319 research outputs found
Tracing early evolutionary stages of high-mass star formation with molecular lines
Despite its major role in the evolution of the interstellar medium, the
formation of high-mass stars (M > 10 Msol) is still poorly understood. Two
types of massive star cluster precursors, the so-called Massive Dense Cores
(MDCs), have been observed, which differ in their mid-infrared brightness. The
origin of this difference is not established and could be the result of
evolution, density, geometry differences, or a combination of these. We compare
several molecular tracers of physical conditions (hot cores, shocks) observed
in a sample of mid-IR weak emitting MDCs with previous results obtained in a
sample of exclusively mid-IR bright MDCs. The aim is to understand the
differences between these two types of object. We present single-dish
observations of HDO, H2O-18, SO2 and CH3OH lines at lambda = 1.3 - 3.5 mm. We
study line profiles and estimate abundances of these molecules, and use a
partial correlation method to search for trends in the results. The detection
rates of thermal emission lines are found to be very similar between mid-IR
quiet and bright objects. The abundances of H2O, HDO (1E-13 to 1E-9 in the cold
outer envelopes), SO2 and CH3OH differ from source to source but independently
of their mid-IR flux. In contrast, the methanol class I maser emission, a
tracer of outflow shocks, is found to be strongly anti-correlated with the 12
micron source brightnesses. The enhancement of the methanol maser emission in
mid-IR quiet MDCs may indicate a more embedded nature. Since total masses are
similar between the two samples, we suggest that the matter distribution is
spherical around mid-IR quiet sources but flattened around mid-IR bright ones.
In contrast, water emission is associated with objects containing a hot
molecular core, irrespective of their mid-IR brightness. These results indicate
that the mid-IR brightness of MDCs is an indicator of their evolutionary stage.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures, 11 tables, accepted for publication in A&A the
11/06/201
First detection of CF+ towards a high-mass protostar
We report the first detection of the J = 1 - 0 (102.6 GHz) rotational lines
of CF+ (fluoromethylidynium ion) towards CygX-N63, a young and massive
protostar of the Cygnus X region. This detection occurred as part of an
unbiased spectral survey of this object in the 0.8-3 mm range, performed with
the IRAM 30m telescope. The data were analyzed using a local thermodynamical
equilibrium model (LTE model) and a population diagram in order to derive the
column density. The line velocity (-4 km s-1) and line width (1.6 km s-1)
indicate an origin from the collapsing envelope of the protostar.
We obtain a CF+ column density of 4.10e11 cm-2. The CF+ ion is thought to be
a good tracer for C+ and assuming a ratio of 10e-6 for CF+/C+, we derive a
total number of C+ of 1.2x10e53 within the beam. There is no evidence of carbon
ionization caused by an exterior source of UV photons suggesting that the
protostar itself is the source of ionization. Ionization from the protostellar
photosphere is not efficient enough. In contrast, X-ray ionization from the
accretion shock(s) and UV ionization from outflow shocks could provide a large
enough ionizing power to explain our CF+ detection.
Surprisingly, CF+ has been detected towards a cold, massive protostar with no
sign of an external photon dissociation region (PDR), which means that the only
possibility is the existence of a significant inner source of C+. This is an
important result that opens interesting perspectives to study the early
development of ionized regions and to approach the issue of the evolution of
the inner regions of collapsing envelopes of massive protostars. The existence
of high energy radiations early in the evolution of massive protostars also has
important implications for chemical evolution of dense collapsing gas and could
trigger peculiar chemistry and early formation of a hot core.Comment: 6 page
Multi-line Herschel/HIFI observations of water reveal infall motions and chemical segregation around high-mass protostars
(Abridged) We use HIFI maps of the 987 GHz H2O 2(02)-1(11) emission to
measure the sizes and shapes of 19 high-mass protostellar envelopes. To
identify infall, we use HIFI spectra of the optically thin C18O 9-8 and H2O-18
1(11)-0(00) lines. The high-J C18O line traces the warm central material and
redshifted H2O-18 1(11)-0(00) absorption indicates material falling onto the
warm core. We probe small-scale chemical differentiation by comparing H2O 752
and 987 GHz spectra with those of H2O-18.
Our measured radii of the central part of the H2O 2(02)-1(11) emission are
30-40% larger than the predictions from spherical envelope models, and axis
ratios are <2, which we consider good agreement. For 11 of the 19 sources, we
find a significant redshift of the H2O-18 1(11)-0(00) line relative to C18O
9-8. The inferred infall velocities are 0.6-3.2 km/s, and estimated mass inflow
rates range from 7e-5 to 2e-2 M0/yr, with the highest mass inflow rates
occurring toward the sources with the highest masses, and possibly the youngest
ages. The other sources show either expanding motions or H2O-18 lines in
emission. The H2O-18 1(11)-0(00) line profiles are remarkably similar to the
"differences" between the H2O 2(02)-1(11) and 2(11)-2(02) profiles, suggesting
that the H2O-18 line and the H2O 2(02)-1(11) absorption originate just inside
the radius where water evaporates from grains, typically 1000-5000 au from the
center. In some sources, the H2O-18 line is detectable in the outflow, where no
C18O emission is seen.
Together, the H2O-18 absorption and C18O emission profiles show that the
water abundance around high-mass protostars has at least three levels: low in
the cool outer envelope, high within the 100 K radius, and very high in the
outflowing gas. Thus, despite the small regions, the combination of lines
presented here reveals systematic inflows and chemical information about the
outflows.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics; 10 pages body +
10 pages appendi
High-mass star formation in the Southern Hemisphere sky
We report on a multi-wavelength (IR to cm) and multi-resolution (1 mas to 20
arcsec) exploration of high-mass star formation regions in the Galactic plane,
at longitudes observable from the Southern Hemisphere. Our source sample was
originally identified through methanol masers in the Galactic plane, which
exclusively trace high-mass star-forming regions. (Sub)millimetre continuum and
molecular line observations were carried out with SEST/SIMBA, JCMT/SCUBA and
ATNF/Mopra mm-wave telescopes and have allowed us to identify massive (
M) and luminous ( L) clumps in each star-forming
region. We have also constrained the SED with additional archival IR data, the
physical conditions (, , ) and the chemical composition of each
massive clump. Several types of objects were characterised based on the
ratio, the dust temperature and the molecular line
properties, ranging from class 0-like YSO clusters (,
T=30 K) to hot molecular clumps (, K).
Preliminary high-angular resolution observations for a subset of the sample
with the ATNF/ATCA at 3 mm, the VLA at 15, 22 and 43 GHz and Gemini in MIR have
revealed that several (proto)stellar objects are embedded in the massive
clumps: massive protostars, hot cores and hyper-compact HII regions. We have
thus identified protoclusters of massive YSOs, which are the precursors of the
OB associations. This sample of Southern Hemisphere star-forming regions will
be extremely valuable for the scientific preparation of the ALMA and HSO
observations.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, conference proceeding
The multiferroic phases of (Eu:Y)MnO3
We report on structural, magnetic, dielectric, and thermodynamic properties
of (Eu:Y)MnO3 for Y doping levels 0 <= x < 1. This system resembles the
multiferroic perovskite manganites RMnO3 (with R= Gd, Dy, Tb) but without the
interference of magnetic contributions of the 4f-ions. In addition, it offers
the possibility to continuously tune the influence of the A-site ionic radii.
For small concentrations x <= 0.1 we find a canted antiferromagnetic and
paraelectric groundstate. For higher concentrations x <= 0.3 ferroelectric
polarization coexists with the features of a long wavelength incommensurate
spiral magnetic phase analogous to the observations in TbMnO3. In the
intermediate concentration range around x = 0.2 a multiferroic scenario is
realized combining weak ferroelectricity and weak ferromagnetism, presumably
due to a canted spiral magnetic structure.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figure
Understanding star formation in molecular clouds III. Probability distribution functions of molecular lines in Cygnus X
The probability distribution function of column density (N-PDF) serves as a powerful tool to characterise the various physical processes that influence the structure of molecular clouds. Studies that use extinction maps or H2 column-density maps (N) that are derived from dust show that star-forming clouds can best be characterised by lognormal PDFs for the lower N range and a power-law tail for higher N, which is commonly attributed to turbulence and self-gravity and/or pressure, respectively. While PDFs from dust cover a large dynamic range (typically N ~ 1020−24 cm-2 or Av~ 0.1−1000), PDFs obtained from molecular lines – converted into H2 column density – potentially trace more selectively different regimes of (column) densities and temperatures. They also enable us to distinguish different clouds along the line of sight through using the velocity information. We report here on PDFs that were obtained from observations of 12CO, 13CO, C18O, CS, and N2H+ in the Cygnus X North region, and make a comparison to a PDF that was derived from dust observations with the Herschel satellite. The PDF of 12CO is lognormal for Av ~ 1–30, but is cut for higher Av because of optical depth effects. The PDFs of C18O and 13CO are mostly lognormal up to Av ~ 1–15, followed by excess up to Av ~ 40. Above that value, all CO PDFs drop, which is most likely due to depletion. The high density tracers CS and N2H+ exhibit only a power law distribution between Av ~ 15 and 400, respectively. The PDF from dust is lognormal for Av ~ 3–15 and has a power-law tail up to Av ~ 500. Absolute values for the molecular line column densities are, however, rather uncertain because of abundance and excitation temperature variations. If we take the dust PDF at face value, we “calibrate” the molecular line PDF of CS to that of the dust and determine an abundance [CS]/[H2] of 10-9. The slopes of the power-law tails of the CS, N2H+, and dust PDFs are −1.6, −1.4, and −2.3, respectively, and are thus consistent with free-fall collapse of filaments and clumps. A quasi static configuration of filaments and clumps can also possibly account for the observed N-PDFs, providing they have a sufficiently condensed density structure and external ram pressure by gas accretion is provided. The somehow flatter slopes of N2H+ and CS can reflect an abundance change and/or subthermal excitation at low column densities
The massive protostar W43-MM1 as seen by Herschel-HIFI water spectra: high turbulence and accretion luminosity
We present Herschel/HIFI observations of fourteen water lines in W43-MM1, a
massive protostellar object in the luminous star cluster-forming region W43. We
analyze the gas dynamics from the line profiles using Herschel-HIFI
observations (WISH-KP) of fourteen far-IR water lines (H2O, H217O, H218O),
CS(11-10), and C18O(9-8) lines, and using our modeling of the continuum
spectral energy distribution. As for lower mass protostellar objects, the
molecular line profiles are a mix of emission and absorption, and can be
decomposed into 'medium', and 'broad' velocity components. The broad component
is the outflow associated with protostars of all masses. Our modeling shows
that the remainder of the water profiles can be well fitted by an infalling and
passively heated envelope, with highly supersonic turbulence varying from 2.2
km/s in the inner region to 3.5 km/s in the outer envelope. Also, W43-MM1 has a
high accretion rate, between 4.0 x 10^{-4} and 4.0 x 10^{-2} \msun /yr, derived
from the fast (0.4-2.9 km/s) infall observed. We estimate a lower mass limit of
gaseous water of 0.11 \msun and total water luminosity of 1.5 \lsun (in the 14
lines presented here). The central hot core is detected with a water abundance
of 1.4 x 10^{-4} while the water abundance for the outer envelope is 8
x10^{-8}. The latter value is higher than in other sources, most likely related
to the high turbulence and the micro-shocks created by its dissipation.
Examining water lines of various energies, we find that the turbulent velocity
increases with the distance to the center. While not in clear disagreement with
the competitive accretion scenario, this behavior is predicted by the turbulent
core model. Moreover, the estimated accretion rate is high enough to overcome
the expected radiation pressure.Comment: Accepted in A&A on April 2, 2012. 12 pages 7 figure
Fluctuations of elastic interfaces in fluids: Theory and simulation
We study the dynamics of elastic interfaces-membranes-immersed in thermally
excited fluids. The work contains three components: the development of a
numerical method, a purely theoretical approach, and numerical simulation. In
developing a numerical method, we first discuss the dynamical coupling between
the interface and the surrounding fluids. An argument is then presented that
generalizes the single-relaxation time lattice-Boltzmann method for the
simulation of hydrodynamic interfaces to include the elastic properties of the
boundary. The implementation of the new method is outlined and it is tested by
simulating the static behavior of spherical bubbles and the dynamics of bending
waves. By means of the fluctuation-dissipation theorem we recover analytically
the equilibrium frequency power spectrum of thermally fluctuating membranes and
the correlation function of the excitations. Also, the non-equilibrium scaling
properties of the membrane roughening are deduced, leading us to formulate a
scaling law describing the interface growth, W^2(L,T)=L^3 g[t/L^(5/2)], where
W, L and T are the width of the interface, the linear size of the system and
the temperature respectively, and g is a scaling function. Finally, the
phenomenology of thermally fluctuating membranes is simulated and the frequency
power spectrum is recovered, confirming the decay of the correlation function
of the fluctuations. As a further numerical study of fluctuating elastic
interfaces, the non-equilibrium regime is reproduced by initializing the system
as an interface immersed in thermally pre-excited fluids.Comment: 15 pages, 11 figure
Sensitive limits on the abundance of cold water vapor in the DM Tau protoplanetary disk
We performed a sensitive search for the ground-state emission lines of ortho-
and para-water vapor in the DM Tau protoplanetary disk using the Herschel/HIFI
instrument. No strong lines are detected down to 3sigma levels in 0.5 km/s
channels of 4.2 mK for the 1_{10}--1_{01} line and 12.6 mK for the
1_{11}--0_{00} line. We report a very tentative detection, however, of the
1_{10}--1_{01} line in the Wide Band Spectrometer, with a strength of
T_{mb}=2.7 mK, a width of 5.6 km/s and an integrated intensity of 16.0 mK km/s.
The latter constitutes a 6sigma detection. Regardless of the reality of this
tentative detection, model calculations indicate that our sensitive limits on
the line strengths preclude efficient desorption of water in the UV illuminated
regions of the disk. We hypothesize that more than 95-99% of the water ice is
locked up in coagulated grains that have settled to the midplane.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures. Accepted for publication in the Herschel HIFI
special issue of A&
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