No Arabic abstract
The common assumption that Theta-1-Ori C is the dominant ionizing source for the Orion Nebula is critically examined. This assumption underlies much of the existing analysis of the nebula. In this paper we establish through comparison of the relative strengths of emission lines with expectations from Cloudy models and through the direction of the bright edges of proplyds that Theta-2-Ori-A, which lies beyond the Bright Bar, also plays an important role. Theta-1-Ori-C does dominate ionization in the inner part of the Orion Nebula, but outside of the Bright Bar as far as the southeast boundary of the Extended Orion Nebula, Theta-2-Ori-A is the dominant source. In addition to identifying the ionizing star in sample regions, we were able to locate those portions of the nebula in 3-D. This analysis illustrates the power of MUSE spectral imaging observations in identifying sources of ionization in extended regions.
The existence of multiple layers in the inner Orion Nebula has been revealed using data from an Atlas of spectra at 2 and 12 km/s resolution. These data were sometimes grouped over Samples of 10x10to produce high Signal to Noise spectra and sometimes grouped into sequences of pseudo-slit Spectra of 12.8--39 width for high spatial resolution studies. Multiple velocity systems were found: Vmif traces the Main Ionization Front (MIF), Vscat arises from back-scattering of Vmif emission by particles in the background Photon Dissociation Region (PDR), Vlow is an ionized layer in front of the MIF and if it is the source of the stellar absorption lines seen in the Trapezium stars, it must lie between the foreground Veil and those stars, Vnew may represent ionized gas evaporating from the Veil away from the observer. There are features such as the Bright Bar where variations of velocities are due to changing tilts of the MIF, but velocity changes above about 25arise from variations in velocity of the background PDR. In a region 25 ENE of the Orion-S Cloud one finds dramatic changes in the [OIII]components, including the signals from the Vlowoiii and Vmifoiii becoming equal, indicating shadowing of gas from stellar photons of >24.6 eV. This feature is also seen in areas to the west and south of the Orion-S Cloud.
We report on a high-spatial-resolution survey for binary stars in the periphery of the Orion Nebula Cluster, at 5 - 15 arcmin (0.65 - 2 pc) from the cluster center. We observed 228 stars with adaptive optics systems, in order to find companions at separations of 0.13 - 1.12 (60 - 500 AU), and detected 13 new binaries. Combined with the results of Petr (1998), we have a sample of 275 objects, about half of which have masses from the literature and high probabilities to be cluster members. We used an improved method to derive the completeness limits of the observations, which takes into account the elongated point spread function of stars at relatively large distances from the adaptive optics guide star. The multiplicity of stars with masses >2 M_sun is found to be significantly larger than that of low-mass stars. The companion star frequency of low-mass stars is comparable to that of main-sequence M-dwarfs, less than half that of solar-type main-sequence stars, and 3.5 to 5 times lower than in the Taurus-Auriga and Scorpius-Centaurus star-forming regions. We find the binary frequency of low-mass stars in the periphery of the cluster to be the same or only slightly higher than for stars in the cluster core (<3 arcmin from theta1C Ori). This is in contrast to the prediction of the theory that the low binary frequency in the cluster is caused by the disruption of binaries due to dynamical interactions. There are two ways out of this dilemma: Either the initial binary frequency in the Orion Nebula Cluster was lower than in Taurus-Auriga, or the Orion Nebula Cluster was originally much denser and dynamically more active.
Recent Hubble Space Telescope images have allowed the determination with unprecedented accuracy of motions and changes of shocks within the inner Orion Nebula. These originate from collimated outflows from very young stars, some within the ionized portion of the nebula and others within the host molecular cloud. We have doubled the number of Herbig-Haro objects known within the inner Orion Nebula. We find that the best-known Herbig-Haro shocks originate from a relatively few stars, with the optically visible X-ray source COUP 666 driving many of them. While some isolated shocks are driven by single collimated outflows, many groups of shocks are the result of a single stellar source having jets oriented in multiple directions at similar times. This explains the feature that shocks aligned in opposite directions in the plane of the sky are usually blue shifted because the redshifted outflows pass into the optically thick Photon Dominated Region behind the nebula. There are two regions from which optical outflows originate for which there are no candidate sources in the SIMBAD data base.
We analyze surveys of molecular cloud structures defined by tracers ranging from CO $J = 1-0$ through $^{13}$CO $J = 1-0$ to dust emission together with NH$_3$ data. The mean value of the virial parameter and the fraction of mass in bound structures depends on the method used to identify structures. Generally, the virial parameter decreases and the fraction of mass in bound structures increases with the effective density of the tracer, the surface density and mass of the structures, and the distance from the center of a galaxy. For the most complete surveys of structures in the Galaxy defined by CO $J = 1-0$, the fraction of mass that is in bound structures is 0.19. For catalogs of other galaxies based on CO $J = 2-1$, the fraction is 0.35. These results offer substantial alleviation of the fundamental problem of slow star formation. If only clouds found to be bound are counted and they are assumed to collapse in a free-fall time at their mean cloud density, the sum over all clouds in a complete survey of the Galaxy yields a predicted star formation rate of 46 solar masses per year, a factor of 6.5 less than if all clouds are bound.
Following the Chandra Orion Ultradeep Project (COUP) observation, we have studied the chemical composition of the hot plasma in a sample of 146 X-ray bright pre-main sequence stars in the Orion Nebula Cluster. We report measurements of individual element abundances for a subsample of 86 slightly-absorbed and bright X-ray sources, using low resolution X-ray spectra obtained from the Chandra ACIS instrument. The X-ray emission originates from a plasma with temperatures and elemental abundances very similar to those of active coronae in older stars. A clear pattern of abundances vs. First Ionization Potential (FIP) is evident if solar photospheric abundances are assumed as reference. The results are validated by extensive simulations. The observed abundance distributions are compatible with a single pattern of abundances for all stars, although a weak dependence on flare loop size may be present. The abundance of calcium is the only one which appears to vary substantially between stars, but this quantity is affected by relatively large uncertainties. The ensemble properties of the X-ray bright COUP sources confirm that the iron in the emitting plasma is underabundant with respect to both the solar composition and to the average stellar photospheric values. Comparison of the present plasma abundances with those of the stellar photospheres and those of the gaseous component of the nebula, indicates a good agreement for all the other elements with available measurements, and in particular for the high-FIP elements (Ne, Ar, O, and S) and for the low-FIP element Si. We conclude that there is evidence of a significant chemical fractionation effect only for iron, which appears to be depleted by a factor 1.5--3 with respect to the stellar composition.