288664, 1288658, RSA 1377304, NNX 07-AJ72GNSF AST0607793UT Austin University Continuing FellowshipAstronom

Warm Extended Dense Gas Lurking At The Heart Of A Cold Collapsing Dense Core

In order to investigate when and how the birth of a protostellar core occurs, we made survey observations of four well-studied dense cores in the Taurus molecular cloud using CO transitions in submillimeter bands. We report here the detection of unexpectedly warm (~ 30 - 70 K), extended (radius of ~ 2400 AU), dense (a few times 10^{5} cm^{-3}) gas at the heart of one of the dense cores, L1521F (MC27), within the cold dynamically collapsing components. We argue that the detected warm, extended, dense gas may originate from shock regions caused by collisions between the dynamically collapsing components and outflowing/rotating components within the dense core. We propose a new stage of star formation, "warm-in-cold core stage (WICCS)", i.e., the cold collapsing envelope encases the warm extended dense gas at the center due to the formation of a protostellar core. WICCS would constitutes a missing link in evolution between a cold quiescent starless core and a young protostar in class 0 stage that has a large-scale bipolar outflow.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Letter

Effects of stellar outflows on interstellar sulfur oxide chemistry

Interferometer Maps with 2" to 6" resolution of a number of regions with active star formation (Orion A, W49, W51, SGRB2) show that the distribution of the molecule SO is very compact around stellar outflow sources. Both SO and SO2 were studied near three outflows, OrionA/IRc2 and two sources in W49. The two molecules have similar distributions and abundances. More than 95% of the emission comes from regions whose extents are only .05 to .2 pc., being larger around the more energetic sources. Their spectra are broad, 30 km/sec or more, suggesting that the oxide production is associated with the flows. The outflows are identified by water masers and by extended bipolar flows in SiO. Maps in other molecules, such as HCO+ and CS, which have similar collisional excitation requirements, have much greater spatial extent. Thus it appears that the SO and SO2 abundances are truly compact and are closely associated with the outflows

The circumstellar environment of the YSO TMR-1 and a revisit to the candidate very low-mass object TMR-1C

TMR-1 (IRAS~04361+2547) is a class~I proto-stellar source located in the nearby Taurus star-forming region. Its circumstellar environment is characterized by extended dust emission with complex structures and conspicuous filaments. A faint companion, called TMR-1C, located near the proto-star had been detected in previous studies, but its nature as a very young substellar object remained inconclusive. To improve the constraints on the nature of TMR-1C, and to investigate the process of very low-mass star formation in the TMR-1 system we use very sensitive infrared imaging observations as well as NIR spectroscopy. We construct the SED of TMR-1C over a much larger wavelength range as had been possible in previous work and compare it with models of extincted background stars, young sub-stellar objects, and very low-mass stars with circumstellar disk and envelope emission. We also search for additional low-luminosity objects in the immediate environment of the TMR-1, study the surrounding NIR dust morphology, and analyse the emission line spectrum of a filamentary structure in the physical context of a bow-shock model. We find that the observed SED of TMR-1C is inconsistent with an extincted background star, nor can be fitted with available models for a young extremely low-mass (<12M_Jup) object. Our near-IR spectrum indicates an effective temperature of at least ~3000K. Based on a good match of TMR-1C's SED with radiation transfer models of young stellar objects with circumstellar disks, we propose that TMR-1C is most likely a very low-mass star with M~0.1-0.2M_sun surrounded by a circumstellar disk with high inclination, i>80deg. Moreover, we detect an additional very faint source, which we call TMR-1D, and that shows a quite striking symmetry in position with TMR-1C. TMR-1C and TMR-1D may have been formed from a common triggered star-formation event, caused by... (abstract abridged)Comment: 15 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in A&

The Dust Emissivity Spectral Index in the Starless Core TMC-1C

In this paper we present a dust emission map of the starless core TMC-1C taken at 2100 microns. Along with maps at 160, 450, 850 and 1200 microns, we study the dust emissivity spectral index from the (sub)millimeter spectral energy distribution, and find that it is close to the typically assumed value of beta = 2. We also map the dust temperature and column density in TMC-1C, and find that at the position of the dust peak (A_V ~ 50), the line-of-sight-averaged temperature is ~7 K. Employing simple Monte Carlo modeling, we show that the data are consistent with a constant value for the emissivity spectral index over the whole map of TMC-1C.Comment: 11 pages, including 5 pages of figures. Accepted to Ap