No Arabic abstract
We report the first detection of the 205 um 3P1 - 3P0 [NII] line from a ground-based observatory using a direct detection spectrometer. The line was detected from the Carina star formation region using the South Pole Imaging Fabry-Perot Interferometer (SPIFI) on the Antarctic Submillimeter Telescope and Remote Observatory (AST/RO) at South Pole. The [NII] 205 um line strength indicates a low-density (n ~ 32 cm^-3 ionized medium, similar to the low-density ionized halo reported previously in its [OIII] 52 and 88 um line emission. When compared with the ISO [CII] observations of this region, we find that ~27% of the [CII] line emission arises from this low-density ionized gas, but the large majority ~ 73% of the observed [CII] line emission arises from the neutral interstellar medium. This result supports and underpins prior conclusions that most of the observed [CII] 158 um line emission from Galactic and extragalactic sources arises from the warm, dense photodissociated surfaces of molecular clouds. The detection of the [NII] line demonstrates the utility of Antarctic sites for THz spectroscopy.
We present [Fe II] 1.64 {mu}m imaging observations for jets and outflows from young stellar objects (YSOs) over the northern part (~ 24x45) of the Carina Nebula, a massive star forming region. The observations were performed with IRIS2 of Anglo-Australian Telescope and the seeing was ~1.5+-0.5. Eleven jet and outflow features are detected at eight different regions, and are named as Ionized Fe Objects (IFOs). One Herbig-Haro object candidate missed in Hubble Space Telescope H{alpha} observations is newly identified as HHc-16, referring our [Fe II] images. IFOs have knotty or longish shapes, and the detection rate of IFOs against previously identified YSOs is 1.4 %, which should be treated as a lower limit. Four IFOs show an anti-correlated peak intensities in [Fe II] and H{alpha}, where the ratio I([Fe II])/I(H{alpha}) is higher for longish IFOs than for knotty IFOs. We estimate the outflow mass loss rate from the [Fe II] flux, using two different methods. The jet-driving objects are identified for three IFOs (IFO-2, -4, and -7), for which we study the relations between the outflow mass loss rate and the YSO physical parameters from the radiative transfer model fitting. The ratios of the outflow mass loss rate over the disk accretion rate are consistent for IFO-4 and -7 with the previously reported values (10^-2-10^+1), while it is higher for IFO-2. This excess may be from the underestimation of the disk accretion rate. The jet-driving objects are likely to be low- or intermediate-mass stars. Other YSO physical parameters, such as luminosity and age, show reasonable relations or trends.
Aims. We aim to investigate the I([CII]) versus I([NII]) integrated intensity behavior in the AF region in order to assess the [CII] emission contribution from the H II region, which is traced by [NII] line observations, and PDR components in the high-metallicity environment of the GC. Methods. We used [CII] 158 um and [NII] 205 um fine-structure line observations of the AF in the literature to compare their observational integrated intensity distribution to semi-theoretical predictions for the contribution of H II regions and adjacent PDRs to the observed [CII] emission. We explored variations in the [C/N] elemental abundance ratio to explain the overall behavior of the observed relationship. Based on our models, the H II region and PDR contributions to the observed [CII] emission is calculated for a few positions within and near to the AF. Estimates for the [C/N] abundance ratio and [N/H] nitrogen elemental abundance in the AF can then be derived. Results. The behavior of the I([CII]) versus I([NII]) relationship in the AF can be explained by model results satisfying 0.84 < [C/N]_AF < 1.41, with model metallicities ranging from 1 Z to 2 Z, hydrogen volume density log n(H) = 3.5, and ionization parameters log U from -1 to -2. A least-squares fit to the model data points yields log I([CII]) = 1.068log I([NII]) + 0.645 to predict the [CII] emission arising from the H II regions in the AF. The fraction of the total observed [CII] emission arising from within PDRs varies between ~ 0.20 and ~ 0.75. Our results yield average values for the carbon-to-nitrogen ratio and nitrogen elemental abundances of [C/N]_AF = 1.13 +/- 0.09 and [N/H]_AF = 6.21x10^4 for the AF, respectively. They are a factor of ~ 0.4 smaller and ~ 7.5 larger than their corresponding Galactic disk values.
We have carried out near-infrared (NIR) imaging observations of the Carina Nebula for an area of ~400 sq. arcmin. including the star clusters Trumpler 14 (Tr 14) and Trumpler 16 (Tr 16). With 10 sigma limiting magnitudes of J ~ 18.5, H ~ 17.5 and K_s ~ 16.5, we identified 544 Class II and 11 Class I young star candidates. We find some 40 previously unknown very red sources with H-K_s > 2, most of which remain undetected at the J band. The red NIR sources are found to be concentrated to the south-east of Tr 16, along the `V shaped dust lane, where the next generation of stars seems to be forming. In addition, we find indications of ongoing star formation near the three MSX point sources, G287.51-0.49, G287.47-0.54, and G287.63-0.72. A handful of red NIR sources are seen to populate around each of these MSX sources. Apart from this, we identified two hard Chandra X-ray sources near G287.47-0.54, one of which does not have an NIR counterpart and may be associated with a Class I/Class 0 object. The majority of the Class II candidates, on the other hand, are seen to be distributed in the directions of the clusters, demarcating different evolutionary stages in this massive star-forming region. A comparison of the color-magnitude diagrams of the clusters with pre-main sequence model tracks shows that the stellar population of these clusters is very young (< 3 Myr). The K_s band luminosity function (KLF) of Tr 14 shows structure at the faint end, including a sharp peak due to the onset of deuterium burning, implying an age of 1-2 Myr for the cluster. The KLF of Tr 16, in contrast, is found to rise smoothly until it turns over. The slopes of the mass functions derived for the clusters are found to be in agreement with the canonical value of the field star initial mass function derived by Salpeter.
Linear polarization maps of the Carina Nebula were obtained at 250, 350, and 500 $mu$m during the 2012 flight of the BLASTPol balloon-borne telescope. These measurements are combined with Planck 850 $mu$m data in order to produce a submillimeter spectrum of the polarization fraction of the dust emission, averaged over the cloud. This spectrum is flat to within $pm$15% (relative to the 350 $mu$m polarization fraction). In particular, there is no evidence for a pronounced minimum of the spectrum near 350 $mu$m, as suggested by previous ground-based measurements of other molecular clouds. This result of a flat polarization spectrum in Carina is consistent with recently-published BLASTPol measurements of the Vela C molecular cloud, and also agrees with a published model for an externally-illuminated, dense molecular cloud by Bethell and collaborators. The shape of the spectrum in Carina does not show any dependence on the radiative environment of the dust, as quantified by the Planck-derived dust temperature or dust optical depth at 353 GHz.
Herein, we present results from observations of the 12CO (J=1-0), 13CO (J=1-0), and 12CO (J=2-1) emission lines toward the Carina nebula complex (CNC) obtained with the Mopra and NANTEN2 telescopes. We focused on massive-star-forming regions associated with the CNC including the three star clusters Tr14, Tr15, and Tr16, and the isolated WR-star HD92740. We found that the molecular clouds in the CNC are separated into mainly four clouds at velocities -27, -20, -14, and -8 km/s. Their masses are 0.7x10^4Msun, 5.0x10^4 Msun, 1.6x10^4 Msun, and 0.7x10^4 Msun, respectively. Most are likely associated with the star clusters, because of their high 12CO (J=2-1)/12CO (J=1-0) intensity ratios and their correspondence to the Spitzer 8 micron distributions. In addition, these clouds show the observational signatures of cloud--cloud collisions. In particular, there is a V-shaped structure in the position--velocity diagram and a complementary spatial distribution between the -20 km/s cloud and the -14 km/s cloud. Based on these observational signatures, we propose a scenario wherein the formation of massive stars in the clusters was triggered by a collision between the two clouds. By using the path length of the collision and the assumed velocity separation, we estimate the timescale of the collision to be ~1 Myr. This is comparable to the ages of the clusters estimated in previous studies.