287 research outputs found
IN-SYNC. VIII. Primordial Disk Frequencies in NGC 1333, IC 348, and the Orion A Molecular Cloud
In this paper, we address two issues related to primordial disk evolution in
three clusters (NGC 1333, IC 348, and Orion A) observed by the INfrared Spectra
of Young Nebulous Clusters (IN-SYNC) project. First, in each cluster, averaged
over the spread of age, we investigate how disk lifetime is dependent on
stellar mass. The general relation in IC 348 and Orion A is that primordial
disks around intermediate mass stars (2--5) evolve faster than those
around loss mass stars (0.1--1), which is consistent with previous
results. However, considering only low mass stars, we do not find a significant
dependence of disk frequency on stellar mass. These results can help to better
constrain theories on gas giant planet formation timescales. Secondly, in the
Orion A molecular cloud, in the mass range of 0.35--0.7, we provide
the most robust evidence to date for disk evolution within a single cluster
exhibiting modest age spread. By using surface gravity as an age indicator and
employing 4.5 excess as a primordial disk diagnostic, we observe a
trend of decreasing disk frequency for older stars. The detection of
intra-cluster disk evolution in NGC 1333 and IC 348 is tentative, since the
slight decrease of disk frequency for older stars is a less than 1-
effect.Comment: 25 pages, 26 figures; submitted for publication (ApJ
V<sub>H</sub> replacement in rearranged immunoglobulin genes
Examples suggesting that all or part of the V<sub>H</sub> segment of a rearranged V<sub>H</sub>DJ<sub>H</sub> may be replaced by all or part of another V<sub>H</sub> have been appearing since the 1980s. Evidence has been presented of two rather different types of replacement. One of these has gained acceptance and has now been clearly demonstrated to occur. The other, proposed more recently, has not yet gained general acceptance because the same effect can be produced by polymerase chain reaction artefact. We review both types of replacement including a critical examination of evidence for the latter. The first type involves RAG proteins and recombination signal sequences (RSS) and occurs in immature B cells. The second was also thought to be brought about by RAG proteins and RSS. However, it has been reported in hypermutating cells which are not thought to express RAG proteins but in which activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) has recently been shown to initiate homologous recombination. Re-examination of the published sequences reveals AID target sites in V<sub>H</sub>-V<sub>H</sub> junction regions and examples that resemble gene conversion
IN-SYNC. V. Stellar kinematics and dynamics in the Orion A Molecular Cloud
The kinematics and dynamics of young stellar populations enable us to test
theories of star formation. With this aim, we continue our analysis of the
SDSS-III/APOGEE IN-SYNC survey, a high resolution near infrared spectroscopic
survey of young clusters. We focus on the Orion A star-forming region, for
which IN-SYNC obtained spectra of stars. In Paper IV we used these
data to study the young stellar population. Here we study the kinematic
properties through radial velocities (). The young stellar population
remains kinematically associated with the molecular gas, following a
gradient along filament. However, near the center
of the region, the distribution is slightly blueshifted and asymmetric;
we suggest that this population, which is older, is slightly in foreground. We
find evidence for kinematic subclustering, detecting statistically significant
groupings of co-located stars with coherent motions. These are mostly in the
lower-density regions of the cloud, while the ONC radial velocities are
smoothly distributed, consistent with it being an older, more dynamically
evolved cluster. The velocity dispersion varies along the filament.
The ONC appears virialized, or just slightly supervirial, consistent with an
old dynamical age. Here there is also some evidence for on-going expansion,
from a --extinction correlation. In the southern filament, is
-- times larger than virial in the L1641N region, where we infer a
superposition along the line of sight of stellar sub-populations, detached from
the gas. On the contrary, decreases towards L1641S, where the
population is again in agreement with a virial state.Comment: 14 pages, 13 figures, ApJ accepte
The APOGEE-2 Survey of the Orion Star Forming Complex: I. Target Selection and Validation with early observations
The Orion Star Forming Complex (OSFC) is a central target for the APOGEE-2
Young Cluster Survey. Existing membership catalogs span limited portions of the
OSFC, reflecting the difficulty of selecting targets homogeneously across this
extended, highly structured region. We have used data from wide field
photometric surveys to produce a less biased parent sample of young stellar
objects (YSOs) with infrared (IR) excesses indicative of warm circumstellar
material or photometric variability at optical wavelengths across the full 420
square degrees extent of the OSFC. When restricted to YSO candidates with H <
12.4, to ensure S/N ~100 for a six visit source, this uniformly selected sample
includes 1307 IR excess sources selected using criteria vetted by Koenig &
Liesawitz and 990 optical variables identified in the Pan-STARRS1 3
survey: 319 sources exhibit both optical variability and evidence of
circumstellar disks through IR excess. Objects from this uniformly selected
sample received the highest priority for targeting, but required fewer than
half of the fibers on each APOGEE-2 plate. We fill the remaining fibers with
previously confirmed and new color-magnitude selected candidate OSFC members.
Radial velocity measurements from APOGEE-1 and new APOGEE-2 observations taken
in the survey's first year indicate that ~90% of the uniformly selected targets
have radial velocities consistent with Orion membership.The APOGEE-2 Orion
survey will include >1100 bona fide YSOs whose uniform selection function will
provide a robust sample for comparative analyses of the stellar populations and
properties across all sub-regions of Orion.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ
Time-Series Photometry of Stars in and around the Lagoon Nebula. I. Rotation Periods of 290 Low-Mass Pre-Main-Sequence Stars in NGC 6530
We have conducted a long-term, wide-field, high-cadence photometric
monitoring survey of ~50,000 stars in the Lagoon Nebula \ion{H}{2} region. This
first paper presents rotation periods for 290 low-mass stars in NGC 6530, the
young cluster illuminating the nebula, and for which we assemble a catalog of
infrared and spectroscopic disk indicators, estimated masses and ages, and
X-ray luminosities. The distribution of rotation periods we measure is broadly
uniform for 0.5 < P < 10 d; the short-period cutoff corresponds to breakup. We
observe no obvious bimodality in the period distribution, but we do find that
stars with disk signatures rotate more slowly on average. The stars' X-ray
luminosities are roughly flat with rotation period, at the saturation level
(). However, we find a significant
positive correlation between and co-rotation radius,
suggesting that the observed X-ray luminosities are regulated by centrifugal
stripping of the stellar coronae. The period-mass relationship in NGC 6530 is
broadly similar to that of the Orion Nebula Cluster (ONC), but the slope of the
relationship among the slowest rotators differs from that in the ONC and other
young clusters. We show that the slope of the period-mass relationship for the
slowest rotators can be used as a proxy for the age of a young cluster, and we
argue that NGC 6530 may be slightly younger than the ONC, making it a
particularly important touchstone for models of angular momentum evolution in
young, low-mass stars.Comment: 28 pages, 18 figures, Accepted for publication in ApJ. For a brief
video explaining the key results of this paper, see
http://www.youtube.com/user/OSUAstronomy#p/u/1/WarGh6GiWu
YSOVAR: Six pre-main-sequence eclipsing binaries in the Orion Nebula Cluster
Eclipsing binaries (EBs) provide critical laboratories for empirically
testing predictions of theoretical models of stellar structure and evolution.
Pre-main-sequence (PMS) EBs are particularly valuable, both due to their rarity
and the highly dynamic nature of PMS evolution, such that a dense grid of PMS
EBs is required to properly calibrate theoretical PMS models. Analyzing
multi-epoch, multi-color light curves for 2400 candidateOrion Nebula Cluster
(ONC) members from our Warm Spitzer Exploration Science Program YSOVAR, we have
identified 12 stars whose light curves show eclipse features. Four of these 12
EBs are previously known. Supplementing our light curves with follow-up optical
and near-infrared spectroscopy, we establish two of the candidates as likely
field EBs lying behind the ONC. We confirm the remaining six candidate systems,
however, as newly identified ONC PMS EBs. These systems increase the number of
known PMS EBs by over 50% and include the highest mass (Theta1 Ori E, for which
we provide a complete set of well-determined parameters including component
masses of 2.807 and 2.797 solar masses) and longest period (ISOY
J053505.71-052354.1, P \sim 20 days) PMS EBs currently known. In two cases
(Theta1 Ori E and ISOY J053526.88-044730.7), enough photometric and
spectroscopic data exist to attempt an orbit solution and derive the system
parameters. For the remaining systems, we combine our data with literature
information to provide a preliminary characterization sufficient to guide
follow-up investigations of these rare, benchmark systems.Comment: Accepted by Ap
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