119 research outputs found
First Detection of HCO Absorption in the Magellanic System
We present the first detection of HCO absorption in the Magellanic
System. Using the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA), we observed 9
extragalactic radio continuum sources behind the Magellanic System and detected
HCO absorption towards one source located behind the leading edge of the
Magellanic Bridge. The detection is located at LSR velocity of , with a full width at half maximum of and optical depth of .
Although there is abundant neutral hydrogen (HI) surrounding the sightline in
position-velocity space, at the exact location of the absorber the HI column
density is low, , and there is little evidence for dust
or CO emission from Planck observations. While the origin and survival of
molecules in such a diffuse environment remains unclear, dynamical events such
as HI flows and cloud collisions in this interacting system likely play an
important role.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ. 6 pages, 2 figures, 2 table
Identifying Young Stellar Objects in the Outer Galaxy: l = 224 deg Region in Canis Major
We study a very young star-forming region in the outer Galaxy that is the
most concentrated source of outflows in the Spitzer Space Telescope GLIMPSE360
survey. This region, dubbed CMa-l224, is located in the Canis Major OB1
association. CMa-l224 is relatively faint in the mid-infrared, but it shines
brightly at the far-infrared wavelengths as revealed by the Herschel Space
Observatory data from the Hi-GAL survey. Using the 3.6 and 4.5 m data from
the Spitzer/GLIMPSE360 survey, combined with the JHK 2MASS and the 70-500
m Herschel/Hi-GAL data, we develop a young stellar object (YSO) selection
criteria based on color-color cuts and fitting of the YSO candidates' spectral
energy distributions with YSO 2D radiative transfer models. We identify 293 YSO
candidates and estimate physical parameters for 210 sources well-fit with YSO
models. We select an additional 47 sources with GLIMPSE360-only photometry as
`possible YSO candidates'. The vast majority of these sources are associated
with high H column density regions and are good targets for follow-up
studies. The distribution of YSO candidates at different evolutionary stages
with respect to Herschel filaments supports the idea that stars are formed in
the filaments and become more dispersed with time. Both the supernova-induced
and spontaneous star formation scenarios are plausible in the environmental
context of CMa-l224. However, our results indicate that a spontaneous
gravitational collapse of filaments is a more likely scenario. The methods
developed for CMa-l224 can be used for larger regions in the Galactic plane
where the same set of photometry is available.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal Supplement
Series; 54 pages including appendice
G313.3+00.3: A New Planetary Nebula discovered by the Australia Telescope Compact Array and the Spitzer Space Telescope
We present a new planetary nebula, first identified in images from the
Australia Telescope Compact Array, although not recognized at that time. Recent
observations with the Spitzer Space Telescope during the GLIMPSE Legacy program
have rediscovered the object. The high-resolution radio and infrared images
enable the identification of the central star or its wind, the recognition of
the radio emission as thermal, and the probable presence of polycylic aromatic
hydrocarbons in and around the source. These lead to the conclusion that
G313.3+00.3 is a planetary nebula. This object is of particular interest
because it was discovered solely through radio and mid-infrared imaging,
without any optical (or near-infrared) confirmation, and acts as a proof of
concept for the discovery of many more highly extinguished planetary nebulae.
G313.3+00.3 is well-resolved by both the instruments with which it was
identified, and suffers extreme reddening due to its location in the
Scutum-Crux spiral arm.Comment: 18 pages, LaTeX (aastex), incl. 8 PostScript (eps) figures and 1
table. Accepted by ApJ (Part 1
The Bubbling Galactic Disk
A visual examination of the images from the Galactic Legacy Infrared Mid-Plane Survey Extraordinaire (GLIMPSE) has revealed 322 partial and closed rings that we propose represent partially or fully enclosed three-dimensional bubbles. We argue that the bubbles are primarily formed by hot young stars in massive star formation regions. We have found an average of about 1.5 bubbles per square degree. About 25% of the bubbles coincide with known radio H II regions, and about 13% enclose known star clusters. It appears that B4-B9 stars (too cool to produce detectable radio H II regions) probably produce about three-quarters of the bubbles in our sample, and the remainder are produced by young O-B3 stars that produce detectable radio H II regions. Some of the bubbles may be the outer edges of H II regions where PAH spectral features are excited and may not be dynamically formed by stellar winds. Only three of the bubbles are identified as known SNRs. No bubbles coincide with known planetary nebulae or W-R stars in the GLIMPSE survey area. The bubbles are small. The distribution of angular diameters peaks between 1' and 3' with over 98% having angular diameters less than 10' and 88% less than 4'. Almost 90% have shell thicknesses between 0.2 and 0.4 of their outer radii. Bubble shell thickness increases approximately linearly with shell radius. The eccentricities are rather large, peaking between 0.6 and 0.7; about 65% have eccentricities between 0.55 and 0.85
The Frequency of Mid-Infrared Excess Sources in Galactic Surveys
We have identified 230 Tycho-2 Spectral Catalog stars that exhibit 8 micron
mid-infrared extraphotospheric excesses in the MidCourse Space Experiment (MSX)
and Spitzer Space Telescope Galactic Legacy MidPlane Survey Extraordinaire
(GLIMPSE) surveys. Of these, 183 are either OB stars earlier than B8 in which
the excess plausibly arises from a thermal bremsstrahlung component or evolved
stars in which the excess may be explained by an atmospheric dust component.
The remaining 47 stars have spectral classifications B8 or later and appear to
be main sequence or late pre-main-sequence objects harboring circumstellar
disks. Six of the 47 stars exhibit multiple signatures characteristic of
pre-main-sequence circumstellar disks, including emission lines, near-infrared
K-band excesses, and X-ray emission. Approximately one-third of the remaining
41 sources have emission lines suggesting relative youth. Of the 25 GLIMPSE
stars with SST data at >24 microns, 20 also show an excess at 24 microns. Three
additional objects have 24 micron upper limits consistent with possible
excesses, and two objects have photospheric measurements at 24 microns. Six MSX
sources had a measurement at wavelengths >8 microns. We modeled the excesses in
26 stars having two or more measurements in excess of the expected photospheres
as single-component blackbodies. We determine probable disk temperatures and
fractional infrared luminosities in the range 191 < T < 787 and 3.9x10^-4 <
L_IR/L_* < 2.7x10^-1. We estimate a lower limit on the fraction of Tycho-2
Spectral Catalog main-sequence stars having mid-IR, but not near-IR, excesses
to be 1.0+-0.3%.Comment: Accepted to Ap
First detection of HCO+ absorption in the magellanic system
We present the first detection of HCO+ absorption in the Magellanic System. Using the ATCA, we observed
nine extragalactic radio continuum sources behind the Magellanic System and detected HCO+ absorption
toward one source located behind the leading edge of the Magellanic Bridge. The detection is located at an LSR
velocity of v 214.0 0.4 km s = -1
, with an FWHM of v 4.5 1.0 km s D = -1
, and an optical depth of
t (HCO ) 0.10 0.0 = 2 + . Although there is abundant neutral hydrogen (H I) surrounding the sight line in
position–velocity space, at the exact location of the absorber the H I column density is low, <10 cm 20 2 - , and
there is little evidence for dust or CO emission from Planck observations. While the origin and survival of
molecules in such a diffuse environment remain unclear, dynamical events such as H I flows and cloud
collisions in this interacting system likely play an important role
SPITZER SAGE Observations of Large Magellanic Cloud Planetary Nebulae
We present IRAC and MIPS images and photometry of a sample of previously
known planetary nebulae (PNe) from the SAGE survey of the Large Magellanic
Cloud (LMC) performed with the Spitzer Space Telescope. Of the 233 known PNe in
the survey field, 185 objects were detected in at least two of the IRAC bands,
and 161 detected in the MIPS 24 micron images. Color-color and color-magnitude
diagrams are presented using several combinations of IRAC, MIPS, and 2MASS
magnitudes. The location of an individual PN in the color-color diagrams is
seen to depend on the relative contributions of the spectral components which
include molecular hydrogen, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), infrared
forbidden line emission from the ionized gas, warm dust continuum, and emission
directly from the central star. The sample of LMC PNe is compared to a number
of Galactic PNe and found to not significantly differ in their position in
color-color space. We also explore the potential value of IR PNe luminosity
functions (LFs) in the LMC. IRAC LFs appear to follow the same functional form
as the well-established [O III] LFs although there are several PNe with
observed IR magnitudes brighter than the cut-offs in these LFs.Comment: 18 pages, 10 figures, 3 tables, to be published in the Astronomical
Journal. Additional online data available at
http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/irac/publications
Spitzer Sage Survey of the Large Magellanic Cloud. III. Star Formation and ~1000 New Candidate Young Stellar Objects
We present ~1000 new candidate Young Stellar Objects (YSOs) in the Large Magellanic Cloud selected from Spitzer Space Telescope data, as part of the Surveying the Agents of a Galaxy's Evolution (SAGE) Legacy program. The YSOs, detected by their excess infrared (IR) emission, represent early stages of evolution, still surrounded by disks and/or infalling envelopes. Previously, fewer than 20 such YSOs were known. The candidate YSOs were selected from the SAGE Point Source Catalog from regions of color-magnitude space least confused with other IR-bright populations. The YSOs are biased toward intermediate- to high-mass and young evolutionary stages, because these overlap less with galaxies and evolved stars in color-magnitude space. The YSOs are highly correlated spatially with atomic and molecular gas, and are preferentially located in the shells and bubbles created by massive stars inside. They are more clustered than generic point sources, as expected if star formation occurs in filamentary clouds or shells. We applied a more stringent color-magnitude selection to produce a subset of "high-probability" YSO candidates. We fitted the spectral-energy distributions (SEDs) of this subset and derived physical properties for those that were well fitted. The total mass of these well-fitted YSOs is ~2900 M_☉ and the total luminosity is ~2.1 × 10^6 L_☉ . By extrapolating the mass function with a standard initial mass function and integrating, we calculate a current star-formation rate of ~0.06 M_☉ yr^(–1), which is at the low end of estimates based on total ultraviolet and IR flux from the galaxy (~0.05 – 0.25 M_☉ yr^(–1)), consistent with the expectation that our current YSO list is incomplete. Follow-up spectroscopy and further data mining will better separate the different IR-bright populations and likely increase the estimated number of YSOs. The full YSO list is available as electronic tables, and the SEDs are available as an electronic figure for further use by the scientific community
Interstellar Polarization in M31
The wavelength dependence of interstellar polarization due to dust in M31 has
been observed along four sightlines. Only one sightline had been measured
previously.The globular clusters, S78, S150, S233 and Baade 327 were used as
point sources to probe the interstellar dust in M31. The Serkowski law produces
good fits for all the sightlines although the relationship between K and
lambda(max) may be different from that found in the Galaxy. The results of this
study imply that the slope K/lambda(max) may be significantly larger in M31.
The Serkowski curves are significantly narrower than those of the same
lambda(max) in the Galaxy and may require extreme modifications to the size
distributions of silicate particles. The fits for the four sightlines reveal
values of lambda(max) ranging from 4800 to 5500 A. These are consistent with
average values of lambda(max) measured in the Galaxy and the Magellanic Clouds.
The range measured for M31 corresponds to R(V) values of 2.7 to 3.1. The range
in R(V) seen in the Galaxy is 2.5 to 5.5 implying, for this small sample, that
the average size ofinterstellar grains in M31 is typically smaller than that
seen for Galactic grains if the nature of the grains is the same. Also, the
polarization efficiency for these sightlines is large although some bias is
expected since sightlines known to have significant interstellar polarization
were selected for the sample.Comment: 13 pages, 2 figures, AJ in press (June
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