Testing circumstellar disk lifetimes in young embedded clusters associated with the Vela Molecular Ridge

Context. The Vela Molecular Ridge hosts a number of young embedded star clusters in the same evolutionary stage. Aims. The main aim of the present work is testing whether the fraction of members with a circumstellar disk in a sample of clusters in the cloud D of the Vela Molecular Ridge, is consistent with relations derived for larger samples of star clusters with an age spread. Besides, we want to constrain the age of the young embedded star clusters associated with cloud D. Methods. We carried out L (3.78 microns) photometry on images of six young embedded star clusters associated with cloud D of the Vela Molecular Ridge, taken with ISAAC at the VLT. These data are complemented with the available HKs photometry. The 6 clusters are roughly of the same size and appear to be in the same evolutionary stage. The fraction of stars with a circumstellar disk was measured in each cluster by counting the fraction of sources displaying a NIR excess in colour-colour (HKsL) diagrams. Results. The L photometry allowed us to identify the NIR counterparts of the IRAS sources associated with the clusters. The fraction of stars with a circumstellar disk appears to be constant within errors for the 6 clusters. There is a hint that this is lower for the most massive stars. The age of the clusters is constrained to ~1-2 Myr. Conclusions. The fraction of stars with a circumstellar disk in the observed sample is consistent with the relations derived from larger samples of star clusters and with other age estimates for cloud D. The fraction may be lower for the most massive stars. Our results agree with a scenario where all intermediate and low-mass stars form with a disk, whose lifetime is shorter for higher mass stars.

The clumpy structure of the chemically active L1157 outflow

We present high spatial resolution maps, obtained with the Plateau de Bure Interferometer, of the blue lobe of the L1157 outflow. We observed four lines at 3 mm, namely CH3OH (2_K-1_K), HC3N (11-10), HCN (1-0) and OCS (7-6). Moreover, the bright B1 clump has also been observed at better spatial resolution in CS (2-1), CH3OH (2_1-1_1)A-, and 34SO (3_2-2_1). These high spatial resolution observations show a very rich structure in all the tracers, revealing a clumpy structure of the gas superimposed to an extended emission. In fact, the three clumps detected by previous IRAM-30m single dish observations have been resolved into several sub-clumps and new clumps have been detected in the outflow. The clumps are associated with the two cavities created by two shock episodes driven by the precessing jet. In particular, the clumps nearest the protostar are located at the walls of the younger cavity with a clear arch-shape form while the farthest clumps have slightly different observational characteristics indicating that they are associated to the older shock episode. The emission of the observed species peaks in different part of the lobe: the east clumps are brighter in HC3N (11-10), HCN (1-0) and CS (2-1) while the west clumps are brighter in CH3OH(2_K-1_K), OCS (7-6) and 34SO (3_2-2_1). This peak displacement in the line emission suggests a variation of the physical conditions and/or the chemical composition along the lobe of the outflow at small scale, likely related to the shock activity and the precession of the outflow. In particular, we observe the decoupling of the silicon monoxide and methanol emission, common shock tracers, in the B1 clump located at the apex of the bow shock produced by the second shock episode.