188 research outputs found
The Pre-Variscan sequence of the Carnic Alps
The Pre-Variscan sequence of the Carnic Alps includes rocks deposited between the Middle Ordovician and the early Late Carboniferous, and represents one of the most continuous sequence of the world in that time interval. In a relatively small area it is possible to distinguish rocks deposited at
various latitudes and climate (from cold in the Ordovician to tropical in the Devonian), and in different sedimentary environments (from shallow water, including reef deposition, to basin). The lithostratigraphy of the sequence has been recently revised and formalised, and 36 formations have been discriminated
Two-Dimensional Hydrodynamic Models of Super Star Clusters with a Positive Star Formation Feedback
Using the hydrodynamic code ZEUS, we perform 2D simulations to determine the
fate of the gas ejected by massive stars within super star clusters. It turns
out that the outcome depends mainly on the mass and radius of the cluster. In
the case of less massive clusters, a hot high velocity ( km
s) stationary wind develops and the metals injected by supernovae are
dispersed to large distances from the cluster. On the other hand, the density
of the thermalized ejecta within massive and compact clusters is sufficiently
large as to immediately provoke the onset of thermal instabilities. These
deplete, particularly in the central densest regions, the pressure and the
pressure gradient required to establish a stationary wind, and instead the
thermally unstable parcels of gas are rapidly compressed, by a plethora of
re-pressurizing shocks, into compact high density condensations. Most of these
are unable to leave the cluster volume and thus accumulate to eventually feed
further generations of star formation.
The simulations cover an important fraction of the parameter-space, which
allows us to estimate the fraction of the reinserted gas which accumulates
within the cluster and the fraction that leaves the cluster as a function of
the cluster mechanical luminosity, the cluster size and heating efficiency.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ; 27 pages, 9 figures, 1 tabl
Dust Size Growth and Settling in a Protoplanetary Disk
We have studied dust evolution in a quiescent or turbulent protoplanetary
disk by numerically solving coagulation equation for settling dust particles,
using the minimum mass solar nebular model. As a result, if we assume an
ideally quiescent disk, the dust particles settle toward the disk midplane to
form a gravitationally unstable layer within 2x10^3 - 4x10^4 yr at 1 - 30 AU,
which is in good agreement with an analytic calculation by Nakagawa, Sekiya, &
Hayashi (1986) although they did not take into account the particle size
distribution explicitly. In an opposite extreme case of a globally turbulent
disk, on the other hand, the dust particles fluctuate owing to turbulent motion
of the gas and most particles become large enough to move inward very rapidly
within 70 - 3x10^4 yr at 1 - 30 AU, depending on the strength of turbulence.
Our result suggests that global turbulent motion should cease for the
planetesimal formation in protoplanetary disks.Comment: 27 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in the Ap
Clustered Star Formation in W75 N
We present 2" to 7" resolution 3 mm continuum and CO(J=1-0) line emission and
near infrared Ks, H2, and [FeII] images toward the massive star forming region
W75 N. The CO emission uncovers a complex morphology of multiple, overlapping
outflows. A total flow mass of greater than 255 Msun extends 3 pc from
end-to-end and is being driven by at least four late to early-B protostars.
More than 10% of the molecular cloud has been accelerated to high velocities by
the molecular flows (> 5.2 km/s relative to v{LSR}) and the mechanical energy
in the outflowing gas is roughly half the gravitational binding energy of the
cloud. The W75 N cluster members represent a range of evolutionary stages, from
stars with no apparent circumstellar material to deeply embedded protostars
that are actively powering massive outflows. Nine cores of
millimeter-wavelength emission highlight the locations of embedded protostars
in W75 N. The total mass of gas & dust associated with the millimeter cores
ranges from 340 Msun to 11 Msun. The infrared reflection nebula and shocked H2
emission have multiple peaks and extensions which, again, suggests the presence
of several outflows. Diffuse H2 emission extends about 0.6 parsecs beyond the
outer boundaries of the CO emission while the [FeII] emission is only detected
close to the protostars. The infrared line emission morphology suggests that
only slow, non-dissociative J-type shocks exist throughout the pc-scale
outflows. Fast, dissociative shocks, common in jet-driven low-mass outflows,
are absent in W75 N. Thus, the energetics of the outflows from the late to
early B protostars in W75 N differ from their low-mass counterparts -- they do
not appear to be simply scaled-up versions of low-mass outflows.Comment: Astrophysical Journal, in press. 23 pages plus 10 figures (jpg
format). See http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/~dshepher/science.shtml for reprint with
full resolution figure
The Stability of Radiatively Cooled Jets in Three Dimensions
The effect of optically thin radiative cooling on the Kelvin-Helmholtz
instability of three dimensional jets is investigated via linear stability
theory and nonlinear hydrodynamical simulation. Two different cooling functions
are considered: radiative cooling is found to have a significant effect on the
stability of the jet in each case. The wavelengths and growth rates of unstable
modes in the numerical simulations are found to be in good agreement with
theoretical predictions. Disruption of the jet is found to be sensitive to the
precessional frequency at the origin with lower frequencies leading to more
rapid disruption. Strong nonlinear effects are observed as the result of the
large number of normal modes in three dimensions which provide rich mode-mode
interactions. These mode-mode interactions provide new mechanisms for the
formation of knots in the flows. Significant structural features found in the
numerical simulations appear similar to structures observed on protostellar
jets.Comment: 32 pages, 13 figures, figures included in page tota
Molecular Hydrogen Emission from Protoplanetary Disks II. Effects of X-ray Irradiation and Dust Evolution
Detailed models for the density and temperature profiles of gas and dust in
protoplanetary disks are constructed by taking into account X-ray and
ultraviolet (UV) irradiation from a central T Tauri star, as well as dust size
growth and settling toward the disk midplane. The spatial and size
distributions of dust grains in the disks are numerically computed by solving
the coagulation equation for settling dust particles. The level populations and
line emission of molecular hydrogen are calculated using the derived physical
structure of the disks. X-ray irradiation is the dominant heating source of the
gas in the inner disk region and in the surface layer, while the far UV heating
dominates otherwise. If the central star has strong X-ray and weak UV
radiation, the H2 level populations are controlled by X-ray pumping, and the
X-ray induced transition lines could be observable. If the UV irradiation is
strong, the level populations are controlled by thermal collisions or UV
pumping, depending on the properties of the dust grains in the disks. As the
dust particles evolve in the disks, the gas temperature at the disk surface
drops because the grain photoelectric heating becomes less efficient, while the
UV radiation fields become stronger due to the decrease of grain opacity. This
makes the H2 level populations change from local thermodynamic equilibrium
(LTE) to non-LTE distributions, which results in changes to the line ratios of
H2 emission. Our results suggest that dust evolution in protoplanetary disks
could be observable through the H2 line ratios. The emission lines are strong
from disks irradiated by strong UV and X-rays and possessing small dust grains;
such disks will be good targets in which to observe H2 emission.Comment: 33 pages, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa
MHD Models of Axisymmetric Protostellar Jets
We present the results of a series of axisymmetric time-dependent
magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations of the propagation of cooling, overdense
jets, motivated by the properties of outflows associated with young stellar
objects. A variety of initial field strengths and configurations are explored
for both steady and time-variable (pulsed) jets. Even apparently weak magnetic
fields with strengths B < 60 micro-G in the pre-shocked jet beam can have a
significant effect on the dynamics, for example by altering the density, width,
and fragmentation of thin shells formed by cooling gas. A linear analysis
predicts that axisymmetric pinch modes of the MHD Kelvin-Helmholtz instability
should grow only slowly for the highly supermagnetosonic jets studied here; we
find no evidence for them in our simulations. Some of our models appear
unstable to current-driven pinch modes, however the resulting pressure and
density variations induced in the jet beam are not large, making this mechanism
an unlikely source of emission knots in the jet beam. In the case of pulsed
jets, radial hoop stresses confine shocked jet material in the pulses to the
axis, resulting in a higher density in the pulses in comparison to purely
hydrodynamic models.Comment: 28 pages, 16 figures, accepted by Ap.
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