No Arabic abstract
We present new high-quality ALMA observations of the Red Rectangle (a well known post-AGB object) in C17O J=6-5 and H13CN J=4-3 line emission and results from a new reduction of already published 13CO J=3-2 data. A detailed model fitting of all the molecular line data, including previous maps and single-dish spectra, was performed using a sophisticated code. These observations and the corresponding modeling allowed us to deepen the analysis of the nebular properties. We also stress the uncertainties in the model fitting. We confirm the presence of a rotating equatorial disk and an outflow, which is mainly formed of gas leaving the disk. The mass of the disk is ~ 0.01 Mo, and that of the CO-rich outflow is ~ 10 times smaller. High temperatures of ~ 100 K are derived for most components. From comparison of the mass values, we roughly estimate the lifetime of the rotating disk, which is found to be of about 10000 yr. Taking data of a few other post-AGB composite nebulae into account, we find that the lifetimes of disks around post-AGB stars typically range between 5000 and more than 20000 yr. The angular momentum of the disk is found to be high, ~ 9 Mo AU km/s, which is comparable to that of the stellar system at present. Our observations of H13CN show a particularly wide velocity dispersion and indicate that this molecule is only abundant in the inner Keplerian disk, at ~ 60 AU from the stellar system. We suggest that HCN is formed in a dense photodissociation region (PDR) due to the UV excess known to be produced by the stellar system, following chemical mechanisms that are well established for interstellar medium PDRs and disks orbiting young stars. We further suggest that this UV excess could lead to the efficient formation and excitation of PAHs and other C-bearing macromolecules, whose emission is very intense in the optical counterpart.
We aim to study equatorial disks in rotation and axial outflows in post-AGB objects, as to disclose the formation and shaping mechanisms in planetary nebulae. So far, both disks and outflows had not been observed simultaneously. We have obtained high-quality ALMA observations of 12CO and 13CO J=3-2 and 12CO J=6-5 line emission in the Red Rectangle, the only post-AGB/protoplanetary object in which a disk in rotation has been mapped up to date. These observations provide an unprecedented description of the complex structure of this source. Together with an equatorial disk in rotation, we find a low-velocity outflow that occupies more or less the region placed between the disk and the optical X-shaped nebula. From our observations and preliminary modeling of the data, we confirm the previously known properties of the disk and obtain a first description of the structure, dynamics, and physical conditions of the outflow.
We present ALMA and VLA observations of the molecular and ionized gas at 0.1-0.3 arcsec resolution in the Class 0 protostellar system IRAS 16293-2422. These data clarify the origins of the protostellar outflows from the deeply embedded sources in this complex region. Source A2 is confirmed to be at the origin of the well known large scale north-east--south-west flow. The most recent VLA observations reveal a new ejection from that protostar, demonstrating that it drives an episodic jet. The central compact part of the other known large scale flow in the system, oriented roughly east-west, is well delineated by the CO(6-5) emission imaged with ALMA and is confirmed to be driven from within component A. Finally, a one-sided blueshifted bubble-like outflow structure is detected here for the first time from source B to the north-west of the system. Its very short dynamical timescale (~ 200 yr), low velocity, and moderate collimation support the idea that source B is the youngest object in the system, and possibly one of the youngest protostars known.
We present Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) 1.3 mm continuum and C$^{18}$O(2$-$1), N$_2$D$^{+}$(3$-$2), $^{13}$CS(5$-$4), and $^{12}$CO(2$-$1) line sensitive and high angular resolution ($sim$0.3$$) observations of the famous carina pillars and protostellar objects HH 901/902. Our observations reveal for the first time, the bipolar CO outflows and the dusty disks (plus envelopes) that are energizing the extended and irradiated HH objects far from the pillars. We find that the masses of the disks$+$envelopes are about 0.1 M$_odot$ and of the bipolar outflows are between 10$^{-3}$ - 10$^{-4}$ M$_odot$, which suggests that they could be low- or maybe intermediate- mass protostars. Moreover, we suggest that these young low-mass stars are likely embedded Class 0/I protostars with high-accretion rates. We also show the kinematics of the gas in the pillars together with their respective gas masses (0.1 -- 0.2 M$_odot$). We estimate that the pillars will be photo-evaporated in 10$^4$ to 10$^5$ years by the massive and luminous stars located in the Trumpler 14 cluster. Finally, given the short photo-evaporated timescales and that the protostars in these pillars are still very embedded, we suggest that the disks inside of the pillars will be quickly affected by the radiation of the massive stars, forming proplyds, like those observed in Orion.
Mass-loss in massive stars plays a critical role in their evolution, although the precise mechanism(s) responsible - radiatively driven winds, impulsive ejection and/or binary interaction -remain uncertain. In this paper we present ALMA line and continuum observations of the supergiant B[e] star Wd1-9, a massive post-Main Sequence object located within the starburst cluster Westerlund 1. We find it to be one of the brightest stellar point sources in the sky at millimetre wavelengths, with (serendipitously identified) emission in the H41alpha radio recombination line. We attribute these properties to a low velocity (~100 km/s) ionised wind, with an extreme mass-loss rate 6.4x10^-5(d/5kpc)^1.5 Msol/yr. External to this is an extended aspherical ejection nebula indicative of a prior phase of significant mass-loss. Taken together, the millimetre properties of Wd1-9 show a remarkable similarity to those of the highly luminous stellar source MWC349A.We conclude that these objects are interacting binaries evolving away from the main sequence and undergoing rapid case-A mass transfer. As such they - and by extension the wider class of supergiant B[e] stars - may provide a unique window into the physics of a process that shapes the life-cycle of ~70% of massive stars found in binary systems.
Compact substructure is expected to arise in a starless core as mass becomes concentrated in the central region likely to form a protostar. Additionally, multiple peaks may form if fragmentation occurs. We present ALMA Cycle 2 observations of 60 starless and protostellar cores in the Ophiuchus molecular cloud. We detect eight compact substructures which are >15 arcsec from the nearest Spitzer YSO. Only one of these has strong evidence for being truly starless after considering ancillary data, e.g., from Herschel and X-ray telescopes. An additional extended emission structure has tentative evidence for starlessness. The number of our detections is consistent with estimates from a combination of synthetic observations of numerical simulations and analytical arguments. This result suggests that a similar ALMA study in the Chamaeleon I cloud, which detected no compact substructure in starless cores, may be due to the peculiar evolutionary state of cores in that cloud.