No Arabic abstract
We present a 9 deg^2 map of the North American and Pelican Nebulae regions obtained in all four IRAC channels with the Spitzer Space Telescope. The resulting photometry is merged with that at JHKs from 2MASS and a more spatially limited $BVI$ survey from previous ground-based work. We use a mixture of color- color diagrams to select a minimally contaminated set of more than 1600 objects that we claim are young stellar objects (YSOs) associated with the star forming region. Because our selection technique uses IR excess as a requirement, our sample is strongly biased against inclusion of Class III YSOs. The distribution of IRAC spectral slopes for our YSOs indicates that most of these objects are Class II, with a peak towards steeper spectral slopes but a substantial contribution from a tail of flat spectrum and Class I type objects. By studying the small fraction of the sample that is optically visible, we infer a typical age of a few Myr for the low mass population. The young stars are clustered, with about a third of them located in eight clusters that are located within or near the LDN 935 dark cloud. Half of the YSOs are located in regions with surface densities higher than 1000 YSOs / deg^2. The Class I objects are more clustered than the Class II stars.
During a synoptic survey of the North American Nebula region, the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) detected an optical outburst (dubbed PTF10nvg) associated with the previously unstudied flat or rising spectrum infrared source IRAS 20496+4354. The PTF R-band light curve reveals that PTF10nvg brightened by more than 5 mag during the current outburst, rising to a peak magnitude of R~13.5 in 2010 Sep. Follow-up observations indicate PTF10nvg has undergone a similar ~5 mag brightening in the K band, and possesses a rich emission-line spectrum, including numerous lines commonly assumed to trace mass accretion and outflows. Many of these lines are blueshifted by ~175 km/s from the North American Nebulas rest velocity, suggesting that PTF10nvg is driving an outflow. Optical spectra of PTF10nvg show several TiO/VO bandheads fully in emission, indicating the presence of an unusual amount of dense (> 10^10 cm^-3), warm (1500-4000 K) circumstellar material. Near-infrared spectra of PTF10nvg appear quite similar to a spectrum of McNeils Nebula/V1647 Ori, a young star which has undergone several brightenings in recent decades, and 06297+1021W, a Class I protostar with a similarly rich near--infrared emission line spectrum. While further monitoring is required to fully understand this event, we conclude that the brightening of PTF10nvg is indicative of enhanced accretion and outflow in this Class-I-type protostellar object, similar to the behavior of V1647 Ori in 2004-2005.
We present the first results from a CARMA high-resolution $^{12}$CO(1-0), $^{13}$CO(1-0), and C$^{18}$O(1-0) molecular line survey of the North America and Pelican (NAP) Nebulae. CARMA observations have been combined with single-dish data from the Purple Mountain 13.7m telescope to add short spacings and produce high-dynamic-range images. We find that the molecular gas is predominantly shaped by the W80 HII bubble that is driven by an O star. Several bright rims are probably remnant molecular clouds heated and stripped by the massive star. Matching these rims in molecular lines and optical images, we construct a model of the three-dimensional structure of the NAP complex. Two groups of molecular clumps/filaments are on the near side of the bubble, one being pushed toward us, whereas the other is moving toward the bubble. Another group is on the far side of the bubble and moving away. The young stellar objects in the Gulf region reside in three different clusters, each hosted by a cloud from one of the three molecular clump groups. Although all gas content in the NAP is impacted by feedback from the central O star, some regions show no signs of star formation, while other areas clearly exhibit star formation activity. Other molecular gas being carved by feedback includes the cometary structures in the Pelican Head region and the boomerang features at the boundary of the Gulf region. The results show that the NAP complex is an ideal place for the study of feedback effects on star formation.
The Bajamar Star is an early O star that ionizes the North America/Pelican Nebulae. In projection, it is near the geometric center of the H II region, but appears to lie outside any of the main stellar subgroups. Furthermore, in Gaia DR2, there were slight discrepancies between this star and the rest of the system in parallax (2$sigma$ larger) and relative tangential velocity (~6 km/s). Using Gaia EDR3, we find that the parallax discrepancy has disappeared, but the velocity difference remains. These results are consistent with the star having escaped from a subgroup.
We present observations of near-infrared 2.12 micro-meter molecular hydrogen outflows emerging from 1.1 mm dust continuum clumps in the North America and Pelican Nebula (NAP) complex selected from the Bolocam Galactic Plane Survey (BGPS). Hundreds of individual shocks powered by over 50 outflows from young stars are identified, indicating that the dusty molecular clumps surrounding the NGC 7000 / IC 5070 / W80 HII region are among the most active sites of on-going star formation in the Solar vicinity. A spectacular X-shaped outflow, MHO 3400, emerges from a young star system embedded in a dense clump more than a parsec from the ionization front associated with the Pelican Nebula (IC 5070). Suspected to be a binary, the source drives a pair of outflows with orientations differing by 80 degrees. Each flow exhibits S-shaped symmetry and multiple shocks indicating a pulsed and precessing jet. The `Gulf of Mexico located south of the North America Nebula (NGC 7000), contains a dense cluster of molecular hydrogen objects (MHOs), Herbig-Haro (HH) objects, and over 300 YSOs, indicating a recent burst of star formation. The largest outflow detected thus far in the North America and Pelican Nebula complex, the 1.6 parsec long MHO 3417 flow, emerges from a 500 Solar mass BGPS clump and may be powered by a forming massive star. Several prominent outflows such as MHO 3427 appear to be powered by highly embedded YSOs only visible at a wavelength > 70 micro-meters. An `activity index formed by dividing the number of shocks by the mass of the cloud containing their source stars is used to estimate the relative evolutionary states of Bolocam clumps. Outflows can be used as indicators of the evolutionary state of clumps detected in mm and sub-mm dust continuum surveys.
We present a spectroscopic survey of over 3400 potential members in the North America and Pelican nebulae (NAP) using several low-resolution ($Rapprox$ 1300-2000) spectrographs: Palomar/Norris, WIYN/HYDRA, Keck/DEIMOS, and MMT/Hectospec. We identify 580 young stars as likely members of the NAP region based on criteria involving infrared excess, Li I 6708 absorption, X-ray emission, parallax, and proper motions. The spectral types of individual spectra are derived by fitting them with templates that are either empirical spectra of pre-main sequence stars, or model atmospheres. The templates are artificially veiled, and a best-fit combination of spectral type and veiling parameter is derived for each star. We use the spectral types with archival photometry to derive $V$-band extinction and stellar luminosity. From the H-R diagram, the median age of the young stars is about 1 Myr, with a luminosity dispersion of $sim$0.3--0.4 dex. We investigate the photometric variability of the spectroscopic member sample using ZTF data, and conclude that photometric variability, while present, does not significantly contribute to the luminosity dispersion. While larger than the formal errors, the luminosity dispersion is smaller than if veiling were not taken into account in our spectral typing process. The measured ages of stellar kinematic groups, combined with inferred ages for embedded stellar populations revealed by Spitzer, suggests a sequential history of star formation in the NAP region.