351 research outputs found
Generation of radiative knots in a randomly pulsed protostellar jet I. Dynamics and energetics
HH objects are characterized by a complex knotty morphology detected mainly
along the axis of protostellar jets in a wide range of bands. Evidence of
interactions between knots formed in different epochs have been found,
suggesting that jets may result from the ejection of plasma blobs from the
source. We aim at investigating the physical mechanism leading to the irregular
knotty structure observed in jets in different bands and the complex
interactions occurring among blobs of plasma ejected from the stellar source.
We perform 2D axisymmetric HD simulations of a randomly ejected pulsed jet. The
jet consists of a train of blobs which ram with supersonic speed into the
ambient medium. The initial random velocity of each blob follows an exponential
distribution. We explore the ejection rate parameter to derive constraints on
the physical properties of protostellar jets by comparison of model results
with observations. Our model takes into account radiative losses and thermal
conduction. We find that the mutual interactions of blobs ejected at different
epochs and with different speed lead to a variety of plasma components not
described by current models. The main features characterizing the random pulsed
jet scenario are: single high speed knots, showing a measurable proper motion
in nice agreement with observations; irregular chains of knots aligned along
the jet axis and possibly interacting with each other; reverse shocks
interacting with outgoing knots; oblique shocks produced by the reflection of
shocks at the jet cocoon. All these structures concur to determine the
morphology of the jet in different bands. We also find that the thermal
conduction plays a crucial role in damping out HD instabilities that would
develop within the cocoon and that contribute to the jet breaking.Comment: 10 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in A&
Variability in young very low mass stars : two surprises from spectrophotometric monitoring
The authors acknowledge support from the Science & Technology Facilities Council through grants no. ST/K502339/1 and ST/M001296/1.We present simultaneous photometric and spectroscopic observations of seven young and highly variable M dwarfs in star-forming regions in Orion, conducted in four observing nights with FOcal Reducer and low dispersion Spectrograph2 at European Southern Observatory/VLT. All seven targets show significant photometric variability in the I band, with amplitudes between 0.1â0.8 mag, The spectra, however, remain remarkably constant, with spectral type changes less than 0.5 subtypes. Thus, the brightness changes are not caused by veiling that âfills inâ absorption features. Three objects in the Ï Ori cluster (age âŒ3 Myr) exhibit strong Hα emission and Hα variability, in addition to the continuum variations. Their behaviour is mostly consistent with the presence of spots with temperature of âŒ300 K above the photosphere and filling factors between 0.2â0.4, in contrast to typical hotspots observed in more massive stars. The remaining targets near ϔ Ori, likely to be older, show eclipse-like light curves, no significant Hα activity and are better represented by variable extinction due to circumstellar material. Interestingly, two of them show no evidence of infrared excess emission. Our study shows that high-amplitude variability in young very low mass stars can be caused by different phenomena than in more massive T Tauri stars and can persist when the disc has disappeared and accretion has ceased.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe
The low-mass diskless population of Corona Australis
We combine published optical and near-infrared photometry to identify new low-mass candidate members in an area of about 0.64 deg^2 in Corona Australis with the S-parameter method. Five new candidate members of the region are selected. They have estimated ages between 3 and 15 Myr and masses between 0.05 and 0.15 M_â. With Spitzer photometry we confirm that these objects are not surrounded by optically thick disks. However, one of them is found to display excess at 24 ÎŒm, thus suggesting it harbors a disk with an inner hole. With an estimated mass of 0.07 M_â according to the SED fitting, this is one of the lowest-mass objects reported to possess a transitional disk. Including these new members, the fraction of disks is about 50% among the total Corona Australis population selected by the same criteria, lower than the 70% fraction reported earlier for this region. Even so, we find a ratio of transitional to primordial disks (45%) very similar to the value derived by previous authors. This ratio is higher than for solar-type stars (5â10%), suggesting that disk evolution is faster in the latter, and/or that the âtransitional diskâ stage is not such a short-lived step for very low-mass objects. However, this impression needs to be confirmed with better statistics
Physical properties of the jet from DG Tauri on sub-arcsecond scales with HST/STIS
We derive the physical properties at the base of the jet from DG Tau both
along and across the flow and as a function of velocity. We analysed seven
optical spectra of the DG Tau jet, taken with the Hubble Space Telescope
Imaging Spectrograph. The spectra were obtained by placing a long-slit parallel
to the jet axis and stepping it across the jet width. The resulting
position-velocity diagrams in optical forbidden emission lines allowed access
to plasma conditions via calculation of emission line ratios.
We find at the base of the jet high electron density, 10, and
very low ionisation, , which combine to give a total
density up to 3 10. This analysis confirms previous reports of
variations in plasma parameters along the jet, (i.e. decrease in density by
several orders of magnitude, increase of from 0.05 to a plateau at 0.7
downstream at 2 from the star). Furthermore, a spatial coincidence is
revealed between sharp gradients in the total density and supersonic velocity
jumps. This strongly suggests that the emission is caused by shock excitation.
The position-velocity diagrams indicate the presence of both fast accelerating
gas and slower, less collimated material. We derive the mass outflow rate,
, in the blue-shifted lobe in different velocity channels, that
contribute to a total of 8 4 10 M
yr. We estimate that a symmetric bipolar jet would transport at the low
and intermediate velocities probed by rotation measurements, an angular
momentum flux of 2.9 1.5 10 M yr
AU km s.
The derived properties of the DG Tau jet are demonstrated to be consistent
with magneto-centrifugal theory. However, non-stationary modelling is required
in order to explain all of the features revealed at high resolution.Comment: 16 pages, 18 figure
Discovery of superthermal hydroxyl (OH) in the HH211 outflow
We present a 5-37 micron infrared spectrum obtained with the Spitzer Space
Telescope toward the southeastern lobe of the young protostellar outflow HH211.
The spectrum shows an extraordinary sequence of OH emission lines arising in
highly excited rotational levels up to an energy E/k~28200K above the ground
level. This is, to our knowledge, by far the highest rotational excitation of
OH observed outside Earth. The spectrum also contains several pure rotational
transitions of H2O (v=0), H2 (v=0) S(0) to S(7), HD (v=0) R(3) to R(6), and
atomic fine-structure lines of [Fe II], [Si II], [Ne II], [S I], and [Cl I].
The origin of the highly excited OH emission is most likely the
photodissociation of H2O by the UV radiation generated in the terminal outflow
shock of HH211.Comment: ApJ Letters, in pres
Precession of collimated outflows from young stellar objects
We consider several protostellar systems where either a precessing jet or at
least two misaligned jets have been observed. We assume that the precession of
jets is caused by tidal interactions in noncoplanar binary systems. For Cep E,
V1331 Cyg and RNO 15-FIR the inferred orbital separations and disk radii are in
the range 4-160 AU and 1-80 AU, respectively, consistent with those expected
for pre-main sequence stars. Furthermore, we assume or use the fact that the
source of misaligned outflows is a binary, and evaluate the lengthscale over
which the jets should precess as a result of tidal interactions. For T Tau, HH1
VLA 1/2 and HH 24 SVS63, it may be possible to detect a bending of the jets
rather than 'wiggling'. In HH 111 IRS and L1551 IRS5, 'wiggling' may be
detected on the current observed scale. Our results are consistent with the
existence of noncoplanar binary systems in which tidal interactions induce jets
to precess.Comment: 5 pages (including 1 figure), LaTeX, uses emulateapj.sty, to be
published in ApJ Letters, also available at
http://www.ucolick.org/~ct/home.html and
http://www.tls-tautenburg.de/research/research.htm
An S-shaped outflow from IRAS 03256+3055 in NGC 1333
The IRAS source 03256+3055 in the NGC 1333 star forming region is associated
with extended sub-millimeter emission of complex morphology, showing multiple
clumps. One of these is found to coincide with the driving source of a bipolar
jet of S-shaped morphology seen in the emission lines of H_alpha and [SII] as
well as in the H2 emission lines in the K-band. Detailed images of the driving
source at the wavelengths of H_alpha and [SII] and in the I, J, H, and K bands
as well as a K-band spectrum and polarimetry are discussed. The near-infrared
morphology is characterized by a combination of line emission from the jet and
scattered light from a source with a steep continuum spectrum. The morphology
and proper motion of the jet are discussed in the context of a binary system
with a precessing disk. We conclude that the molecular core associated with
IRAS 03256+3055 consists of several clumps, only one of which shows evidence of
recent star formation at optical and near-infrared wavelengths.We also briefly
discuss a second, newly found near-infrared source associated with a compact
sub-millimeter continuum source near IRAS 03256+3055, and conclude that this
source may be physically unrelated the cluster of molecular clumps.Comment: 25 pages, including 5 figures. Accepted for publication in The
Astronomical Journa
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