No Arabic abstract
We aim at studying with high angular resolution a dense core associated with a low-luminosity IRAS source, IRAS 00213+6530, in order to investigate whether low mass star formation is really taking place in isolation. We performed observations at 1.2mm with the IRAM 30m telescope, VLA observations at 6cm, 3.6cm, 1.3cm, 7mm, and H2O maser and NH3 lines, and observations with the NASA 70m antenna in CCS and H2O maser. The cm and mm continuum emission, together with the near infrared data from the 2MASS allowed us to identify 3 YSOs, IRS1, VLA8A, and VLA8B, with different radio and infrared properties, and which seem to be in different evolutionary stages. The NH3 emission consists of three clouds. Two of these, MM1 and MM2, are associated with dust emission, while the southern cloud is only detected in NH3. The YSOs are embedded in MM1, where we found evidence of line broadening and temperature enhancements. On the other hand, the southern cloud and MM2 appear to be quiescent and starless. We modeled the radial intensity profile at 1.2mm of MM1. The model fits reasonably well the data, but it underestimates the intensity at small projected distances from the 1.2mm peak, probably due to the presence of multiple YSOs embedded in the envelope. There is a differentiation in the relative NH3 abundance with low values, ~2x10^-8, toward MM1, and high values, up to 10^-6, toward the southern cloud and MM2, suggesting that these clouds could be in a young evolutionary stage. IRAS 00213+6530 is harboring a multiple system of low-mass protostars, indicating that star formation in this cloud is taking place in groups, rather than in isolation. The low-mass YSOs found in IRAS 00213+6530 are in different evolutionary stages suggesting that star formation is taking place in different episodes.
A long-standing problem in low-mass star formation is the luminosity problem, whereby protostars are underluminous compared to the accretion luminosity expected both from theoretical collapse calculations and arguments based on the minimum accretion rate necessary to form a star within the embedded phase duration. Motivated by this luminosity problem, we present a set of evolutionary models describing the collapse of low-mass, dense cores into protostars, using the Young & Evans (2005) model as our starting point. We calculate the radiative transfer of the collapsing cores throughout the full duration of the collapse in two dimensions. From the resulting spectral energy distributions, we calculate standard observational signatures to directly compare to observations. We incorporate several modifications and additions to the original Young & Evans model in an effort to better match observations with model predictions. We find that scattering, 2-D geometry, mass-loss, and outflow cavities all affect the model predictions, as expected, but none resolve the luminosity problem. A cycle of episodic mass accretion, however, can resolve this problem and bring the model predictions into better agreement with observations. Standard assumptions about the interplay between mass accretion and mass loss in our model give star formation efficiencies consistent with recent observations that compare the core mass function (CMF) and stellar initial mass function (IMF). The combination of outflow cavities and episodic mass accretion reduce the connection between observational Class and physical Stage to the point where neither of the two common observational signatures (bolometric temperature and ratio of bolometric to submillimeter luminosity) can be considered reliable indicators of physical Stage.
We present an evolutionary picture of a forming star. We assume a singular, isothermal sphere as the initial state of the core that undergoes collapse as described by citet{shu77}. We include the evolution of a first hydrostatic core at early times and allow a disk to grow as predicted by citet{adams86}. We use a 1-dimensional radiative transfer code to calculate the spectral energy distribution for the evolving protostar from the beginning of collapse to the point when all envelope material has accreted onto the star+disk system. Then, we calculate various observational signatures ($T_{bol}$, $L_{bol}/L_{smm}$, and infrared colors) as a function of time. As defined by the bolometric temperature criterion, the Class 0 stage should be very short, while the Class I stage persists for much of the protostars early life. We present physical distinctions among the classes of forming stars and calculate the observational signatures for these classes. Finally, we present models of infrared color-magnitude diagrams, as observed by the Spitzer Space Telescope, that should be strong discriminators in determining the stage of evolution for a protostar.
We present a possible identification strategy for first hydrostatic core (FHSC) candidates and make predictions of ALMA dust continuum emission maps from these objects. We analyze the results given by the different bands and array configurations and identify which combinations of the two represent our best chance of solving the fragmentation issue in these objects. If the magnetic field is playing a role, the emission pattern will show evidence of a pseudo-disk and even of a magnetically driven outflow, which pure hydrodynamical calculations cannot reproduce.
We observed three high-mass star-forming regions in the W3 high-mass star formation complex with the Submillimeter Array and IRAM 30 m telescope. These regions, i.e. W3 SMS1 (W3 IRS5), SMS2 (W3 IRS4) and SMS3, are in different evolutionary stages and are located within the same large-scale environment, which allows us to study rotation and outflows as well as chemical properties in an evolutionary sense. While we find multiple mm continuum sources toward all regions, these three sub-regions exhibit different dynamical and chemical properties, which indicates that they are in different evolutionary stages. Even within each subregion, massive cores of different ages are found, e.g. in SMS2, sub-sources from the most evolved UCHII region to potential starless cores exist within 30 000 AU of each other. Outflows and rotational structures are found in SMS1 and SMS2. Evidence for interactions between the molecular cloud and the HII regions is found in the 13CO channel maps, which may indicate triggered star formation.
The processes leading to the birth of high-mass stars are poorly understood. We characterise here a sample of 430 massive clumps from the ATLASGAL survey, which are representative of different evolutionary stages. To establish a census of molecular tracers of their evolution we performed an unbiased spectral line survey covering the 3-mm atmospheric window between 84-117 GHz with the IRAM 30m. A smaller sample of 128 clumps has been observed in the SiO (5-4) transition with the APEX telescope to complement the SiO (2-1) line and probe the excitation conditions of the emitting gas, which is the main focus of the current study. We report a high detection rate of >75% of the SiO (2-1) line and a >90% detection rate from the dedicated follow-ups in the (5-4) transition. The SiO (2-1) line with broad line profiles and high detection rates, is a powerful probe of star formation activity, while the ubiquitous detection of SiO in all evolutionary stages suggests a continuous star formation process in massive clumps. We find a large fraction of infrared-quiet clumps to exhibit SiO emission, the majority of them only showing a low-velocity component (FWHM~5-6 km/s) centred at the rest velocity of the clump. In the current picture, where this is attributed to low-velocity shocks from cloud-cloud collisions, this can be used to pinpoint the youngest, thus, likely prestellar massive structures. Based on the line ratio of the (5-4) to the (2-1) line, our study reveals a trend of changing excitation conditions that lead to brighter emission in the (5-4) line towards more evolved sources. Our analysis delivers a more robust estimate of SiO column density and abundance than previous studies and questions the decrease of jet activity in massive clumps as a function of age.