2,359 research outputs found
IR Dust Bubbles: Probing the Detailed Structure and Young Massive Stellar Populations of Galactic HII Regions
We present an analysis of wind-blown, parsec-sized, mid-infrared bubbles and
associated star-formation using GLIMPSE/IRAC, MIPSGAL/MIPS and MAGPIS/VLA
surveys. Three bubbles from the Churchwell et al. (2006) catalog were selected.
The relative distribution of the ionized gas (based on 20 cm emission), PAH
emission (based on 8 um, 5.8 um and lack of 4.5 um emission) and hot dust (24
um emission) are compared. At the center of each bubble there is a region
containing ionized gas and hot dust, surrounded by PAHs. We identify the likely
source(s) of the stellar wind and ionizing flux producing each bubble based
upon SED fitting to numerical hot stellar photosphere models. Candidate YSOs
are also identified using SED fitting, including several sites of possible
triggered star formation.Comment: 37 pages, 17 figure
VLTI/MIDI 10 micron interferometry of the forming massive star W33A
We report on resolved interferometric observations with VLTI/MIDI of the
massive young stellar object (MYSO) W33A. The MIDI observations deliver
spectrally dispersed visibilities with values between 0.03 and 0.06, for a
baseline of 45m over the wavelength range 8-13 micron. The visibilities
indicate that W33A has a FWHM size of approximately 120AU (0.030'') at 8 micron
which increases to 240AU at 13 micron, scales previously unexplored among
MYSOs. This observed trend is consistent with the temperature falling off with
distance. 1D dust radiative transfer models are simultaneously fit to the
visibility spectrum, the strong silicate feature and the shape of the mid
infrared spectral energy distribution (SED). For any powerlaw density
distribution, we find that the sizes (as implied by the visibilities) and the
stellar luminosity are incompatible. A reduction to a third of W33A's
previously adopted luminosity is required to match the visibilities; such a
reduction is consistent with new high resolution 70 micron data from Spitzer's
MIPSGAL survey. We obtain best fits for models with shallow dust density
distributions of r^(-0.5) and r^(-1.0) and for increased optical depth in the
silicate feature produced by decreasing the ISM ratio of graphite to silicates
and using optical grain properties by Ossenkopf et al. (1992).Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for ApJ letter
Velocity dependence of friction and Kramers relaxation rates
We study the influence of the velocity dependence of friction on the escape
of a Brownian particle from the deep potential well (,
is the barrier height, is the Boltzmann constant, is the
bath temperature). The bath-induced relaxation is treated within the Rayleigh
model (a heavy particle of mass in the bath of light particles of mass
) up to the terms of the order of ,
. The term is equivalent to the Fokker-Planck
dissipative operator, and the term is responsible for the
velocity dependence of friction. As expected, the correction to the Kramers
escape rate in the overdamped limit is proportional to and is
small. The corresponding correction in the underdamped limit is proportional to
and is not necessarily small. We thus suggest that
the effects due to the velocity-dependent friction may be of considerable
importance in determining the rate of escape of an under- and moderately damped
Brownian particle from a deep potential well, while they are of minor
importance for an overdamped particle
Probing discs around massive young stellar objects with CO first overtone emission
We present high resolution (R~50,000) spectroastrometry over the CO 1st
overtone bandhead of a sample of seven intermediate/massive young stellar
objects. These are primarily drawn from the red MSX source (RMS) survey, a
systematic search for young massive stars which has returned a large, well
selected sample of such objects. The mean luminosity of the sample is
approximately 5 times 10^4 L_\odot, indicating the objects typically have a
mass of ~15 solar masses. We fit the observed bandhead profiles with a model of
a circumstellar disc, and find good agreement between the models and
observations for all but one object. We compare the high angular precision
(0.2-0.8 mas) spectroastrometric data to the spatial distribution of the
emitting material in the best-fitting models. No spatial signatures of discs
are detected, which is entirely consistent with the properties of the
best-fitting models. Therefore, the observations suggest that the CO bandhead
emission of massive young stellar objects originates in small-scale disks, in
agreement with previous work. This provides further evidence that massive stars
form via disc accretion, as suggested by recent simulations.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRA
Near-infrared integral field spectroscopy of Massive Young Stellar Objects
We present medium resolution () -band integral field
spectroscopy of six MYSOs. The targets are selected from the RMS survey, and we
used the NIFS on the Gemini North telescope. The data show various spectral
line features including Br, CO, H, and \mbox{He\,{\sc i}}. The
Br line is detected in emission in all objects with
-- 200 kms. V645 Cyg shows a high-velocity
P-Cygni profile between -800 kms and -300 kms. We performed
three-dimensional spectroastrometry to diagnose the circumstellar environment
in the vicinity of the central stars using the Br line. We measured the
centroids of the velocity components with sub-mas precision. The centroids
allow us to discriminate the blueshifted and redshifted components in a roughly
east--west direction in both IRAS 18151--1208 and S106 in Br. This lies
almost perpendicular to observed larger scale outflows. We conclude, given the
widths of the lines and the orientation of the spectroastrometric signature,
that our results trace a disc wind in both IRAS 18151--1208 and S106. The CO
absorption lines at low transitions are detected in IRAS
18151--1208 and AFGL 2136. We analysed the velocity structure of the neutral
gas discs. In IRAS 18151--1208, the absorption centroids of the blueshifted and
redshifted components are separated in a direction of north-east to south-west,
nearly perpendicular to that of the larger scale jet. The
position-velocity relations of these objects can be reproduced with central
masses of 30 M_{\sun} for IRAS 18151--1208 and 20 M_{\sun} for AFGL 2136.
We also detect CO bandhead emission in IRAS 18151--1208, S106 and
V645 Cyg. The results can be fitted reasonably with a Keplerian rotation model,
with masses of 15, 20 and 20 M_{\sun} respectively.Comment: 17 pages, 10 figures, accepted by MNRA
Optimization of Compressor and Valve Design - An Initial Study Using A Direct Search Technique
The RMS Survey: Far-Infrared Photometry of Young Massive Stars
Context: The Red MSX Source (RMS) survey is a multi-wavelength campaign of
follow-up observations of a colour-selected sample of candidate massive young
stellar objects (MYSOs) in the galactic plane. This survey is returning the
largest well-selected sample of MYSOs to date, while identifying other dust
contaminant sources with similar mid-infrared colours including a large number
of new ultra-compact (UC)HII regions. Aims:To measure the far-infrared (IR)
flux, which lies near the peak of the spectral energy distribution (SED) of
MYSOs and UCHII regions, so that, together with distance information, the
luminosity of these sources can be obtained. Methods:Less than 50% of RMS
sources are associated with IRAS point sources with detections at 60 micron and
100 micron, though the vast majority are visible in Spitzer MIPSGAL or IRAS
Galaxy Atlas (IGA) images. However, standard aperture photometry is not
appropriate for these data due to crowding of sources and strong spatially
variable far-IR background emission in the galactic plane. A new technique
using a 2-dimensional fit to the background in an annulus around each source is
therefore used to obtain far-IR photometry for young RMS sources.
Results:Far-IR fluxes are obtained for a total of 1113 RMS candidates
identified as young sources. Of these 734 have flux measurements using IGA 60
micron and 100 micron images and 724 using MIPSGAL 70 micron images, with 345
having measurements in both data sets.Comment: 10 pages, 10 figures, 2 Tables, accepted to A&A. A full version of
table 1 is available from the lead author or at the CDS upon publicatio
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