964 research outputs found
Investigations of Protostellar Outflow Launching and Gas Entrainment: Hydrodynamic Simulations and Molecular Emission
We investigate protostellar outflow evolution, gas entrainment, and star
formation efficiency using radiation-hydrodynamic simulations of isolated,
turbulent low-mass cores. We adopt an X-wind launching model, in which the
outflow rate is coupled to the instantaneous protostellar accretion rate and
evolution. We vary the outflow collimation angle from =0.01-0.1 and
find that even well collimated outflows effectively sweep up and entrain
significant core mass. The Stage 0 lifetime ranges from 0.14-0.19 Myr, which is
similar to the observed Class 0 lifetime. The star formation efficiency of the
cores spans 0.41-0.51. In all cases, the outflows drive strong turbulence in
the surrounding material. Although the initial core turbulence is purely
solenoidal by construction, the simulations converge to approximate
equipartition between solenoidal and compressive motions due to a combination
of outflow driving and collapse. When compared to a simulation of a cluster of
protostars, which is not gravitationally centrally condensed, we find that the
outflows drive motions that are mainly solenoidal. The final turbulent velocity
dispersion is about twice the initial value of the cores, indicating that an
individual outflow is easily able to replenish turbulent motions on sub-parsec
scales. We post-process the simulations to produce synthetic molecular line
emission maps of CO, CO, and CO and evaluate how well
these tracers reproduce the underlying mass and velocity structure.Comment: Accepted to ApJ, 17 pages, 15 figure
An Infrared Camera for Leuschner Observatory and the Berkeley Undergraduate Astronomy Lab
We describe the design, fabrication, and operation of an infrared camera
which is in use at the 30-inch telescope of the Leuschner Observatory. The
camera is based on a Rockwell PICNIC 256 x 256 pixel HgCdTe array, which is
sensitive from 0.9-2.5 micron. The primary purpose of this telescope is for
undergraduate instruction. The cost of the camera has been minimized by using
commercial parts whereever practical. The camera optics are based on a modified
Offner relay which forms a cold pupil where stray thermal radiation from the
telescope is baffled. A cold, six-position filter wheel is driven by a
cryogenic stepper motor, thus avoiding any mechanical feed throughs. The array
control and readout electronics are based on standard PC cards; the only custom
component is a simple interface card which buffers the clocks and amplifies the
analog signals from the array.Comment: 13 pages, 17 figures. Submitted to Publications of the Astronomical
Society of the Pacific: 2001 Jan 10, Accepted 2001 Jan 1
The Kinematics of Molecular Cloud Cores in the Presence of Driven and Decaying Turbulence: Comparisons with Observations
In this study we investigate the formation and properties of prestellar and
protostellar cores using hydrodynamic, self-gravitating Adaptive Mesh
Refinement simulations, comparing the cases where turbulence is continually
driven and where it is allowed to decay. We model observations of these cores
in the CO, NH, and NH lines, and from
the simulated observations we measure the linewidths of individual cores, the
linewidths of the surrounding gas, and the motions of the cores relative to one
another. Some of these distributions are significantly different in the driven
and decaying runs, making them potential diagnostics for determining whether
the turbulence in observed star-forming clouds is driven or decaying. Comparing
our simulations with observed cores in the Perseus and Ophiuchus clouds
shows reasonably good agreement between the observed and simulated core-to-core
velocity dispersions for both the driven and decaying cases. However, we find
that the linewidths through protostellar cores in both simulations are too
large compared to the observations. The disagreement is noticably worse for the
decaying simulation, in which cores show highly supersonic infall signatures in
their centers that decrease toward their edges, a pattern not seen in the
observed regions. This result gives some support to the use of driven
turbulence for modeling regions of star formation, but reaching a firm
conclusion on the relative merits of driven or decaying turbulence will require
more complete data on a larger sample of clouds as well as simulations that
include magnetic fields, outflows, and thermal feedback from the protostars.Comment: 18 pages, 12 figures, accepted to A
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