2,188 research outputs found
A Molecular Line Observation toward Massive Clumps Associated with Infrared Dark Clouds
We have surveyed the N2H+ J=1-0, HC3N J=5-4, CCS J_N=4_3-3_2, NH3 (J, K) =
(1, 1), (2, 2), (3, 3), and CH3OH J=7-6 lines toward the 55 massive clumps
associated with infrared dark clouds by using the Nobeyama Radio Observatory 45
m telescope and the Atacama Submillimeter Telescope Experiment 10 m telescope.
The N2H+, HC3N, and NH3 lines are detected toward most of the objects. On the
other hand, the CCS emission is detected toward none of the objects. The
[CCS]/[N2H+] ratios are found to be mostly lower than unity even in the Spitzer
24 micron dark objects. This suggests that most of the massive clumps are
chemically more evolved than the low-mass starless cores. The CH3OH emission is
detected toward 18 out of 55 objects. All the CH3OH-detected objects are
associated with the Spitzer 24 micron sources, suggesting that star formation
has already started in all the CH3OH-detected objects. The velocity widths of
the CH3OH J_K=7_0-6_0 A+ and 7_{-1}-6_{-1} E lines are broader than those of
N2H+ J=1-0. The CH3OH J_K=7_0-6_0 A+ and 7_{-1}-6_{-1} E lines tend to have
broader linewidth in the MSX dark objects than in the others, the former being
younger or less luminous than the latter. The origin of the broad emission is
discussed in terms of the interaction between an outflow and an ambient cloud.Comment: Accepted to Ap
Water emission from the high-mass star-forming region IRAS 17233-3606. High water abundances at high velocities
We investigate the physical and chemical processes at work during the
formation of a massive protostar based on the observation of water in an
outflow from a very young object previously detected in H2 and SiO in the IRAS
17233-3606 region. We estimated the abundance of water to understand its
chemistry, and to constrain the mass of the emitting outflow. We present new
observations of shocked water obtained with the HIFI receiver onboard Herschel.
We detected water at high velocities in a range similar to SiO. We
self-consistently fitted these observations along with previous SiO data
through a state-of-the-art, one-dimensional, stationary C-shock model. We found
that a single model can explain the SiO and H2O emission in the red and blue
wings of the spectra. Remarkably, one common area, similar to that found for H2
emission, fits both the SiO and H2O emission regions. This shock model
subsequently allowed us to assess the shocked water column density,
N(H2O)=1.2x10^{18} cm^{-2}, mass, M(H2O)=12.5 M_earth, and its maximum
fractional abundance with respect to the total density, x(H2O)=1.4x10^{-4}. The
corresponding water abundance in fractional column density units ranges between
2.5x10^{-5} and 1.2x10^{-5}, in agreement with recent results obtained in
outflows from low- and high-mass young stellar objects.Comment: accepted for publication as a Letter in Astronomy and Astrophysic
The Thermal Structure of Gas in Pre-Stellar Cores: A Case Study of Barnard 68
We present a direct comparison of a chemical/physical model to
multitransitional observations of C18O and 13CO towards the Barnard 68
pre-stellar core. These observations provide a sensitive test for models of low
UV field photodissociation regions and offer the best constraint on the gas
temperature of a pre-stellar core. We find that the gas temperature of this
object is surprisingly low (~7-8 K), and significantly below the dust
temperature, in the outer layers (Av < 5 mag) that are traced by C18O and 13CO
emission. As shown previously, the inner layers (Av > 5 mag) exhibit
significant freeze-out of CO onto grain surfaces. Because the dust and gas are
not fully coupled, depletion of key coolants in the densest layers raises the
core (gas) temperature, but only by ~1 K. The gas temperature in layers not
traced by C18O and 13CO emission can be probed by NH3 emission, with a
previously estimated temperature of ~10-11 K. To reach these temperatures in
the inner core requires an order of magnitude reduction in the gas to dust
coupling rate. This potentially argues for a lack of small grains in the
densest gas, presumably due to grain coagulation.Comment: 33 pages, 11 figures, accepted by Astrophysical Journa
The Circumstellar Environment of High-Mass Protostellar Objects: IV. C17O Observations and Depletion
We observe 84 candidate young high-mass sources in the rare isotopologues
C17O and C18O to investigate whether there is evidence for depletion
(freeze-out) towards these objects. Observations of the J=2-1 transitions of
C18O and C17O are used to derive the column densities of gas towards the
sources and these are compared with those derived from submillimetre continuum
observations. The derived fractional abundance suggests that the CO species
show a range of degrees of depletion towards the objects. We then use the
radiative transfer code RATRAN to model a selection of the sources to confirm
that the spread of abundances is not a result of assumptions made when
calculating the column densities. We find a range of abundances of C17O that
cannot be accounted for by global variations in either the temperature or dust
properties and so must reflect source to source variations. The most likely
explanation is that different sources show different degrees of depletion of
the CO. Comparison of the C17O linewidths of our sources with those of CS
presented by other authors reveal a division of the sources into two groups.
Sources with a CS linewidth >3 km/s have low abundances of C17O while sources
with narrower CS lines have typically higher C17O abundances. We suggest that
this represents an evolutionary trend. Depletion towards these objects shows
that the gas remains cold and dense for long enough for the trace species to
deplete. The range of depletion measured suggests that these objects have
lifetimes of 2-4x10^5 years.Comment: 18 pages. Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic
Hydrogen Fluoride in High-Mass Star-forming Regions
Hydrogen fluoride has been established to be an excellent tracer of molecular
hydrogen in diffuse clouds. In denser environments, however, the HF abundance
has been shown to be approximately two orders of magnitude lower. We present
Herschel/HIFI observations of HF J=1-0 toward two high-mass star formation
sites, NGC6334 I and AFGL 2591. In NGC6334 I the HF line is seen in absorption
in foreground clouds and the source itself, while in AFGL 2591 HF is partially
in emission. We find an HF abundance with respect to H2 of 1.5e-8 in the
diffuse foreground clouds, whereas in the denser parts of NGC6334 I, we derive
a lower limit on the HF abundance of 5e-10. Lower HF abundances in dense clouds
are most likely caused by freeze out of HF molecules onto dust grains in
high-density gas. In AFGL 2591, the view of the hot core is obstructed by
absorption in the massive outflow, in which HF is also very abundant 3.6e-8)
due to the desorption by sputtering. These observations provide further
evidence that the chemistry of interstellar fluorine is controlled by freeze
out onto gas grains.Comment: accepted in Ap
The Origin of Jovian Planets in Protostellar Disks: The Role of Dead Zones
The final masses of Jovian planets are attained when the tidal torques that
they exert on their surrounding protostellar disks are sufficient to open gaps
in the face of disk viscosity, thereby shutting off any further accretion. In
sufficiently well-ionized disks, the predominant form of disk viscosity
originates from the Magneto-Rotational Instability (MRI) that drives
hydromagnetic disk turbulence. In the region of sufficiently low ionization
rate -- the so-called dead zone -- turbulence is damped and we show that lower
mass planets will be formed. We considered three ionization sources (X-rays,
cosmic rays, and radioactive elements) and determined the size of a dead zone
for the total ionization rate by using a radiative, hydrostatic equilibrium
disk model developed by Chiang et al. (2001). We studied a range of surface
mass density (Sigma_{0}=10^3 - 10^5 g cm^{-2}) and X-ray energy (kT_{x}=1 - 10
keV). We also compared the ionization rate of such a disk by X-rays with cosmic
rays and find that the latter dominate X-rays in ionizing protostellar disks
unless the X-ray energy is very high (5 - 10 keV). Among our major conclusions
are that for typical conditions, dead zones encompass a region extending out to
several AU -- the region in which terrestrial planets are found in our solar
system. Our results suggest that the division between low and high mass planets
in exosolar planetary systems is a consequence of the presence of a dead zone
in their natal protoplanetary disks. We also find that the extent of a dead
zone is mainly dependent on the disk's surface mass density. Our results
provide further support for the idea that Jovian planets in exosolar systems
must have migrated substantially inwards from their points of origin.Comment: 28 pages, 10 figures, accepted by Ap
A necklace of dense cores in the high-mass star forming region G35.20-0.74N: ALMA observations
The present study aims at characterizing the massive star forming region
G35.20N, which is found associated with at least one massive outflow and
contains multiple dense cores, one of them recently found associated with a
Keplerian rotating disk. We used ALMA to observe the G35.20N region in the
continuum and line emission at 350 GHz. The observed frequency range covers
tracers of dense gas (e.g. H13CO+, C17O), molecular outflows (e.g. SiO), and
hot cores (e.g. CH3CN, CH3OH). The ALMA 870 um continuum emission map reveals
an elongated dust structure (0.15 pc long and 0.013 pc wide) perpendicular to
the large-scale molecular outflow detected in the region, and fragmented into a
number of cores with masses 1-10 Msun and sizes 1600 AU. The cores appear
regularly spaced with a separation of 0.023 pc. The emission of dense gas
tracers such as H13CO+ or C17O is extended and coincident with the dust
elongated structure. The three strongest dust cores show emission of complex
organic molecules characteristic of hot cores, with temperatures around 200 K,
and relative abundances 0.2-2x10^(-8) for CH3CN and 0.6-5x10^(-6) for CH3OH.
The two cores with highest mass (cores A and B) show coherent velocity fields,
with gradients almost aligned with the dust elongated structure. Those velocity
gradients are consistent with Keplerian disks rotating about central masses of
4-18 Msun. Perpendicular to the velocity gradients we have identified a
large-scale precessing jet/outflow associated with core B, and hints of an
east-west jet/outflow associated with core A. The elongated dust structure in
G35.20N is fragmented into a number of dense cores that may form massive stars.
Based on the velocity field of the dense gas, the orientation of the magnetic
field, and the regularly spaced fragmentation, we interpret this elongated
structure as the densest part of a 1D filament fragmenting and forming massive
stars.Comment: 24 pages, 26 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy and
Astrophysics (abstract modified to fit arXiv restrictions
The JCMT Spectral Legacy Survey: physical structure of the molecular envelope of the high-mass protostar AFGL2591
The understanding of the formation process of massive stars (>8 Msun) is
limited, due to theoretical complications and observational challenges.
We investigate the physical structure of the large-scale (~10^4-10^5 AU)
molecular envelope of the high-mass protostar AFGL2591 using spectral imaging
in the 330-373 GHz regime from the JCMT Spectral Legacy Survey. Out of ~160
spectral features, this paper uses the 35 that are spatially resolved.
The observed spatial distributions of a selection of six species are compared
with radiative transfer models based on a static spherically symmetric
structure, a dynamic spherical structure, and a static flattened structure. The
maps of CO and its isotopic variations exhibit elongated geometries on scales
of ~100", and smaller scale substructure is found in maps of N2H+, o-H2CO, CS,
SO2, CCH, and methanol lines. A velocity gradient is apparent in maps of all
molecular lines presented here, except SO, SO2, and H2CO. We find two emission
peaks in warm (Eup~200K) methanol separated by 12", indicative of a secondary
heating source in the envelope.
The spherical models are able to explain the distribution of emission for the
optically thin H13CO+ and C34S, but not for the optically thick HCN, HCO+, and
CS, nor for the optically thin C17O. The introduction of velocity structure
mitigates the optical depth effects, but does not fully explain the
observations, especially in the spectral dimension. A static flattened envelope
viewed at a small inclination angle does slightly better.
We conclude that a geometry of the envelope other than an isotropic static
sphere is needed to circumvent line optical depth effects. We propose that this
could be achieved in envelope models with an outflow cavity and/or
inhomogeneous structure at scales smaller than ~10^4 AU. The picture of
inhomogeneity is supported by observed substructure in at least six species.Comment: 17 pages; accepted for publication in A&
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The Kinect project: group motion-based gaming for people living with dementia
Engaging in enjoyable activities is an essential part of well-being, but people with dementia can find participation increasingly difficult. Motion-based technologies can provide meaningful engagement in a wide range of activities, but for people with dementia to take advantage of these devices requires a good understanding of how best to select and present these activities to this population. The objective of this study was to explore the use of motion-based technology (Xbox Kinect) as a group activity for people with dementia who attend adult day programs. This qualitative study took place in an adult day program for older adults with age-related challenges. Participants (n=23) were observed while playing a digital bowling game presented on Xbox Kinect one hour per week for a period of 20 weeks, to capture naturalistic data. Field notes generated through observations were transcribed and analyzed to identify emerging themes. The findings revealed three predominant themes which illustrate the potential of motion-based technology as a group activity for people with dementia who attend adult day programs: (a) the importance of having a trained trainer, (b) learning vs. mastery, and (c) playing ‘independently together’. People with dementia can learn to play games presented on motion-based technology and enjoy doing so. Furthermore, using the technology in a group setting fostered an encouraging and supportive environment which further contributed to the leisure experience. However, to be used most effectively, staff must be trained to set-up and interact with the technology, as well as introduce, teach, and support people with dementia to use it
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