213 research outputs found
SMA CO(2-1) Observations of CG30: A Protostellar Binary System with a High-Velocity Quadrupolar Molecular Outflow
We present interferometric observations in the 12CO (2-1) line and at 1.3 mm
dust continuum of the low-mass protostellar binary system in the cometary
globule CG30, using the Submillimeter Array. The dust continuum images resolve
two compact sources (CG30N and CG30S), with a linear separation of ~8700 AU and
total gas masses of ~1.4 and ~0.6 M_sun, respectively. With the CO images, we
discover two high-velocity bipolar molecular outflows, driven by the two
sources. The two outflows are nearly perpendicular to each other, showing a
quadrupolar morphology. The northern bipolar outflow extends along the
southeast (redshifted, with a velocity up to ~23 km/s) and northwest
(blueshifted, velocity up to ~30 km/s) directions, while the southern pair has
an orientation from southwest (blueshifted, velocity up to 13 km/s) to
northeast (redshifted, velocity up to ~41 km/s). The outflow mass of the
northern pair, driven by the higher mass source CG30N, is ~9 times larger than
that of the southern pair. The discovery of the quadrupolar molecular outflow
in the CG30 protobinary system, as well as the presence of other quadrupolar
outflows associated with binary systems, demonstrate that the disks in (wide)
binary systems are not necessarily co-aligned after fragmentation.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures, to be published by ApJL in October 200
IRAS 11590-6452 in BHR 71 - a binary protostellar system?
New AAT near-infrared and SEST 12CO J=2-1 observations are combined with
existing ISO mid-infrared and ATCA cm radio continuum observations to examine
the protostellar content of the Bok globule BHR 71. Together with observations
of Herbig-Haro objects, these data show: (1) Two protostellar sources, IRS1 and
IRS2, with a separation of ~17 arcsec (3400 AU) are located within BHR 71. (2)
Each protostar is driving its own molecular outflow. The outflow from IRS1 is
much larger in extent, is more massive, and dominates the CO emission. (3) Both
protostars are associated with Herbig-Haro objects and shock excited 2.122
micron H2 v=1-0S(1) emission, which coincide spatially with their CO outflows.
(4) IRS1 is associated with cm continuum emission, with a flat or rising
spectrum which is consistent with free-free emission, a signpost of
protostellar origin.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures (colour), accepted by ApJ Letters. See also
http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/~bourke
The Spitzer c2d Survey Of Nearby Dense Cores. VII. Chemistry And Dynamics In L43
We present results from the Spitzer Space Telescope and molecular line observations of nine species toward the dark cloud L43. The Spitzer images and molecular line maps suggest that it has a starless core and a Class I protostar evolving in the same environment. CO depletion is seen in both sources, and DCO(+) lines are stronger toward the starless core. With a goal of testing the chemical characteristics from pre- to protostellar stages, we adopt an evolutionary chemical model to calculate the molecular abundances and compare with our observations. Among the different model parameters we tested, the best-fit model suggests a longer total timescale at the pre-protostellar stage, but with faster evolution at the later steps with higher densities.NSF AST-0307250, AST0607793NASA NNX07AJ72GNational Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) government (MEST) 2009-0062865KOSEF R012007- 000-20336-0Astronom
Observations of Global and Local Infall in NGC 1333
We report ``infall asymmetry'' in the HCO (1--0) and (3--2) lines toward
NGC 1333, extended over , a larger extent than has been
reported be fore, for any star-forming region. The infall asymmetry extends
over a major portion of the star-forming complex, and is not limited to a
single protostar, or to a single dense core, or to a single spectral line. It
seems likely that the infall asymmetry represents inward motions, and that
these motions are physically associated with the complex. Both blue-asymmetric
and red-asymmetric lines are seen, but in both the (3--2) and (1--0) lines of
HCO the vast majority of the asymmetric lines are blue, indicating inward
motions. The (3--2) line, tracing denser gas, has the spectra with the
strongest asymmetry and these spectra are associated with the protostars IRAS
4A and 4B, which most likely indicates a warm central source is affecting the
line profiles. The (3--2) and (1--0) lines usually have the same sense of
asymmetry in common positions, but their profiles differ significantly, and the
(1--0) line appears to trace motions on much larger spatial scales than does
the (3--2) line. Line profile models fit the spectra well, but do not strongly
constrain their parameters. The mass accretion rate of the inward motions is of
order 10 M/yr, similar to the ratio of stellar mass to cluster
age.Comment: 28 pages, 11 figures, 1 colour figur
Filamentary Accretion Flows in the Embedded Serpens South Protocluster
One puzzle in understanding how stars form in clusters is the source of mass
-- is all of the mass in place before the first stars are born, or is there an
extended period when the cluster accretes material which can continuously fuel
the star formation process? We use a multi-line spectral survey of the southern
filament associated with the Serpens South embedded cluster-forming region in
order to determine if mass is accreting from the filament onto the cluster, and
whether the accretion rate is significant. Our analysis suggests that material
is flowing along the filament's long axis at a rate of ~30Msol/Myr (inferred
from the N2H+ velocity gradient along the filament), and radially contracting
onto the filament at ~130Msol/Myr (inferred from HNC self-absorption). These
accretion rates are sufficient to supply mass to the central cluster at a
similar rate to the current star formation rate in the cluster. Filamentary
accretion flows may therefore be very important in the ongoing evolution of
this cluster.Comment: 19 pages, 8 figures, 2 tables; accepted for publication in Ap
The Spitzer c2d Survey of Nearby Dense Cores. IX. Discovery of a Very Low Luminosity Object Driving a Molecular Outflow in the Dense Core L673-7
We present new infrared, submillimeter, and millimeter observations of the
dense core L673-7 and report the discovery of a low-luminosity, embedded Class
0 protostar driving a molecular outflow. L673-7 is seen in absorption against
the mid-infrared background in 5.8, 8, and 24 micron Spitzer images, allowing
for a derivation of the column density profile and total enclosed mass of
L673-7, independent of dust temperature assumptions. Estimates of the core mass
from these absorption profiles range from 0.2-4.5 solar masses. Millimeter
continuum emission indicates a mass of about 2 solar masses, both from a direct
calculation assuming isothermal dust and from dust radiative transfer models
constrained by the millimeter observations. We use dust radiative transfer
models to constrain the internal luminosity of L673-7, defined to be the
luminosity of the central source and excluding the luminosity from external
heating, to be 0.01-0.045 solar luminosities, with 0.04 solar luminosities the
most likely value. L673-7 is thus classified as a very low luminosity object
(VeLLO), and is among the lowest luminosity VeLLOs yet studied. We calculate
the kinematic and dynamic properties of the molecular outflow in the standard
manner, and we show that the expected accretion luminosity based on these
outflow properties is greater than or equal to 0.36 solar luminosities. The
discrepancy between this expected accretion luminosity and the internal
luminosity derived from dust radiative transfer models indicates that the
current accretion rate is much lower than the average rate over the lifetime of
the outflow. Although the protostar embedded within L673-7 is consistent with
currently being substellar, it is unlikely to remain as such given the
substantial mass reservoir remaining in the core.Comment: 19 pages, 14 figures. Accepted by Ap
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The Spitzer c2d Survey Of Nearby Dense Cores. X. Star Formation In L673 And Cb188
L673 and CB188 are two low-mass clouds isolated from large star-forming regions that were observed as part of the Spitzer Legacy Project "From Molecular Clouds to Planet Forming disks" (c2d). We identified and characterized all the young stellar objects (YSOs) of these two regions and modeled their spectral energy distributions (SEDs) to examine whether their physical properties are consistent with values predicted from the theoretical models and with the YSO properties in the c2d survey of larger clouds. Overall, 30 YSO candidates were identified by the c2d photometric criteria, 27 in L673 and 3 in CB188. We confirm the YSO nature of 29 of them and remove a false Class III candidate in L673. We further present the discovery of two new YSO candidates, one Class 0 and another possible Class I candidate in L673, therefore bringing the total number of YSO candidates to 31. Multiple sites of star formation are present within L673, closely resembling other well-studied c2d clouds containing small groups such as B59 and L1251B, whereas CB188 seems to consist of only one isolated globule-like core. We measure a star formation efficiency (SFE) of 4.6%, which resembles the SFE of the larger c2d clouds. From the SED modeling of our YSO sample we obtain envelope masses for Class I and Flat spectrum sources of 0.01-1.0 M-circle dot. The majority of Class II YSOs show disk accretion rates from 3.3 x 10(-10) to 3 x 10(-8) M-circle dot yr(-1) and disk masses that peak at 10(-4) to 10(-3) M-circle dot. Finally, we examined the possibility of thermal fragmentation in L673 as the main star-forming process. We find that the mean density of the regions where significant YSO clustering occurs is of the order of similar to 10(5) cm(-3) using 850 mu m observations and measure a Jeans Length that is greater than the near-neighbor YSO separations by approximately a factor of 3-4. We therefore suggest that other processes, such as turbulence and shock waves, may have had a significant effect on the cloud's filamentary structure and YSO clustering.University of SouthamptonNASA 1279198, 1288806, 1365763Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of TechnologyAstronom
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