19 research outputs found
The curious morphology and orientation of Orion proplyd HST-10
HST-10 is one of the largest proplyds in the Orion Nebula and is located
approximately 1' SE of the Trapezium. Unlike other proplyds in Orion, however,
the long-axis of HST-10 does not align with theta 1 C Ori, but is instead
aligned with the rotational axis of the HST-10 disk. This cannot be easily
explained using current photo-evaporation models. In this letter, we present
high spatial resolution near-infrared images of the Orion proplyd HST-10 using
Keck/NIRC2 with the Laser Guide Star Adaptive Optics system, along with
multi-epoch analysis of HH objects near HST-10 using Hubble Space Telescope
WFPC2 and ACS cameras. Our narrow-band near-IR images resolve the proplyd
ionization front (IF) and circumstellar disk down to 23 AU at the distance to
Orion in Br gamma, He I, H_2, and PAH emission. Br gamma and He I emission
primarily trace the IF (with the disk showing prominently in silhouette), while
the H_2 and PAH emission trace the surface of the disk itself. PAH emission
also traces small dust grains within the proplyd envelope which is asymmetric
and does not coincide with the IF. The curious morphology of the PAH emission
may be due to UV-heating by both theta 1C Ori and theta 2A Ori. Multi-epoch HST
images of the HST-10 field show proper motion of 3 knots associated with HH
517, clearly indicating that HST-10 has a jet. We postulate that the
orientation of HST-10 is determined by the combined ram-pressure of this jet
and the FUV-powered photo-ablation flow from the disk surface.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ Letters, 4 Nov
201
The SOFIA Massive (SOMA) Star Formation Survey. I. Overview and First Results
We present an overview and first results of the Stratospheric Observatory For
Infrared Astronomy Massive (SOMA) Star Formation Survey, which is using the
FORCAST instrument to image massive protostars from
--. These wavelengths trace thermal emission from
warm dust, which in Core Accretion models mainly emerges from the inner regions
of protostellar outflow cavities. Dust in dense core envelopes also imprints
characteristic extinction patterns at these wavelengths, causing intensity
peaks to shift along the outflow axis and profiles to become more symmetric at
longer wavelengths. We present observational results for the first eight
protostars in the survey, i.e., multiwavelength images, including some
ancillary ground-based MIR observations and archival {\it{Spitzer}} and
{\it{Herschel}} data. These images generally show extended MIR/FIR emission
along directions consistent with those of known outflows and with shorter
wavelength peak flux positions displaced from the protostar along the
blueshifted, near-facing sides, thus confirming qualitative predictions of Core
Accretion models. We then compile spectral energy distributions and use these
to derive protostellar properties by fitting theoretical radiative transfer
models. Zhang and Tan models, based on the Turbulent Core Model of McKee and
Tan, imply the sources have protostellar masses --50
accreting at -- inside cores of
initial masses --500 embedded in clumps with mass surface
densities --3. Fitting Robitaille
et al. models typically leads to slightly higher protostellar masses, but with
disk accretion rates smaller. We discuss reasons for these
differences and overall implications of these first survey results for massive
star formation theories.Comment: Accepted to ApJ, 32 page
A Massive Protostar Forming by Ordered Collapse of a Dense, Massive Core
We present 30 and 40 micron imaging of the massive protostar G35.20-0.74 with
SOFIA-FORCAST. The high surface density of the natal core around the protostar
leads to high extinction, even at these relatively long wavelengths, causing
the observed flux to be dominated by that emerging from the near-facing outflow
cavity. However, emission from the far-facing cavity is still clearly detected.
We combine these results with fluxes from the near-infrared to mm to construct
a spectral energy distribution (SED). For isotropic emission the bolometric
luminosity would be 3.3x10^4 Lsun. We perform radiative transfer modeling of a
protostar forming by ordered, symmetric collapse from a massive core bounded by
a clump with high mass surface density, Sigma_cl. To fit the SED requires
protostellar masses ~20-34 Msun depending on the outflow cavity opening angle
(35 - 50 degrees), and Sigma_cl ~ 0.4-1 g cm-2. After accounting for the
foreground extinction and the flashlight effect, the true bolometric luminosity
is ~ (0.7-2.2)x10^5 Lsun. One of these models also has excellent agreement with
the observed intensity profiles along the outflow axis at 10, 18, 31 and 37
microns. Overall our results support a model of massive star formation
involving the relatively ordered, symmetric collapse of a massive, dense core
and the launching bipolar outflows that clear low density cavities. Thus a
unified model may apply for the formation of both low and high mass stars.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, 1 table, accepted to Ap
Thermal Dust Emission from Proplyds, Unresolved Disks, and Shocks in the Orion Nebula
We present a new 11.7 micron mosaic image of the Orion nebula obtained with
T-ReCS on Gemini South. The map includes the BN/KL region, the Trapezium, and
OMC-1 South. Excluding BN/KL, we detect 91 point sources, with 27 known
proplyds and over 30 ``naked'' stars showing no extended structure in HST
images. Within the region we surveyed, 80 percent of known proplyds show
detectable emission, almost 40 percent of naked stars are detected at 11.7
micron, and the fraction of all visible sources with IR excess emission is
roughly 50 percent. Thermal dust emission from stars with no extended structure
in HST images means that they have dust disks comparable to the size of our
solar system. Proplyds and stars with IR excess show a clear anti-correlation
in their spatial distribution, with proplyds clustered close to theta1C, and
other infrared sources found farther away. We suspect that the clustered
proplyds trace the youngest 0.5 Myr age group associated with the Trapezium,
while the more uniformly-distributed sources trace the older 1-2 Myr population
of the ONC. This suggests that small disks persist for a few Myr in irradiated
environments, and hints that hierarchical sub-clustering has been important.
Within 30 arcsec of theta1C, all proplyds are detected at 11.7 micron. The star
theta1D is associated with the most prominent mid-IR dust arc in the nebula. We
propose that this arc is the consequence of theta1D being the closest member of
the Trapezium to the background cloud. Finally, we detect dust emission from HH
jets in Orion, including HH202, HH529, HH513, and HH514. This is the first
detection of mid-IR continuum emission from dust in the body of a collimated HH
jet or bow shock.Comment: accepted by AJ. 27 pages, 11 figs, 4 color figs. If you actually want
to see the figures, download this version:
ftp://origins.colorado.edu/pub/nathans/smith.trecs.pd
First Science Observations with SOFIA/FORCAST: Properties of Intermediate-Luminosity Protostars and Circumstellar Disks in OMC-2
We examine eight young stellar objects in the OMC-2 star forming region based
on observations from the SOFIA/FORCAST early science phase, the Spitzer Space
Telescope, the Herschel Space Observatory, 2MASS, APEX, and other results in
the literature. We show the spectral energy distributions of these objects from
near-infrared to millimeter wavelengths, and compare the SEDs with those of
sheet collapse models of protostars and circumstellar disks. Four of the
objects can be modelled as protostars with infalling envelopes, two as young
stars surrounded by disks, and the remaining two objects have double-peaked
SEDs. We model the double-peaked sources as binaries containing a young star
with a disk and a protostar. The six most luminous sources are found in a dense
group within a 0.15 x 0.25 pc region; these sources have luminosities ranging
from 300 L_sun to 20 L_sun. The most embedded source (OMC-2 FIR 4) can be fit
by a class 0 protostar model having a luminosity of ~50 L_sun and mass infall
rate of ~10^-4 solar masses per year.Comment: Accepted by ApJ Letter
Overview of the massive young star-forming complex study in infrared and X-ray (MYStIX) project
The Massive Young Star-Forming Complex Study in Infrared and X-ray (MYStIX) seeks to characterize 20 OB-dominated young clusters and their environs at distances d ≤ 4 kpc using imaging detectors on the Chandra X-ray Observatory, Spitzer Space Telescope, and the United Kingdom InfraRed Telescope. The observational goals are to construct catalogs of star-forming complex stellar members with well-defined criteria and maps of nebular gas (particularly of hot X-ray-emitting plasma) and dust. A catalog of MYStIX Probable Complex Members with several hundred OB stars and 31,784 low-mass pre-main sequence stars is assembled. This sample and related data products will be used to seek new empirical constraints on theoretical models of cluster formation and dynamics, mass segregation, OB star formation, star formation triggering on the periphery of H II regions, and the survivability of protoplanetary disks in H II regions. This paper gives an introduction and overview of the project, covering the data analysis methodology and application to two star-forming regions: NGC 2264 and the Trifid Nebula
Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome
The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead