No Arabic abstract
Surveys with the Spitzer and Herschel space observatories are now enabling the discovery and characterization of large samples of protostars in nearby molecular clouds, providing the observational basis for a detailed understanding of star formation in diverse environments. We are pursuing this goal with the Herschel Orion Protostar Survey (HOPS), which targets 328 Spitzer-identified protostars in the Orion molecular clouds, the largest star-forming region in the nearest 500 pc. The sample encompasses all phases of protostellar evolution and a wide range of formation environments, from dense clusters to relative isolation. With a grid of radiative transfer models, we fit the 1-870 micron spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of the protostars to estimate their envelope densities, cavity opening angles, inclinations, and total luminosities. After correcting the bolometric luminosities and temperatures of the sources for foreground extinction and inclination, we find a spread of several orders of magnitude in luminosity at all evolutionary states, a constant median luminosity over the more evolved stages, and a possible deficit of high-inclination, rapidly infalling envelopes among the Spitzer-identified sample. We have detected over 100 new sources in the Herschel images; some of them may fill this deficit. We also report results from modeling the pre- and post-outburst 1-870 micron SEDs of V2775 Ori (HOPS 223), a known FU Orionis outburster in the sample. It is the least luminous FU Ori star with a protostellar envelope.
There is increasing evidence that episodic accretion is a common phenomenon in Young Stellar Objects (YSOs). Recently, the source HOPS 383 in Orion was reported to have a $times 35$ mid-infrared -- and bolometric -- luminosity increase between 2004 and 2008, constituting the first clear example of a class 0 YSO (a protostar) with a large accretion burst. The usual assumption that in YSOs accretion and ejection follow each other in time needs to be tested. Radio jets at centimeter wavelengths are often the only way of tracing the jets from embedded protostars. We searched the Very Large Array archive for the available observations of the radio counterpart of HOPS 383. The data show that the radio flux of HOPS 383 varies only mildly from January 1998 to December 2014, staying at the level of $sim 200$ to 300 $mu$Jy in the X band ($sim 9$ GHz), with a typical uncertainty of 10 to 20 $mu$Jy in each measurement. We interpret the absence of a radio burst as suggesting that accretion and ejection enhancements do not follow each other in time, at least not within timescales shorter than a few years. Time monitoring of more objects and specific predictions from simulations are needed to clarify the details of the connection betwen accretion and jets/winds in YSOs.
The degree to which the properties of protostars are affected by environment remains an open question. To investigate this, we look at the Orion A and B molecular clouds, home to most of the protostars within 500 pc. At ~400 pc, Orion is close enough to distinguish individual protostars across a range of environments in terms of both the stellar and gas projected densities. As part of the Herschel Orion Protostar Survey (HOPS), we used the Photodetector Array Camera and Spectrometer (PACS) to map 108 partially overlapping square fields with edge lengths of 5 arcmin or 8 arcmin and measure the 70 micron and 160 micron flux densities of 338 protostars within them. In this paper we examine how these flux densities and their ratio depend on evolutionary state and environment within the Orion complex. We show that Class 0 protostars occupy a region of the 70 micron flux density versus 160 micron to 70 micron flux density ratio diagram that is distinct from their more evolved counterparts. We then present evidence that the Integral-Shaped Filament (ISF) and Orion B contain protostars with more massive envelopes than those in the more sparsely populated LDN 1641 region. This can be interpreted as evidence for increasing star formation rates in the ISF and Orion B or as a tendency for more massive envelopes to be inherited from denser birth environments. We also provide technical details about the map-making and photometric procedures used in the HOPS program.
The Census of High- and Medium-mass Protostars (CHaMP) is the first large-scale, unbiased, uniform mapping survey at sub-parsec scale resolution of 90 GHz line emission from massive molecular clumps in the Milky Way. We present the first Mopra (ATNF) maps of the CHaMP survey region (300{deg}>l>280{deg}) in the HCO+ J=1-0 line, which is usually thought to trace gas at densities up to 10^11 m-3. In this paper we introduce the survey and its strategy, describe the observational and data reduction procedures, and give a complete catalogue of moment maps of the HCO+ J=1-0 emission from the ensemble of 301 massive molecular clumps. From these maps we also derive the physical parameters of the clumps, using standard molecular spectral-line analysis techniques. This analysis yields the following range of properties: integrated line intensity 1-30 K km s-1, peak line brightness 1-7 K, linewidth 1-10 km s-1, integrated line luminosity 0.5-200 K km s-1 pc^2, FWHM size 0.2-2.5 pc, mean projected axial ratio 2, optical depth 0.08-2, total surface density 30-3000 M{sun} pc-2, number density 0.2-30 x 10^9 m-3, mass 15-8000 M{sun}, virial parameter 1-55, and total gas pressure 0.3-700 pPa. We find that the CHaMP clumps do not obey a Larson-type size-linewidth relation. Among the clumps, there exists a large population of subthermally excited, weakly-emitting (but easily detectable) dense molecular clumps, confirming the prediction of Narayanan et al. (2008). These weakly-emitting clumps comprise 95% of all massive clumps by number, and 87% of the molecular mass, in this portion of the Galaxy; their properties are distinct from the brighter massive star-forming regions that are more typically studied. If the clumps evolve by slow contraction, the 95% of fainter clumps may represent a long-lived stage of pressure-confined, gravitationally stable massive clump evolution, while the CHaMP ... (abridged)
We perform a census of the reddest, and potentially youngest, protostars in the Orion molecular clouds using data obtained with the PACS instrument onboard the Herschel Space Observatory and the LABOCA and SABOCA instruments on APEX as part of the Herschel Orion Protostar Survey (HOPS). A total of 55 new protostar candidates are detected at 70 um and 160 um that are either too faint (m24 > 7 mag) to be reliably classified as protostars or undetected in the Spitzer/MIPS 24 um band. We find that the 11 reddest protostar candidates with log (lambda F_lambda 70) / (lambda F_lambda 24) > 1.65 are free of contamination and can thus be reliably explained as protostars. The remaining 44 sources have less extreme 70/24 colors, fainter 70 um fluxes, and higher levels of contamination. Taking the previously known sample of Spitzer protostars and the new sample together, we find 18 sources that have log (lambda F_lambda 70) / (lambda F_lambda 24) > 1.65; we name these sources PACS Bright Red sources, or PBRs. Our analysis reveals that the PBRs sample is composed of Class 0 like sources characterized by very red SEDs (T_bol < 45 K) and large values of sub-millimeter fluxes (L_smm/L_bol > 0.6%). Modified black-body fits to the SEDs provide lower limits to the envelope masses of 0.2 M_sun to 2 M_sun and luminosities of 0.7 L_sun to 10 L_sun. Based on these properties, and a comparison of the SEDs with radiative transfer models of protostars, we conclude that the PBRs are most likely extreme Class 0 objects distinguished by higher than typical envelope densities and hence, high mass infall rates.
Context. Snow lines, marking regions where abundant volatiles freeze out onto the surface of dust grains, play an important role for planet growth and bulk composition in protoplanetary disks. They can already be observed in the envelopes of the much younger, low-mass Class 0 protostars that are still in their early phase of heavy accretion. Aims. We aim at using the information on the sublimation regions of different kinds of ices to understand the chemistry of the envelope, its temperature and density structure, and the history of the accretion process. Methods. As part of the CALYPSO IRAM Large Program, we have obtained observations of C$^{18}$O, N$_2$H$^+$ and CH$_3$OH towards nearby Class 0 protostars with the IRAM Plateau de Bure interferometer at sub-arcsecond resolution. For four of these sources we have modeled the emission using a chemical code coupled with a radiative transfer module. Results. We observe an anti-correlation of C$^{18}$O and N$_2$H$^+$ in NGC 1333-IRAS4A, NGC 1333-IRAS4B, L1157, and L1448C, with N$_2$H$^+$ forming a ring around the centrally peaked C$^{18}$O emission due to N$_2$H$^+$ being chemically destroyed by CO. The emission regions of models and observations match for a CO binding energy of 1200 K, which is higher than the binding energy of pure CO ices ($sim$855 K). Furthermore, we find very low CO abundances inside the snow lines in our sources, about an order of magnitude lower than the total CO abundance observed in the gas on large scales in molecular clouds before depletion sets in. Conclusions. The high CO binding energy may hint at CO being frozen out in a polar ice environment like amorphous water ice or in non-polar CO$_2$-rich ice. The low CO abundances are comparable to values found in protoplanetary disks, which may indicate an evolutionary scenario where these low values are already established in the protostellar phase. (Abbr. Version)