2,925 research outputs found
A Mid-Infrared Study of the Class 0 Cluster in LDN 1448
We present ground-based mid-infrared observations of Class 0 protostars in
LDN 1448. Of the five known protostars in this cloud, we detected two, L1448N:A
and L1448C, at 12.5, 17.9, 20.8, and 24.5 microns, and a third, L1448 IRS 2, at
24.5 microns. We present high-resolution images of the detected sources, and
photometry or upper limits for all five Class 0 sources in this cloud. With
these data, we are able to augment existing spectral energy distributions
(SEDs) for all five objects and place them on an evolutionary status diagram.Comment: Accepted by the Astronomical Journal; 26 pages, 9 figure
Molecules with a peptide link in protostellar shocks: a comprehensive study of L1157
Interstellar molecules with a peptide link -NH-C(=O)-, like formamide
(NHCHO), acetamide (NHCOCH) and isocyanic acid (HNCO) are
particularly interesting for their potential role in pre-biotic chemistry. We
have studied their emission in the protostellar shock regions L1157-B1 and
L1157-B2, with the IRAM 30m telescope, as part of the ASAI Large Program.
Analysis of the line profiles shows that the emission arises from the outflow
cavities associated with B1 and B2. Molecular abundance of
and are derived for
formamide and isocyanic acid, respectively, from a simple rotational diagram
analysis. Conversely, NHCOCH was not detected down to a relative
abundance of a few . B1 and B2 appear to be among the richest
Galactic sources of HNCO and NHCHO molecules. A tight linear correlation
between their abundances is observed, suggesting that the two species are
chemically related. Comparison with astrochemical models favours molecule
formation on ice grain mantles, with NHCHO generated from hydrogenation of
HNCO.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS Main Journal.
Accepted 2014 August 19, in original form 2014 July
Hot and dense water in the inner 25 AU of SVS13-A
In the context of the ASAI (Astrochemical Surveys At IRAM) project, we
carried out an unbiased spectral survey in the millimeter window towards the
well known low-mass Class I source SVS13-A. The high sensitivity reached (3-12
mK) allowed us to detect at least 6 HDO broad (FWHM ~ 4-5 km/s) emission lines
with upper level energies up to Eu = 837 K. A non-LTE LVG analysis implies the
presence of very hot (150-260 K) and dense (> 3 10^7 cm-3) gas inside a small
radius ( 25 AU) around the star, supporting, for the first time, the
occurrence of a hot corino around a Class I protostar.
The temperature is higher than expected for water molecules are sublimated
from the icy dust mantles (~ 100 K). Although we cannot exclude we are observig
the effects of shocks and/or winds at such small scales, this could imply that
the observed HDO emission is tracing the water abundance jump expected at
temperatures ~ 220-250 K, when the activation barrier of the gas phase
reactions leading to the formation of water can be overcome. We derive X(HDO) ~
3 10-6, and a H2O deuteration > 1.5 10-2, suggesting that water deuteration
does not decrease as the protostar evolves from the Class 0 to the Class I
stage.Comment: MNRAS Letter
High-pressure, low-abundance water in bipolar outflows. Results from a Herschel-WISH survey
(Abridged) We present a survey of the water emission in a sample of more than
20 outflows from low mass young stellar objects with the goal of characterizing
the physical and chemical conditions of the emitting gas. We have used the HIFI
and PACS instruments on board the Herschel Space Observatory to observe the two
fundamental lines of ortho-water at 557 and 1670 GHz. These observations were
part of the "Water In Star-forming regions with Herschel" (WISH) key program,
and have been complemented with CO and H2 data. We find that the emission from
water has a different spatial and velocity distribution from that of the J=1-0
and 2-1 transitions of CO, but it has a similar spatial distribution to H2, and
its intensity follows the H2 intensity derived from IRAC images. This suggests
that water traces the outflow gas at hundreds of kelvins responsible for the H2
emission, and not the component at tens of kelvins typical of low-J CO
emission. A warm origin of the water emission is confirmed by a remarkable
correlation between the intensities of the 557 and 1670 GHz lines, which also
indicates the emitting gas has a narrow range of excitations. A non-LTE
radiative transfer analysis shows that while there is some ambiguity on the
exact combination of density and temperature values, the gas thermal pressure
nT is constrained within less than a factor of 2. The typical nT over the
sample is 4 10^{9} cm^{-3}K, which represents an increase of 10^4 with respect
to the ambient value. The data also constrain within a factor of 2 the water
column density. When this quantity is combined with H2 column densities, the
typical water abundance is only 3 10^{-7}, with an uncertainty of a factor of
3. Our data challenge current C-shock models of water production due to a
combination of wing-line profiles, high gas compressions, and low abundances.Comment: 21 pages, 13 figures. Accepted for publication in A&
Tentative Detection of the Nitrosylium Ion in Space
We report the tentative detection in space of the nitrosylium ion, NO.
The observations were performed towards the cold dense core Barnard 1-b. The
identification of the NO =2--1 line is supported by new laboratory
measurements of NO rotational lines up to the =8--7 transition
(953207.189\,MHz), which leads to an improved set of molecular constants: \,MHz, \,kHz, and \,MHz. The profile of the feature assigned to NO exhibits two
velocity components at 6.5 and 7.5 km s, with column densities of and cm, respectively. New
observations of NO and HNO, also reported here, allow to estimate the following
abundance ratios: (NO)/(NO), and
(HNO)/(NO). This latter value provides important constraints
on the formation and destruction processes of HNO. The chemistry of NO and
other related nitrogen-bearing species is investigated by the means of a
time-dependent gas phase model which includes an updated chemical network
according to recent experimental studies. The predicted abundance for NO
and NO is found to be consistent with the observations. However, that of HNO
relative to NO is too high. No satisfactory chemical paths have been found to
explain the observed low abundance of HNO. HSCN and HNCS are also reported here
with an abundance ratio of . Finally, we have searched for NNO,
NO, HNNO, and NNOH, but only upper limits have been obtained for
their column density, except for the latter for which we report a tentative
3- detection.Comment: To appear in the Astrophysical Journal October 20, 201
Ionization fraction and the enhanced sulfur chemistry in Barnard 1
Barnard B1b has revealed as one of the most interesting globules from the
chemical and dynamical point of view. It presents a rich molecular chemistry
characterized by large abundances of deuterated and complex molecules.
Furthermore, it hosts an extremely young Class 0 object and one candidate to
First Hydrostatic Core (FHSC). Our aim was to determine the cosmic ray
ionization rate and the depletion factors in this extremely young star forming
region. We carried out a spectral survey towards Barnard 1b as part of the IRAM
Large program ASAI using the IRAM 30-m telescope at Pico Veleta (Spain). This
provided a very complete inventory of neutral and ionic C-, N- and S- bearing
species with, up to our knowledge, the first secure detections of the
deuterated ions DCS+ and DOCO+. We used a state-of-the-art
pseudo-time-dependent gas-phase chemical model to determine the value of the
cosmic ray ionization rate and the depletion factors. The observational data
were well fitted with between 3E-17 s and 1E-16 s.
Elemental depletions were estimated to be ~10 for C and O, ~1 for N and ~25 for
S. Barnard B1b presents similar depletions of C and O than those measured in
pre-stellar cores. The depletion of sulfur is higher than that of C and O but
not as extreme as in cold cores. In fact, it is similar to the values found in
some bipolar outflows, hot cores and photon-dominated regions. Several
scenarios are discussed to account for these peculiar abundances. We propose
that it is the consequence of the initial conditions (important outflows and
enhanced UV fields in the surroundings) and a rapid collapse (~0.1 Myr) that
permits to maintain most S- and N-bearing species in gas phase to great optical
depths. The interaction of the compact outflow associated with B1b-S with the
surrounding material could enhance the abundances of S-bearing molecules, as
well.Comment: Paper accepted in Astronomy and Astrophysics; 28 pags, 21 figure
Water in low-mass star-forming regions with Herschel (WISH-LM): High-velocity H2O bullets in L1448-MM observed with HIFI
Herschel-HIFI observations of water in the low-mass star-forming object
L1448-MM, known for its prominent outflow, are presented, as obtained within
the `Water in star-forming regions with Herschel' (WISH) key programme. Six
H2-16O lines are targeted and detected (E_up/k_B ~ 50-250 K), as is CO J= 10-9
(E_up/k_B ~ 305 K), and tentatively H2-18O 110-101 at 548 GHz. All lines show
strong emission in the "bullets" at |v| > 50 km/s from the source velocity, in
addition to a broad, central component and narrow absorption. The bullets are
seen much more prominently in HO than in CO with respect to the central
component, and show little variation with excitation in H2O profile shape.
Excitation conditions in the bullets derived from CO lines imply a temperature
>150 K and density >10^5 cm^-3, similar to that of the broad component. The
H2O/CO abundance ratio is similar in the "bullets" and the broad component, ~
0.05-1.0, in spite of their different origins in the molecular jet and the
interaction between the outflow and the envelope. The high H2O abundance
indicates that the bullets are H2 rich. The H2O cooling in the "bullets" and
the broad component is similar and higher than the CO cooling in the same
components. These data illustrate the power of Herschel-HIFI to disentangle
different dynamical components in low-mass star-forming objects and determine
their excitation and chemical conditions.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&
A simple algorithm for optimization and model fitting: AGA (asexual genetic algorithm)
Context. Mathematical optimization can be used as a computational tool to
obtain the optimal solution to a given problem in a systematic and efficient
way. For example, in twice-differentiable functions and problems with no
constraints, the optimization consists of finding the points where the gradient
of the objective function is zero and using the Hessian matrix to classify the
type of each point. Sometimes, however it is impossible to compute these
derivatives and other type of techniques must be employed such as the steepest
descent/ascent method and more sophisticated methods such as those based on the
evolutionary algorithms. Aims. We present a simple algorithm based on the idea
of genetic algorithms (GA) for optimization. We refer to this algorithm as AGA
(Asexual Genetic Algorithm) and apply it to two kinds of problems: the
maximization of a function where classical methods fail and model fitting in
astronomy. For the latter case, we minimize the chi-square function to estimate
the parameters in two examples: the orbits of exoplanets by taking a set of
radial velocity data, and the spectral energy distribution (SED) observed
towards a YSO (Young Stellar Object). Methods. The algorithm AGA may also be
called genetic, although it differs from standard genetic algorithms in two
main aspects: a) the initial population is not encoded, and b) the new
generations are constructed by asexual reproduction. Results. Applying our
algorithm in optimizing some complicated functions, we find the global maxima
within a few iterations. For model fitting to the orbits of exoplanets and the
SED of a YSO, we estimate the parameters and their associated errors.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures, Astronomy and Astrophysics (in press
Unveiling the Circumstellar Envelope and Disk: A Sub-Arcsecond Survey of Circumstellar Structures
We present the results of a 2.7 mm continuum interferometric survey of 24
young stellar objects in 11 fields. The target objects range from deeply
embedded Class 0 sources to optical T Tauri sources. This is the first
sub-arcsecond survey of the 2.7 mm dust continuum emission from young, embedded
stellar systems. The images show a diversity of structure and complexity. The
optically visible T Tauri stars (DG Tauri, HL Tauri, GG Tauri,and GM Aurigae)
have continuum emission dominated by compact, less than 1", circumstellar
disks. The more embedded near-infrared sources (SVS13 and L1551 IRS5) have
continuum emission that is extended and compact. The embedded sources (L1448
IRS3, NGC1333 IRAS2, NGC1333 IRAS4, VLA1623, and IRAS 16293-2422) have
continuum emission dominated by the extended envelope, typically more than 85%.
In fact, in many of the deeply embedded systems it is difficult to uniquely
isolate the disk emission component from the envelope extending inward to AU
size scales. All of the target embedded objects are in multiple systems with
separations on scales of 30" or less. Based on the system separation, we place
the objects into three categories: separate envelope (separation > 6500 AU),
common envelope (separation 150-3000 AU), and common disk (separation < 100
AU). These three groups can be linked with fragmentation events during the star
formation process: separate envelopes from prompt initial fragmentation and the
separate collapse of a loosely condensed cloud, common envelopes from
fragmentation of a moderately centrally condensed spherical system, and common
disk from fragmentation of a high angular momentum circumstellar disk.Comment: 47 Pages, 18 Figures, ApJ accepte
High Resolution CO and H2 Molecular Line Imaging of a Cometary Globule in the Helix Nebula
We report high resolution imaging of a prominent cometary globule in the
Helix nebula in the CO J=1-0 (2.6 mm) and H2 v=1-0 S(1) (2.12 micron) lines.
The observations confirm that globules consist of dense condensations of
molecular gas embedded in the ionized nebula. The head of the globule is seen
as a peak in the CO emission with an extremely narrow line width (0.5 km/s) and
is outlined by a limb-brightened surface of H2 emission facing the central star
and lying within the photo-ionized halo. The emission from both molecular
species extends into the tail region. The presence of this extended molecular
emission provides new constraints on the structure of the tails, and on the
origin and evolution of the globules.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures. To appear in The Astrophysical Journal Letter
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