GGD 27: X-rays from a Massive Protostar with an Outflow

We report the discovery of a cluster of Class I protostars in GGD 27. One of these protostars is the previously known, centrally located, GGD 27-ILL, which powers a massive bipolar outflow. We show that GGD 27-ILL, which is known to be the bright infrared (IR) source, IRAS 18162-2048, and a compact radio continuum source, is also the newly discovered hard X-ray source, GGD 27-X. The observations were made with the ACIS instrument on the Chandra X-ray Observatory. The X-rays from GGD 27-X are variable when compared with 4 years earlier, with an unabsorbed 2-10 keV X-ray luminosity in this observation of 1.5-12 × 10^31 erg s^–1 and a plasma temperature of ≥ 10^7 K. The X-rays are probably associated with the underlying B0 star (rather than outflowing material), providing a rare glimpse in hard X-rays of an optically obscured massive protostar with an outflow. The X-ray luminosity and spectrum appear to be consistent with stars of its type in other star formation regions. Several other variable X-ray sources are also detected in the IR cluster that contains GGD 27-X. We also discuss another nearby cluster. In each of the clusters there is an object that is X-ray hard, highly absorbed at low energies, in a blank optical/IR/radio field, and variable in X-ray intensity by a factor of ≥ 10 on a timescale of 4 years. These latter objects may arise from more recent episodes of star formation or may be "hidden" Class III sources

Deep Near-Infrared Observations and Identifications of Chandra Sources in the Orion Molecular Cloud 2 and 3

We conducted deep NIR imaging observations of the Orion molecular cloud 2 and 3 using QUIRC on the 88-inch telescope of the University of Hawaii. Our purposes are 1) to generate a comprehensive NIR source catalog of these star forming clouds, and 2) to identify the NIR counterpart of the Chandra X-ray sources that have no counterpart in the 2MASS catalog. Our J-, H-, and K-band observations are about 2 mag deeper than those of 2MASS, and well match the current Chandra observation. We detected 1448 NIR sources, for which we derived the position, the J-, H-, and K-band magnitude, and the 2MASS counterpart. Using this catalog, we identified the NIR counterpart for about 42% of the 2MASS-unIDed Chandra sources. The nature of these Chandra sources are discussed using their NIR colors and spatial distributions, and a dozen protostar and brown dwarf candidates are identified.Comment: 39 pages, 9 postscript figures, accepted for publication in A

Coronal X-ray emission from an intermediate-age brown dwarf

We report the X-ray detection of the brown dwarf (BD) companion TWA 5B in a $\simeq 12$ Myr old pre-main sequence binary system. We clearly resolve the faint companion (35 photons) separated from the X-ray luminous primary by 2 arcsec in a {\it Chandra} ACIS image. TWA 5B shows a soft X-ray spectrum with a low plasma temperature of only 0.3 keV and a constant flux during the 3 hour observation, of which the characteristics are commonly seen in the solar corona. The X-ray luminosity is 4$\times10^{27}$ erg s$^{-1}$ (0.1--10 keV band) or $\log L_X/L_{bol} = -3.4$. Comparing these properties to both younger and older BDs, we discuss the evolution of the X-ray emission in BDs. During their first few Myr, they exhibit high levels of X-ray activity as seen in higher mass pre-main sequence stars. The level in TWA 5B is still high at $t \simeq 12$ Myr in $\log L_X/L_{bol}$ while $kT$ has already substantially cooled

Suzaku Detection of an Intense X-Ray Flare from an A-type Star HD161084

We report a serendipitous detection of an intense X-ray flare from the Tycho reference source HD 161084 during a Suzaku observation of the Galactic Center region for 20 ks. The X-ray Imaging Spectrometer (XIS) recorded a flare from this A1-type dwarf or subgiant star with a flux of 1.4x10^{-12} erg s^{-1} cm^{-2} (0.5--10 keV) and a decay time scale of 0.5 hr. The spectrum is hard with a prominent Fe XXV K alpha emission line at 6.7 keV, which is explained by a 5 keV thin-thermal plasma model attenuated by a 1.4x10^{21} cm^{-2} extinction. The low extinction, which is consistent with the optical reddening, indicates that the source is a foreground star toward the Galactic Center region. Based on the spectroscopic parallax distance of 530 pc, the peak X-ray luminosity amounts to 1x10^{32} erg s^{-1} (0.5--10 keV). This is much larger than the X-ray luminosity of ordinary late-type main-sequence stars, and the X-ray emission is unattributable to a hidden late-type companion that comprises a wide binary system with the A-star. We discuss possible natures of HD 161084 and suggest that it is most likely an interacting binary with elevated magnetic activity in the companion such as the Algol-type system. The flux detected by Suzaku during the burst is 100 times larger than the quiescent level measured using the archived XMM-Newton and Chandra data. The large flux amplification makes this star a unique example among sources of this class.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, 2 tables, PASJ in pres

X-rays from Cepheus A East and West

We report the discovery of X-rays from both components of Cepheus A, East and West, with the XMM-Newton Observatory. HH 168 joins the ranks of other energetic Herbig Haro objects that are sources of T~10^6 K X-ray emission. The HH 168 effective temperature is T = 5.8 (+3.5,-2.3) x 10^6 K and its unabsorbed luminosity is 1.1 x 10^29 erg s^-1, making it hotter and less luminous than other representatives of its class. We also detect prominent X-ray emission from the complex of compact radio sources believed to be the power sources for Cep A. We call this source HWX and it is distinguished by its hard X-ray spectrum, T = 1.2 (+1.2,-0.5) x 10^8 K, and complex spatial distribution. It may arise from one or more protostars associated with the radio complex, the outflows, or a combination of the two. We detect 102 X-rays sources; many presumed to be pre-main sequence stars based upon the reddening of their optical/IR counterparts.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures, data table not included because of size limit

Chandra X-ray Observatory Study of the Orion Nebula Cluster and BN/KL Region

About 1000 X-ray emitting young pre-main sequence (PMS) stars distributed in mass from 0.05 to 50 solar masses are detected in an image of the Orion Nebula obtained with the Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer on board the Chandra X-ray Observatory. This is the richest field of sources ever obtained in X-ray astronomy. ACIS sources include 85-90% of V<20 stars, plus a substantial fraction of deeply embedded stars with extinctions as high as A_V~60. The relationships between X-ray and other PMS stellar properties suggest that X-ray luminosity of lower-mass PMS stars depends more on mass, and possibly stellar rotation, than on bolometric luminosity as widely reported. A subsample of unabsorbed solar-mass stars show high X-ray luminosities around L_x ~ 2 x 10^30 erg/s for the first ~2 My but diverge during 2-10 My with X-ray emission plummeting in some stars but remaining high in others. This behavior is consistent with theories of stellar rotational history and magnetic dynamos. The Becklin-Neugebauer/Kleinman-Low (BN/KL) region of massive star formation shows both unabsorbed and embedded low-mass members of the Orion Nebula Cluster, the luminous infrared Source n, and a class of sources without photospheric counterparts that may be new magnetically active embedded PMS stars. Several X-ray sources are also variable radio emitters. Faint X-ray emission is seen close to, but apparently not coincident with the BN object. Its nature is not clear.Comment: 19 pages, 6 figures (3 in color). Accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journal. Electronic version of Table 1, and high-quality versions of Figs. 1 and 6, can be obtained from ftp://ftp.astro.psu.edu/pub/edf/orio

Discovery of X rays from Class 0 protostar candidates in OMC-3

We have observed the Orion Molecular Clouds 2 and 3 (OMC-2 and OMC-3) with the Chandra X-ray Observatory (CXO). The northern part of OMC-3 is found to be particularly rich in new X-ray features; four hard X-ray sources are located in and along the filament of cloud cores. Two sources coincide positionally with the sub$mm$-$mm$ dust condensations of MMS 2 and 3 or an outflow radio source VLA 1, which are in a very early phase of star formation. The X-ray spectra of these sources show an absorption column of (1-3) x 10^23 H cm-2. Assuming a moderate temperature plasma, the X-ray luminosity in the 0.5-10 keV band is estimated to be ~10^30 erg s^-1 at a distance of 450 pc. From the large absorption, positional coincidence and moderate luminosity, we infer that the hard X-rays are coming from very young stellar objects embedded in the molecular cloud cores. We found another hard X-ray source near the edge of the dust filament. The extremely high absorption of 3 x 10^23 H cm^-2 indicates that the source must be surrounded by dense gas, suggesting that it is either a YSO in an early accretion phase or a Type II AGN (e.g. a Seyfert 2), although no counterpart is found at any other wavelength. In contrast to the hard X-ray sources, soft X-ray sources are found spread around the dust filaments, most of which are identified with IR sources in the T Tauri phase.Comment: 9 pages, To be appeared in ApJ v554 n2 Jun 20, 2001 issue, related press release is available at http://science.psu.edu/alert/Tsuboi11-2000.htm, Figure 1 and figure 2 with the best resolution is available at ftp.astro.psu.edu/pub/tsuboi/OMC/010205

X-rays from the Power Sources of the Cepheus A Star-Forming Region

We report an observation of X-ray emission from the exciting region of Cepheus A with the Chandra/ACIS instrument. What had been an unresolved X-ray source comprising the putative power sources is now resolved into at least 3 point-like sources, each with similar X-ray properties and differing radio and submillimeter properties. The sources are HW9, HW3c, and a new source that is undetected at other wavelengths "h10." They each have inferred X-ray luminosities >= 10^31 erg s^-1 with hard spectra, T >= 10^7 K, and high low-energy absorption equivalent to tens to as much as a hundred magnitudes of visual absorption. The star usually assumed to be the most massive and energetic, HW2, is not detected with an upper limit about 7 times lower than the detections. The X-rays may arise via thermal bremsstrahlung in diffuse emission regions associated with a gyrosynchrotron source for the radio emission, or they could arise from powerful stellar winds. We also analyzed the Spitzer/IRAC mid-IR observation from this star-formation region and present the X-ray results and mid-IR classifications of the nearby stars. HH 168 is not as underluminous in X-rays as previously reported.Comment: Accepted in the ApJ, 30 pages, 11 figures, in one .pdf fil