Oxygen in dense interstellar gas - the oxygen abundance of the star forming core rho Oph A

Oxygen is the third most abundant element in the universe, but its chemistry in the interstellar medium is still not well understood. In order to critically examine the entire oxygen budget, we attempt here initially to estimate the abundance of atomic oxygen, O, in the only one region, where molecular oxygen, O2, has been detected to date. We analyse ISOCAM-CVF spectral image data toward rho Oph A to derive the temperatures and column densities of H2 at the locations of ISO-LWS observations of two [OI] 3P_J lines. The intensity ratios of the (J=1-2) 63um to (J=0-1) 145um lines largely exceed ten, attesting to the fact that these lines are optically thin. This is confirmed by radiative transfer calculations, making these lines suitable for abundance determinations. For that purpose, we calculate line strengths and compare them to the LWS observations. Excess [OI] emission is observed to be associated with the molecular outflow from VLA 1623. For this region, we determine the physical parameters, T and N(H2), from the CAM observations and the gas density, n(H2), is determined from the flux ratio of the [O I]63um and [O I]145um lines. For the oxygen abundance, our analysis leads to essentially three possibilities: (1) Extended low density gas with standard ISM O-abundance, (2) Compact high density gas with standard ISM O-abundance and (3) Extended high density gas with reduced oxygen abundance, [O/H] ~ 2E-5. As option (1) disregards valid [O I] 145um data, we do not find it very compelling; we favour option (3), as lower abundances are expected as a result of chemical cloud evolution, but we are not able to dismiss option (2) entirely. Observations at higher angular resolution than offered by the LWS are required to decide between these possibilities.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&

VLA Observations of the Infrared Dark Cloud G19.30+0.07

We present Very Large Array observations of ammonia (NH3) (1,1), (2,2), and CCS (2_1-1_0) emission toward the Infrared Dark Cloud (IRDC) G19.30+0.07 at ~22GHz. The NH3 emission closely follows the 8 micron extinction. The NH3 (1,1) and (2,2) lines provide diagnostics of the temperature and density structure within the IRDC, with typical rotation temperatures of ~10 to 20K and NH3 column densities of ~10^15 cm^-2. The estimated total mass of G19.30+0.07 is ~1130 Msun. The cloud comprises four compact NH3 clumps of mass ~30 to 160 Msun. Two coincide with 24 micron emission, indicating heating by protostars, and show evidence of outflow in the NH3 emission. We report a water maser associated with a third clump; the fourth clump is apparently starless. A non-detection of 8.4GHz emission suggests that the IRDC contains no bright HII regions, and places a limit on the spectral type of an embedded ZAMS star to early-B or later. From the NH3 emission we find G19.30+0.07 is composed of three distinct velocity components, or "subclouds." One velocity component contains the two 24 micron sources and the starless clump, another contains the clump with the water maser, while the third velocity component is diffuse, with no significant high-density peaks. The spatial distribution of NH3 and CCS emission from G19.30+0.07 is highly anti-correlated, with the NH3 predominantly in the high-density clumps, and the CCS tracing lower-density envelopes around those clumps. This spatial distribution is consistent with theories of evolution for chemically young low-mass cores, in which CCS has not yet been processed to other species and/or depleted in high-density regions.Comment: 29 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication by ApJ. Please contact the authors for higher resolution versions of the figure

VLA Observations of the Infrared Dark Cloud G19.30+0.07

We present Very Large Array observations of ammonia (NH3) (1,1), (2,2), and CCS (2_1-1_0) emission toward the Infrared Dark Cloud (IRDC) G19.30+0.07 at ~22GHz. The NH3 emission closely follows the 8 micron extinction. The NH3 (1,1) and (2,2) lines provide diagnostics of the temperature and density structure within the IRDC, with typical rotation temperatures of ~10 to 20K and NH3 column densities of ~10^15 cm^-2. The estimated total mass of G19.30+0.07 is ~1130 Msun. The cloud comprises four compact NH3 clumps of mass ~30 to 160 Msun. Two coincide with 24 micron emission, indicating heating by protostars, and show evidence of outflow in the NH3 emission. We report a water maser associated with a third clump; the fourth clump is apparently starless. A non-detection of 8.4GHz emission suggests that the IRDC contains no bright HII regions, and places a limit on the spectral type of an embedded ZAMS star to early-B or later. From the NH3 emission we find G19.30+0.07 is composed of three distinct velocity components, or "subclouds." One velocity component contains the two 24 micron sources and the starless clump, another contains the clump with the water maser, while the third velocity component is diffuse, with no significant high-density peaks. The spatial distribution of NH3 and CCS emission from G19.30+0.07 is highly anti-correlated, with the NH3 predominantly in the high-density clumps, and the CCS tracing lower-density envelopes around those clumps. This spatial distribution is consistent with theories of evolution for chemically young low-mass cores, in which CCS has not yet been processed to other species and/or depleted in high-density regions.Comment: 29 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication by ApJ. Please contact the authors for higher resolution versions of the figure

A self-consistent model of Galactic stellar and dust infrared emission and the abundance of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

We present a self-consistent three-dimensional Monte-Carlo radiative transfer model of the stellar and dust emission in the Milky-Way, and have computed synthetic observations of the 3.6 to 100 microns emission in the Galactic mid-plane. In order to compare the model to observations, we use the GLIMPSE, MIPSGAL, and IRAS surveys to construct total emission spectra, as well as longitude and latitude profiles for the emission. The distribution of stars and dust is taken from the SKY model, and the dust emissivities includes an approximation of the emission from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in addition to thermal emission. The model emission is in broad agreement with the observations, but a few modifications are needed to obtain a good fit. Firstly, by adjusting the model to include two major and two minor spiral arms rather than four equal spiral arms, the fit to the longitude profiles for |l|>30 degrees can be improved. Secondly, introducing a deficit in the dust distribution in the inner Galaxy results in a better fit to the shape of the IRAS longitude profiles at 60 and 100 microns. With these modifications, the model fits the observed profiles well, although it systematically under-estimates the 5.8 and 8.0 microns fluxes. One way to resolve this discrepancy is to increase the abundance of PAH molecules by 50% compared to the original model, although we note that changes to the dust distribution or radiation field may provide alternative solutions. Finally, we use the model to quantify which stellar populations contribute the most to the heating of different dust types, and which stellar populations and dust types contribute the most to the emission at different wavelengths.Comment: Published in A&A. This version has been revised (compared to the published version) to include additional references to previous work. Scripts to reproduce the results in this paper can be found as supplementary material on the A&A site, or at https://github.com/hyperion-rt/paper-galaxy-rt-mode

The Milky Way Project: A statistical study of massive star formation associated with infrared bubbles

The Milky Way Project citizen science initiative recently increased the number of known infrared bubbles in the inner Galactic plane by an order of magnitude compared to previous studies. We present a detailed statistical analysis of this dataset with the Red MSX Source catalog of massive young stellar sources to investigate the association of these bubbles with massive star formation. We particularly address the question of massive triggered star formation near infrared bubbles. We find a strong positional correlation of massive young stellar objects (MYSOs) and H II regions with Milky Way Project bubbles at separations of < 2 bubble radii. As bubble sizes increase, a statistically significant overdensity of massive young sources emerges in the region of the bubble rims, possibly indicating the occurrence of triggered star formation. Based on numbers of bubble-associated RMS sources we find that 67+/-3% of MYSOs and (ultra)compact H II regions appear associated with a bubble. We estimate that approximately 22+/-2% of massive young stars may have formed as a result of feedback from expanding H II regions. Using MYSO-bubble correlations, we serendipitously recovered the location of the recently discovered massive cluster Mercer 81, suggesting the potential of such analyses for discovery of heavily extincted distant clusters.Comment: 16 pages, 17 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ, comments welcome. Milky Way Project public data release available at http://www.milkywayproject.org/dat

Revealing the environs of the remarkable southern hot core G327.3-0.6

We present a submm study of the massive hot core G327.3-0.6 that constrains its physical parameters and environment. The APEX telescope was used to image CO and N2H+ emission, to observe lines from other molecules toward a hot and a cold molecular core, and to measure the continuum flux density of the hot core. In the C18O J=3-2 line, two clumps were found, one associated with the HII region G327.3-0.5 and the other associated with the hot core. An additional cold clump is found 30 arcsec (0.4 pc) northeast of the hot core in bright N2H+ emission. From the the continuum data, we calculate a mass of 420 Msol and a size of 0.1 pc for the hot core. A new, more accurate position of the hot core is reported, which allows the association of the core with a bright mid-infrared source. The luminosity of the hot core is estimated to be between 5 and 15 10^4 Lsol. This study revealed several different evolutionary stages of massive star formation in the G327.3-0.6 region.Comment: APEX A&A special issue, accepte

High Mass Starless Cores

We report the identification of a sample of potential High-Mass Starless Cores (HMSCs). The cores were discovered by comparing images of the fields containing candidate High-Mass Protostellar Objects (HMPOs) at 1.2mm and mid-infrared (8.3um; MIR) wavelengths. While the HMPOs are detected at both wavelengths, several cores emitting at 1.2mm in the same fields show absorption or no emission at the MIR wavelength. We argue that the absorption is caused by cold dust. The estimated masses of a few 10^2Msun - 10^3 Msun and the lack of IR emission suggests that they may be massive cold cores in a pre-stellar phase, which could presumably form massive stars eventually. Ammonia (1,1) and (2,2) observations of the cores indicate smaller velocity dispersions and lower rotation temperatures compared to HMPOs and UCHII regions suggesting a quiescent pre-stellar stage. We propose that these newly discovered cores are good candidates for the HMSC stage in high-mass star-formation. This sample of cores will allow us to study the high-mass star and cluster formation processes at the earliest evolutionary stages.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, 1 table, to be published in ApJL, author names replaced with comma separatio

Disks around Hot Stars in the Trifid Nebula

We report on mid-IR observations of the central region in the Trifid nebula, carried out with ISOCAM in several broad-band infrared filters and in the low resolution spectroscopic mode provided by the circular variable filter. Analysis of the emission indicates the presence of a hot dust component (500 to 1000 K) and a warm dust component at lower temperatures (150-200 K) around several members of the cluster exciting the HII region, and other stars undetected at optical wavelengths. Complementary VLA observations suggest that the mid-IR emission could arise from a dust cocoon or a circumstellar disk, evaporated under the ionization of the central source and the exciting star of the nebula. In several sources the $9.7\mu m$ silicate band is seen in emission. One young stellar source shows indications of crystalline silicates in the circumstellar dust.Comment: 4 pages with 1 figur

Embarking as Captain of the Ship for the Curriculum Committee

This commentary examines the curriculum chair’s responsibilities and discusses considerations when assuming this role, using a captain of the ship metaphor. From knowing the crew to managing a diverse set of responsibilities, the path to becoming an effective chair is challenging and each captain’s stripe must be earned. Advice is provided to assist with understanding the curriculum and governance processes, as well as the chair’s various roles and professional development. The need for both leadership and management is also emphasized

Effects of the magnetic moment interaction between nucleons on observables in the 3N continuum

The influence of the magnetic moment interaction of nucleons on nucleon-deuteron elastic scattering and breakup cross sections and on elastic scattering polarization observables has been studied. Among the numerous elastic scattering observables only the vector analyzing powers were found to show a significant effect, and of opposite sign for the proton-deuteron and neutron-deuteron systems. This finding results in an even larger discrepancy than the one previously established between neutron-deuteron data and theoretical calculations. For the breakup reaction the largest effect was found for the final-state-interaction cross sections. The consequences of this observation on previous determinations of the ^1S_0 scattering lengths from breakup data are discussed.Comment: 24 pages, 6 ps figures, 1 png figur