670 research outputs found
First measurements of 15N fractionation in N2H+ toward high-mass star forming cores
We report on the first measurements of the isotopic ratio 14N/15N in N2H+
toward a statistically significant sample of high-mass star forming cores. The
sources belong to the three main evolutionary categories of the high-mass star
formation process: high-mass starless cores, high-mass protostellar objects,
and ultracompact HII regions. Simultaneous measurements of 14N/15N in CN have
been made. The 14N/15N ratios derived from N2H+ show a large spread (from ~180
up to ~1300), while those derived from CN are in between the value measured in
the terrestrial atmosphere (~270) and that of the proto-Solar nebula (~440) for
the large majority of the sources within the errors. However, this different
spread might be due to the fact that the sources detected in the N2H+
isotopologues are more than those detected in the CN ones. The 14N/15N ratio
does not change significantly with the source evolutionary stage, which
indicates that time seems to be irrelevant for the fractionation of nitrogen.
We also find a possible anticorrelation between the 14N/15N (as derived from
N2H+) and the H/D isotopic ratios. This suggests that 15N enrichment could not
be linked to the parameters that cause D enrichment, in agreement with the
prediction by recent chemical models. These models, however, are not able to
reproduce the observed large spread in 14N/15N, pointing out that some
important routes of nitrogen fractionation could be still missing in the
models.Comment: 2 Figures, accepted for publication in ApJ
Unveiling the nature and interaction of the intermediate/high-mass YSOs in IRAS 20343+4129
In order to elucidate the nature of the brightest infrared sources associated
with IRAS 20343+4129, IRS1 and IRS3, we observed with the Submillimeter Array
(SMA) the 1.3 mm continuum and CO(2-1) emission of the region. Faint millimeter
dust continuum emission was detected toward IRS1, and we derived an associated
gas mass of ~0.8 Msun. The IRS1 spectral energy distribution agrees with IRS1
being an intermediate-mass Class I source of about 1000 Lsun, whose
circumstellar material is producing the observed large infrared excess. We have
discovered a high-velocity CO bipolar outflow in the east-west direction, which
is clearly associated with IRS1, and the outflow parameters are similar to
those of intermediate-mass young stellar objects. Associated with the blue
large scale CO outflow lobe, detected with single-dish observations, we only
found two elongated low-velocity structures on either side of IRS3. The
large-scale outflow lobe is almost completely resolved out by the SMA. Our
detected low-velocity CO structures are coincident with elongated H2 emission
features. The strongest millimeter continuum condensations in the region are
found on either side of IRS3, where the infrared emission is extremely weak,
and the CO and H2 elongated structures follow the border of the millimeter
continuum emission that is facing IRS3. All these results suggest that the dust
is associated with the walls of an expanding cavity driven by IRS3, estimated
to be a B2 star. Within and beyond the expanding cavity, the millimeter
continuum sources can be sites of future low-mass star formation.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in A&
The NH2D/NH3 ratio toward pre-protostellar cores around the UCHII region in IRAS 20293+3952
The deuterium fractionation, Dfrac, has been proposed as an evolutionary
indicator in pre-protostellar and protostellar cores of low-mass star-forming
regions. We investigate Dfrac, with high angular resolution, in the cluster
environment surrounding the UCHII region IRAS 20293+3952. We performed high
angular resolution observations with the IRAM Plateau de Bure Interferometer
(PdBI) of the ortho-NH2D 1_{11}-1_{01} line at 85.926 GHz and compared them
with previously reported VLA NH3 data. We detected strong NH2D emission toward
the pre-protostellar cores identified in NH3 and dust emission, all located in
the vicinity of the UCHII region IRAS 20293+3952. We found high values of
Dfrac~0.1-0.8 in all the pre-protostellar cores and low values, Dfrac<0.1,
associated with young stellar objects. The high values of Dfrac in
pre-protostellar cores could be indicative of evolution, although outflow
interactions and UV radiation could also play a role.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures. Accepted for publication in Astronomy and
Astrophysics Letter
Modelo numérico de cavitación para geometrías sencillas utilizando FLUENT V6.1
Cavitation is a phenomenon that can be present in several agro-forestry applications such as irrigation pressure-reducing valves, sprinkler orifices or even in the flow through xylem vessels inside plants. In the present research, numerical predictions of cavitation in a series of orifices, nozzles and venturis were compared to experimental measurements to show the possibilities and performances of the new cavitation model in the commercial Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) code FLUENT V6.1. A flashing study is also presented for the nozzle case. Model predictions for the orifice cases accurately capture cavitation inception and its influence on the orifice discharge coefficient. However, when an unsteady flow is modeled, the cavitation phenomenon is not simulated properly and leads to a steady situation. In general, the new cavitation model in FLUENT V6.1 provides very reliable simulation for easy geometries when steady flow is assumed.Los procesos de cavitación tienen relevancia en diferentes aspectos del área agroforestal, como en válvulas reductoras de presión para riego, chorros en aspersores e incluso en el flujo de savia en el xilema de las plantas. En este trabajo se ha validado el nuevo modelo de cavitación incluido en el programa comercial de mecánica de fluidos computacional FLUENT V6.1 en varios orificios, estrechamientos y venturis, comparando los resultados experimentales con los obtenidos por el modelo. También se presenta un estudio del fenómeno "flashing" producido en el estrechamiento. Las predicciones del modelo en el caso de los orificios muestran una buena estimación del momento de inicio de la cavitación así como de su desarrollo, estimado con el coeficiente de descarga del orificio. Sin embargo, cuando se trata de modelar el flujo en estado no estacionario, el proceso de cavitación no es simulado correctamente conduciendo a una situación estacionaria. De todo ello podemos concluir que el nuevo modelo de cavitación simula adecuadamente la cavitación en el flujo a través de geometrías sencillas, como los orificios y estrechamientos, en estado estacionario
Mid-J CO Shock Tracing Observations of Infrared Dark Clouds I
Infrared dark clouds (IRDCs) are dense, molecular structures in the
interstellar medium that can harbour sites of high-mass star formation. IRDCs
contain supersonic turbulence, which is expected to generate shocks that
locally heat pockets of gas within the clouds. We present observations of the
CO J = 8-7, 9-8, and 10-9 transitions, taken with the Herschel Space
Observatory, towards four dense, starless clumps within IRDCs (C1 in
G028.37+00.07, F1 and F2 in G034.43+0007, and G2 in G034.77-0.55). We detect
the CO J = 8-7 and 9-8 transitions towards three of the clumps (C1, F1, and F2)
at intensity levels greater than expected from photodissociation region (PDR)
models. The average ratio of the 8-7 to 9-8 lines is also found to be between
1.6 and 2.6 in the three clumps with detections, significantly smaller than
expected from PDR models. These low line ratios and large line intensities
strongly suggest that the C1, F1, and F2 clumps contain a hot gas component not
accounted for by standard PDR models. Such a hot gas component could be
generated by turbulence dissipating in low velocity shocks.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures, 5 tables, accepted by A&A, minor updates to
match the final published versio
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
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
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
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