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Register a new userThe inflow signature toward different evolutionary phases of massive star formation
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We analyzed both HCN J=1-0 and HNC J=1-0 line profiles to study the inflow motions in different evolutionary stages of massive star formation: 54 infrared dark clouds (IRDCs), 69 high-mass protostellar object (HMPOs), and 54 ultra-compact HII regions (UCHIIs). The inflow asymmetry in HCN spectra seems to be prevalent throughout all the three evolutionary phases, with IRDCs showing the largest excess in blue profile. In the case of HNC spectra, the prevalence of blue sources does not appear, excepting for IRDCs. We suggest that this line is not appropriate to trace inflow motion in evolved stages of massive star formation because the abundance of HNC decreases at high temperatures. This result spotlights the importance of considering chemistry in the dynamics study of massive star-forming regions. The fact that the IRDCs show the highest blue excess in both transitions indicates that the most active inflow occurs in the early phase of star formation, i.e., the IRDC phase rather than in the later phases. However, mass is still inflowing onto some UCHIIs. We also found that the absorption dips of the HNC spectra in 6 out of 7 blue sources are red-shifted relative to their systemic velocities. These red-shifted absorption dips may indicate global collapse candidates, although mapping observations with better resolution are needed to examine this feature in more detail.
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Using the HCN and HNC J=1--0 line observations, the abundance ratio of HCN/HNC has been estimated for different evolutionary stages of massive star formation: Infrared dark clouds (IRDCs), High-mass protostellar object (HMPOs), and Ultra-compact HII regions (UCHIIs). IRDCs were divided into `quiescent IRDC cores and `active IRDC cores, depending on star formation activity. The HCN/HNC ratio is known to be higher at active and high temperature regions related to ongoing star formation, compared to cold and quiescent regions. Our observations toward 8 quiescent IRDC cores, 16 active IRDC cores, 23 HMPOs, and 31 UCHIIs show consistent results; the ratio is 0.97~($pm~0.10$), 2.65~($pm~0.88$), 4.17~($pm~1.03$) and 8.96~($pm~3.32$) in these respective evolutionary stages, increasing from quiescent IRDC cores to UCHIIs. The change of the HCN/HNC abundance ratio, therefore, seems directly associated with the evolutionary stages of star formation, which have different temperatures. One suggested explanation for this trend is the conversion of HNC to HCN, which occurs effectively at higher temperatures. To test the explanation, we performed a simple chemical model calculation. In order to fit the observed results, the energy barrier of the conversion must be much lower than the value provided by theoretical calculations.
(Abridged) Understanding the details of the formation process of massive (i.e. M<8-10M$_odot$) stars is a long-standing problem in astrophysics. [...] We present a method to derive accurate timescales of the different evolutionary phases of the high-mass star formation process. We model a representative number of massive clumps of the ATLASGAL-TOP100 sample which cover all the evolutionary stages. The models describe an isothermal collapse and the subsequent warm-up phase, for which we follow their chemical evolution. The timescale of each phase is derived by comparing the results of the models with the properties of the sources of the ATLASGAL-TOP100 sample, taking into account the mass and luminosity of the clumps, and the column densities of methyl acetylene (CH$_3$CCH), acetonitrile (CH$_3$CN), formaldehyde (H$_2$CO) and methanol (CH$_3$OH). We find that the chosen molecular tracers are affected by the thermal evolution of the clumps, showing steep ice evaporation gradients from 10$^3$ to 10$^5$ AU during the warm-up phase. We succeed in reproducing the observed column densities of CH$_3$CCH and CH$_3$CN, while H$_2$CO and CH$_3$OH show a poorer agreement with the observed values. The total (massive) star formation time is found to be $sim5.2times10^5$ yr, which is defined by the timescales of the individual evolutionary phases of the ATLASGAL-TOP100 sample: $sim5times10^4$ yr for 70-$mu$m weak, $sim1.2times10^5$ yr for mid-IR weak, $sim2.4times10^5$ yr for mid-IR bright and $sim1.1times10^5$ yr for HII-regions phases. Our models, with an appropriate selection of molecular tracers that can act as chemical clocks, allow to get robust estimates of the duration of the individual phases of the high-mass star formation process, with the advantage of being capable to include additional tracers aimed at increasing the accuracy of the estimated timescales.
We present radiation transfer (RT) simulations of evolutionary sequences of massive protostars forming from massive dense cores in environments of high surface densities. The protostellar evolution is calculated with a detailed multi-zone model, with the accretion rate regulated by feedback from an evolving disk-wind outflow cavity. Disk and envelope evolutions are calculated self-consistently. In this framework, an evolutionary track is determined by three environmental initial conditions: the initial core mass M_c, the mean surface density of the ambient star-forming clump Sigma_cl, and the rotational-to-gravitational energy ratio of the initial core, beta_c. Evolutionary sequences with various M_c, Sigma_cl, beta_c are constructed. We find that in a fiducial model with M_c=60Msun, Sigma_cl=1 g/cm^2 and beta_c=0.02, the final star formation efficiency >~0.43. For each evolutionary track, RT simulations are performed at selected stages, with temperature profiles, SEDs, and images produced. At a given stage the envelope temperature is highly dependent on Sigma_cl, but only weakly dependent on M_c. The SED and MIR images depend sensitively on the evolving outflow cavity, which gradually wides as the protostar grows. The fluxes at <~100 microns increase dramatically, and the far-IR peaks move to shorter wavelengths. We find that, despite scatter caused by different M_c, Sigma_cl, beta, and inclinations, sources at a given evolutionary stage appear in similar regions on color-color diagrams, especially when using colors at >~ 70 microns, where the scatter due to the inclination is minimized, implying that such diagrams can be useful diagnostic tools of evolutionary stages of massive protostars. We discuss how intensity profiles along or perpendicular to the outflow axis are affected by environmental conditions and source evolution.
The chemical evolution in high-mass star-forming regions is still poorly constrained. Studying the evolution of deuterated molecules allows to differentiate between subsequent stages of high-mass star formation regions due to the strong temperature dependence of deuterium isotopic fractionation. We observed a sample of 59 sources including 19 infrared dark clouds, 20 high-mass protostellar objects, 11 hot molecular cores and 9 ultra-compact HII regions in the (3-2) transitions of the four deuterated molecules, DCN, DNC, DCO+ and N2D+ as well as their non-deuterated counterpart. The overall detection fraction of DCN, DNC and DCO+ is high and exceeds 50% for most of the stages. N2D+ was only detected in a few infrared dark clouds and high-mass protostellar objects. It can be related to problems in the bandpass at the frequency of the transition and to low abundances in the more evolved, warmer stages. We find median D/H ratios of ~0.02 for DCN, ~0.005 for DNC, ~0.0025 for DCO+ and ~0.02 for N2D+. While the D/H ratios of DNC, DCO+ and N2D+ decrease with time, DCN/HCN peaks at the hot molecular core stage. We only found weak correlations of the D/H ratios for N2D+ with the luminosity of the central source and the FWHM of the line, and no correlation with the H2 column density. In combination with a previously observed set of 14 other molecules (Paper I) we fitted the calculated column densities with an elaborate 1D physico-chemical model with time-dependent D-chemistry including ortho- and para-H2 states. Good overall fits to the observed data have been obtained the model. It is one of the first times that observations and modeling have been combined to derive chemically based best-fit models for the evolution of high-mass star formation including deuteration.
Stars mostly form in groups consisting of a few dozen to several ten thousand members. For 30 years, theoretical models provide a basic concept of how such star clusters form and develop: they originate from the gas and dust of collapsing molecular clouds. The conversion from gas to stars being incomplete, the left over gas is expelled, leading to cluster expansion and stars becoming unbound. Observationally, a direct confirmation of this process has proved elusive, which is attributed to the diversity of the properties of forming clusters. Here we take into account that the true cluster masses and sizes are masked, initially by the surface density of the background and later by the still present unbound stars. Based on the recent observational finding that in a given star-forming region the star formation efficiency depends on the local density of the gas, we use an analytical approach combined with mbox{N-body simulations, to reveal} evolutionary tracks for young massive clusters covering the first 10 Myr. Just like the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram is a measure for the evolution of stars, these tracks provide equivalent information for clusters. Like stars, massive clusters form and develop faster than their lower-mass counterparts, explaining why so few massive cluster progenitors are found.
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