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Register a new userNear Infrared Imaging Survey of Bok Globules: Density Structure
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On the basis of near-infrared imaging observations, we derived visual extinction (Av) distribution toward ten Bok globules through measurements of both the color excess (E_{H-K}) and the stellar density at J, H, and Ks (star count). Radial column density profiles for each globule were analyzed with the Bonnor-Ebert sphere model. Using the data of our ten globules and four globules in the literature, we investigated the stability of globules on the basis of xi_max, which characterizes the Bonnor-Ebert sphere as well as the stability of the equilibrium state against the gravitational collapse. We found that more than half of starless globules are located near the critical state (xi_max = 6.5 +/- 2). Thus, we suggest that a nearly critical Bonnor-Ebert sphere characterizes the typical density structure of starless globules. Remaining starless globules show clearly unstable states (xi_max > 10). Since unstable equilibrium states are not long maintained, we expect that these globules are on the way to gravitational collapse or that they are stabilized by non-thermal support. It was also found that all the star-forming globules show unstable solutions of xi_max >10, which is consistent with the fact that they have started gravitational collapse. We investigated the evolution of a collapsing gas sphere whose initial condition is a nearly critical Bonnor-Ebert sphere. We found that the column density profiles of the collapsing sphere mimic those of the static Bonnor-Ebert spheres in unstable equilibrium. The collapsing gas sphere resembles marginally unstable Bonnor-Ebert spheres for a long time. We found that the frequency distribution of xi_max for the observed starless globules is consistent with that from model calculations of the collapsing sphere.
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We report the discovery of small, isolated dust clouds in the Large Magellanic Cloud, which are excellent candidates for counterparts to the Bok globules observed in the Galaxy. We detect these small clouds silhoutted against diffuse H-alpha emission, based on parallel imaging with the WFPC-2 on HST. The clouds we identify as Bok globule candidates have typical sizes of approximately one arcsecond, corresponding to about 0.25 parsec linear diameter at the distance of the LMC. We derive lower limits to the optical depth within the dark clouds, and masses assuming that the clouds have density distributions similar to Galactic Bok globules. The sizes and estimated masses for LMC globules are comparable to those estimated for Galactic globules. An extend sample of such objects would be excellent targets for high-resolution infrared and millimeter observations to study low-mass star formation in such clouds in low-metallicity environments, and where the distance is well known.
We performed an observational study of the relation between the interstellar magnetic field alignment and star formation in twenty (20) sky regions containing Bok Globules. The presence of young stellar objects in the globules is verified by a search of infrared sources with spectral energy distribution compatible with a pre main-sequence star. The interstellar magnetic field direction is mapped using optical polarimetry. These maps are used to estimate the dispersion of the interstellar magnetic field direction in each region from a Gaussian fit, sigma_B. In addition to the Gaussian dispersion, we propose a new parameter, eta, to measure the magnetic field alignment that does not rely on any function fitting. Statistical tests show that the dispersion of the magnetic field direction is different in star forming globules relative to quiescent globules. Specifically, the less organised magnetic fields occur in regions having young stellar objects.
We pursue the investigation of a previously proposed correlation between chemical properties and physical evolutionary stage of isolated low-mass star-forming regions. In the past, the NH3/CCS abundance ratio was suggested to be a potentially useful indicator for the evolutionary stage of cloud cores. We aim to study its applicability for isolated Bok globules. A sample of 42 Bok globules with and without signs of current star formation was searched for CCS(2-1) emission, the observations were complemented with NH3 measurements available in the literature and own observations. The abundance ratio of both molecules is discussed with respect to the evolutionary stage of the objects and in the context of chemical models. The NH3/CCS ratio could be assessed for 18 Bok globules and is found to be moderately high and roughly similar across all evolutionary stages from starless and prestellar cores towards internally heated cores harbouring protostars of Class 0, Class I or later. Bok globules with extremely high CCS abundance analogous to carbon-chain producing regions in dark cloud cores are not found. The observed range of NH3/CCS hints towards a relatively evolved chemical state of all observed Bok globules.
We report the most sensitive water maser survey towards Bok globules to date, using NASAs 70m antenna in Robledo de Chavela (Spain). We observed 207 positions within the CB catalog with a higher probability of harboring a young star, using as selection criteria the presence of radio continuum emission (from submillimeter to centimeter wavelengths), geometrical centers of molecular outflows, peaks in maps of high-density gas tracers (NH3 or CS), and IRAS point sources. We have obtained 7 maser detections, 6 of which (in CB 34, CB 54, CB 65, CB 101, CB 199, and CB 232) are reported for the first time here. Most of the water masers we detected are likely to be associated with young stellar objects (YSOs), except for CB 101 (probably an evolved object) and CB 65 (uncertain nature). The water maser in CB 199 shows a relatively high shift (~30 km/s) of its velocity centroid with respect to the cloud velocity, which is unusual for low-mass YSOs. We speculate that high-velocity masers in this kind of object could be related with episodes of energetic mass-loss in close binaries. Alternatively, the maser in CB 199 could be pumped by a protoplanetary or a young planetary nebula. CB 232 is the smallest Bok globule (~0.6 pc) known to be associated with water maser emission, although it would be superseded by the cases of CB 65 (~0.3 pc) and CB 199 (~0.5 pc) if their association with YSOs is confirmed. All our selection criteria have statistically compatible detection rates, except for IRAS sources, which tend to be a somewhat worse predictor for the presence of maser emission.
In this paper we present a new deep, wide-field near-infrared imaging survey. Our J- and K-band observations in four separate fields complement optical BVRI, ultraviolet and spectroscopic observations undertaken as part of the VIMOS-VLT deep survey (VVDS). In total, our survey spans ~400arcmis^2. Our catalogues are reliable in all fields to at least Kvega~20.75 and Jvega~21.50 (defined as the magnitude where object contamination is less than 10% and completeness greater than 90%). Taken together these four fields represents a unique combination of depth, wavelength coverage and area. We describe the complete data reduction process and outline a comprehensive series of tests carried out to characterise the reliability of the final catalogues. We compare the statistical properties of our catalogues with literature compilations. We find that our J- and K-selected galaxy counts are in good agreement with previously published works, as are our (J-K) versus K colour-magnitude diagrams. Stellar number counts extracted from our fields are consistent with a synthetic model of our galaxy. Using the location of the stellar locus in colour-magnitude space and the measured field-to-field variation in galaxy number counts we demonstrate that the absolute accuracy of our photometric calibration is at the 5% level or better. Finally, an investigation of the angular clustering of K- selected extended sources in our survey displays the expected scaling behaviour with limiting magnitude, with amplitudes in each magnitude bin in broad agreement with literature values.
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