No Arabic abstract
We use two 4.5micron Spitzer (IRAC) maps of the NGC 1333 region taken over approx. 7 yr interval to determine proper motions of its associated outflows. This is a first, successful attempt at obtaining proper motions of stellars outflow from Spitzer observations. For the outflow formed by the Herbig-Haro objects HH7, 8 and 10, we find proper motions of approx. 9-13 km/s, which are consistent with previously determined optical proper motions of these objects. We determine proper motions for a total of 8 outflows, ranging from approx. 10 to 100 km/s. The derived proper motions show that out of these 8 outflows, 3 have tangential velocities less or equal to 20 km/s. This result shows that a large fraction of the observed outflows have low intrinsic velocities, and that the low proper motions are not merely a projection effect.
We have used multiple mid-infrared observations at 4.5 micron obtained with the Infrared Array Camera, of the compact (~1.4 arcmin) young stellar bipolar outflow Cep E to measure the proper motion of its brightest condensations. The images span a period of ~6 yr and have been reprocessed to achieve a higher angular resolution (~0.8 arcsec) than their normal beam (2 arcsec). We found that for a distance of 730 pc, the tangential velocities of the North and South outflow lobes are 62+/-29 and 94+/-6 km/s respectively, and moving away from the central source roughly along the major axis of the flow. A simple 3D hydrodynamical simulation of the H2 gas in a precessing outflow supports this idea. Observations and model confirm that the molecular Hydrogen gas, traced by the pure rotational transitions, moves at highly supersonic velocities without being dissociated. This suggests either a very efficient mechanism to reform H2 molecules along these shocks or the presence of some other mechanism (e.g. strong magnetic field) that shields the H2 gas.
As part of the Young Stellar Object VARiability (YSOVAR) program, we monitored NGC 1333 for ~35 days at 3.6 and 4.5 um using the Spitzer Space Telescope. We report here on the mid-infrared variability of the point sources in the ~10x~20arcmin area centered on 03:29:06, +31:19:30 (J2000). Out of 701 light curves in either channel, we find 78 variables over the YSOVAR campaign. About half of the members are variable. The variable fraction for the most embedded SEDs (Class I, flat) is higher than that for less embedded SEDs (Class II), which is in turn higher than the star-like SEDs (Class III). A few objects have amplitudes (10-90th percentile brightness) in [3.6] or [4.5]>0.2 mag; a more typical amplitude is 0.1-0.15 mag. The largest color change is >0.2 mag. There are 24 periodic objects, with 40% of them being flat SED class. This may mean that the periodic signal is primarily from the disk, not the photosphere, in those cases. We find 9 variables likely to be dippers, where texture in the disk occults the central star, and 11 likely to be bursters, where accretion instabilities create brightness bursts. There are 39 objects that have significant trends in [3.6]-[4.5] color over the campaign, about evenly divided between redder-when-fainter (consistent with extinction variations) and bluer-when-fainter. About a third of the 17 Class 0 and/or jet-driving sources from the literature are variable over the YSOVAR campaign, and a larger fraction (~half) are variable between the YSOVAR campaign and the cryogenic-era Spitzer observations (6-7 years), perhaps because it takes time for the envelope to respond to changes in the central source. The NGC 1333 brown dwarfs do not stand out from the stellar light curves in any way except there is a much larger fraction of periodic objects (~60% of variable brown dwarfs are periodic, compared to ~30% of the variables overall).
Star forming regions are expected to show linear proper motions due to the relative motion of the Sun with respect to the region. These proper motions appear superposed to the proper motions expected in features associated with mass ejection from the young stellar objects embedded in them. Therefore, it is necessary to have a good knowledge of the proper motions of the region as a whole in order to correctly interpret the motions associated with mass ejection. In this paper we present the first direct measurement of proper motions of the NGC 1333 star forming region. This region harbors one of the most studied Herbig-Haro systems, HH 7-11, whose exciting source remains unclear. Using VLA A configuration data at 3.6 cm taken over 10 years, we have been able to measure the absolute proper motions of four thermal sources embedded in NGC 1333. From our results we have derived the mean proper motions of the NGC 1333 star forming region to be mu(alpha)cos(delta) = 9 +- 1 mas/yr and mu(delta) = -10 +- 2 mas/yr. In this paper, we also discuss the possible implications of our results in the identification of the outflow exciting sources.
Relative proper motions and cluster membership probabilities have been derived for ~ 2500 stars in the field of the open star cluster NGC 3766. The cluster has been observed in $B$ and $V$ broadband filters at two epochs separated by ~ 6 years using a wide-field imager mounted on the
[email protected] telescope. All CCD frames were reduced using the astrometric techniques described in Anderson et al. (2006). The proper motion r.m.s. error for stars brighter than $V$ ~ 15 mag is 2.0 mas/yr but it gradually increases up to ~4 mas/yr at $V$ ~20 mag. Using proper motion data, membership probabilities have been derived for the stars in the region of the cluster. They indicate that three Be and one Ap stars are member of the cluster. The reddening $E(B-V)=0.22pm0.05$ mag, a distance 2.5$pm$0.5 kpc and an age of ~ 20 Myr are derived using stars of $P_{mu}>70%$. Mass function slope $x=1.60pm0.10$ is derived for the cluster and cluster was found to be dynamically relaxed. Finally, we provide positions, calibrated $B$ and $V$ magnitudes, relative proper motions and membership probabilities for the stars in the field of NGC 3766. We have produced a catalog that is electronically available to the astronomical community.
We present 5 to 36 micron mid-infrared spectra of 82 young stars in the ~2 Myr old Chamaeleon I star-forming region, obtained with the Spitzer Infrared Spectrograph (IRS). We have classified these objects into various evolutionary classes based on their spectral energy distributions and the spectral features seen in the IRS spectra. We have analyzed the mid-IR spectra of Class II objects in Chamaeleon I in detail, in order to study the vertical and radial structure of the protoplanetary disks surrounding these stars. We find evidence for substantial dust settling in most protoplanetary disks in Chamaeleon I. We have identified several disks with altered radial structures in Chamaeleon I, among them transitional disk candidates which have holes or gaps in their disks. Analysis of the silicate emission features in the IRS spectra of Class II objects in Chamaeleon I shows that the dust grains in these disks have undergone significant processing (grain growth and crystallization). However, disks with radial holes/gaps appear to have relatively unprocessed grains. We further find the crystalline dust content in the inner (< 1-2 AU) and the intermediate (< 10 AU) regions of the protoplanetary disks to be tightly correlated. We also investigate the effects of accretion and stellar multiplicity on the disk structure and dust properties. Finally, we compare the observed properties of protoplanetary disks in Cha I with those in slightly younger Taurus and Ophiuchus regions and discuss the effects of disk evolution in the first 1-2 Myr.