226 research outputs found
Measure of precursor electron density profiles of laser launched radiative shocks
We have studied the dynamics of strong radiative shocks generated with the
high-energy subnanosecond iodine laser at Prague Asterix Laser System facilityComment: with small correction in Fig.1
Temperature and kinematics of protoclusters with intermediate and high-mass stars: the case of IRAS 05345+3157
We have mapped at small spatial scales the temperature and the velocity field
in the protocluster associated with IRAS 05345+3157, which contains both
intermediate-/high-mass protostellar candidates and starless condensations, and
is thus an excellent location to investigate the role of massive protostars on
protocluster evolution. We observed the ammonia (1,1) and (2,2) inversion
transitions with the VLA. Ammonia is the best thermometer for dense and cold
gas, and the observed transitions have critical densities able to trace the
kinematics of the intracluster gaseous medium. The ammonia emission is extended
and distributed in two filamentary structures. The starless condensations are
colder than the star-forming cores, but the gas temperature across the whole
protocluster is higher (by a factor of ~1.3-1.5) than that measured typically
in both infrared dark clouds and low-mass protoclusters. The non-thermal
contribution to the observed line broadening is at least a factor of 2 larger
than the expected thermal broadening even in starless condensations, contrary
to the close-to-thermal line widths measured in low-mass quiescent dense cores.
The NH3-to-N2H+ abundance ratio is greatly enhanced (a factor of 10) in the
pre--stellar core candidates, probably due to freeze-out of most molecular
species heavier than He. The more massive and evolved objects likely play a
dominant role in the physical properties and kinematics of the protocluster.
The high level of turbulence and the fact that the measured core masses are
larger than the expected thermal Jeans masses indicate that turbulence likely
was an important factor in the initial fragmentation of the parental clump.Comment: 13 pages (with Appendix), 11 figure
Deuteration as an evolutionary tracer in massive-star formation
Theory predicts, and observations confirm, that the column density ratio of a
molecule containing D to its counterpart containing H can be used as an
evolutionary tracer in the low-mass star formation process. Since it remains
unclear if the high-mass star formation process is a scaled-up version of the
low-mass one, we investigated whether the relation between deuteration and
evolution can be applied to the high-mass regime. With the IRAM-30m telescope,
we observed rotational transitions of N2D+ and N2H+ and derived the deuterated
fraction in 27 cores within massive star-forming regions understood to
represent different evolutionary stages of the massive-star formation process.
Results. Our results clearly indicate that the abundance of N2D+ is higher at
the pre-stellar/cluster stage, then drops during the formation of the
protostellar object(s) as in the low-mass regime, remaining relatively constant
during the ultra-compact HII region phase. The objects with the highest
fractional abundance of N2D+ are starless cores with properties very similar to
typical pre-stellar cores of lower mass. The abundance of N2D+ is lower in
objects with higher gas temperatures as in the low-mass case but does not seem
to depend on gas turbulence. Our results indicate that the N2D+-to-N2H+ column
density ratio can be used as an evolutionary indicator in both low- and
high-mass star formation, and that the physical conditions influencing the
abundance of deuterated species likely evolve similarly during the processes
that lead to the formation of both low- and high-mass stars.Comment: Accepted by A&AL, 4 pages, 2 figures, 2 appendices (one for Tables,
one for additional figures
Broad N2H+ emission towards the protostellar shock L1157-B1
We present the first detection of N2H+ towards a low-mass protostellar
outflow, namely the L1157-B1 shock, at about 0.1 pc from the protostellar
cocoon. The detection was obtained with the IRAM 30-m antenna. We observed
emission at 93 GHz due to the J = 1-0 hyperfine lines. The analysis of the
emission coupled with the HIFI CHESS multiline CO observations leads to the
conclusion that the observed N2H+(1-0) line originates from the dense (> 10^5
cm-3) gas associated with the large (20-25 arcsec) cavities opened by the
protostellar wind. We find a N2H+ column density of few 10^12 cm-2
corresponding to an abundance of (2-8) 10^-9. The N2H+ abundance can be matched
by a model of quiescent gas evolved for more than 10^4 yr, i.e. for more than
the shock kinematical age (about 2000 yr). Modelling of C-shocks confirms that
the abundance of N2H+ is not increased by the passage of the shock. In summary,
N2H+ is a fossil record of the pre-shock gas, formed when the density of the
gas was around 10^4 cm-3, and then further compressed and accelerated by the
shock.Comment: ApJ, in pres
Dense gas in IRAS 20343+4129: an ultracompact HII region caught in the act of creating a cavity
The intermediate- to high-mass star-forming region IRAS 20343+4129 is an
excellent laboratory to study the influence of high- and intermediate-mass
young stellar objects on nearby starless dense cores, and investigate for
possible implications in the clustered star formation process. We present 3 mm
observations of continuum and rotational transitions of several molecular
species (C2H, c-C3H2, N2H+, NH2D) obtained with the Combined Array for Research
in Millimetre-wave Astronomy, as well as 1.3 cm continuum and NH3 observations
carried out with the Very Large Array, to reveal the properties of the dense
gas. We confirm undoubtedly previous claims of an expanding cavity created by
an ultracompact HII region associated with a young B2 zero-age main sequence
(ZAMS) star. The dense gas surrounding the cavity is distributed in a filament
that seems squeezed in between the cavity and a collimated outflow associated
with an intermediate-mass protostar. We have identified 5 millimeter continuum
condensations in the filament. All of them show column densities consistent
with potentially being the birthplace of intermediate- to high-mass objects.
These cores appear different from those observed in low-mass clustered
environments in sereval observational aspects (kinematics, temperature,
chemical gradients), indicating a strong influence of the most massive and
evolved members of the protocluster. We suggest a possible scenario in which
the B2 ZAMS star driving the cavity has compressed the surrounding gas,
perturbed its properties and induced the star formation in its immediate
surroundings.Comment: 17 pages, 13 figures. Accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of
the Royal Astronomical Society (Main Journal
Mid-J CO Emission in Nearby Seyfert Galaxies
We study for the first time the complete sub-millimeter spectra (450 GHz to
1550 GHz) of a sample of nearby active galaxies observed with the SPIRE Fourier
Transform Spectrometer (SPIRE/FTS) onboard Herschel. The CO ladder (from Jup =
4 to 12) is the most prominent spectral feature in this range. These CO lines
probe warm molecular gas that can be heated by ultraviolet photons, shocks, or
X-rays originated in the active galactic nucleus or in young star-forming
regions. In these proceedings we investigate the physical origin of the CO
emission using the averaged CO spectral line energy distribution (SLED) of six
Seyfert galaxies. We use a radiative transfer model assuming an isothermal
homogeneous medium to estimate the molecular gas conditions. We also compare
this CO SLED with the predictions of photon and X-ray dominated region (PDR and
XDR) models.Comment: Proceedings of the Torus Workshop 2012 held at the University of
Texas at San Antonio, 5-7 December 2012. C. Packham, R. Mason, and A.
Alonso-Herrero (eds.); 6 pages, 3 figure
Iron and Nickel spectral opacity calculations in conditions relevant for pulsating stellar envelopes and experiments
Seismology of stars is strongly developing. To address this question we have
formed an international collaboration OPAC to perform specific experimental
measurements, compare opacity calculations and improve the opacity calculations
in the stellar codes [1]. We consider the following opacity codes: SCO,
CASSANDRA, STA, OPAS, LEDCOP, OP, SCO-RCG. Their comparison has shown large
differences for Fe and Ni in equivalent conditions of envelopes of type II
supernova precursors, temperatures between 15 and 40 eV and densities of a few
mg/cm3 [2, 3, 4]. LEDCOP, OPAS, SCO-RCG structure codes and STA give similar
results and differ from OP ones for the lower temperatures and for spectral
interval values [3]. In this work we discuss the role of Configuration
Interaction (CI) and the influence of the number of used configurations. We
present and include in the opacity code comparisons new HULLAC-v9 calculations
[5, 6] that include full CI. To illustrate the importance of this effect we
compare different CI approximations (modes) available in HULLAC-v9 [7]. These
results are compared to previous predictions and to experimental data.
Differences with OP results are discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, conference Inertial Fusion Sciences and
Applications, Bordeaux, 12th to 16th September 2011; EPJ web of Conferences
201
N2H+ depletion in the massive protostellar cluster AFGL 5142
We aim at investigating with high angular resolution the NH3/N2H+ ratio
toward the high-mass star-forming region AFGL 5142 in order to study whether
this ratio behaves similarly to the low-mass case, for which the ratio
decreases from starless cores to cores associated with YSOs. CARMA was used to
observe the 3.2 mm continuum and N2H+(1-0) emission. We used NH3(1,1) and
(2,2), HCO+(1-0) and H13CO+(1-0) data from the literature and we performed a
time-dependent chemical modeling of the region. The 3.2 mm continuum emission
reveals a dust condensation of ~23 Msun associated with the massive YSOs,
deeply embedded in the strongest NH3 core (hereafter central core). The N2H+
emission reveals two main cores, the western and eastern core, located to the
west and to the east of the mm condensation, and surrounded by a more extended
and complex structure of ~0.5 pc. Toward the central core the N2H+ emission
drops significantly, indicating a clear chemical differentiation in the region.
We found low values of the NH3/N2H+ ratio ~50-100 toward the western/eastern
cores, and high values up to 1000 in the central core. The chemical model
indicates that density, and in particular temperature, are key parameters in
determining the NH3/N2H+ ratio. The high density and temperature reached in the
central core allow molecules like CO to evaporate from grain mantles. The CO
desorption causes a significant destruction of N2H+, favoring the formation of
HCO+. This result is supported by our observations, which show that N2H+ and
HCO+ are anticorrelated in the central core. The observed values of the
NH3/N2H+ ratio in the central core can be reproduced by our model for times
t~4.5-5.3x10^5 yr (central) and t~10^4-3x10^6 yr (western/eastern). The
NH3/N2H+ ratio in AFGL 5142 does not follow the same trend as in regions of
low-mass star formation mainly due to the high temperature reached in hot
cores.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A. 14 pages, 9 Figures, 5 Table
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