CK Vulpeculae was observed in outburst in 1670-16721, but no counterpart was seen until 1982, when a bipolar nebula was found at its location. Historically, CK Vul has been considered to be a nova (Nova Vul 1670), but a similarity to red transients,
which are more luminous than classical nova and thought to be the result of stellar collisions, has re-opened the question of CK Vuls status. Red transients cool to resemble late M-type stars, surrounded by circumstellar material rich in molecules and dust. No stellar source has been seen in CK Vul, though a radio continuum source was identified at the expansion centre of the nebula. Here we report CK Vul is surrounded by chemically rich molecular gas with peculiar isotopic ratios, as well as dust. The chemical composition cannot be reconciled with a nova or indeed any other known explosion. In addition, the mass of the surrounding gas is too high for a nova, though the conversion from observations of CO to a total mass is uncertain. We conclude that CK Vul is best explained as the remnant of a merger of two stars.
Young massive stars and stellar clusters continuously form in the Galactic disk, generating new HII regions within their natal giant molecular clouds and subsequently enriching the interstellar medium via their winds and supernovae. Massive stars are
among the brightest infrared stars in such regions; their identification permits the characterization of the star formation history of the associated cloud as well as constraining the location of stellar aggregates and hence their occurrence as a function of global environment. We present a stellar spectroscopic survey in the direction of the giant molecular cloud G23.3-0.3. This complex is located at a distance of ~ 4-5 kpc, and consists of several HII regions and supernova remnants. We discovered 11 OfK+ stars, one candidate Luminous Blue Variable, several OB stars, and candidate red supergiants. Stars with K-band extinction from ~1.3 - 1.9 mag appear to be associated with the GMC G23.3-0.3; O and B-types satisfying this criterion have spectro-photometric distances consistent with that of the giant molecular cloud. Combining near-IR spectroscopic and photometric data allowed us to characterize the multiple sites of star formation within it. The O-type stars have masses from 25 - 45 Msun, and ages of 5-8 Myr. Two new red supergiants were detected with interstellar extinction typical of the cloud; along with the two RSGs within the cluster GLIMPSE9, they trace an older burst with an age of 20--30 Myr. Massive stars were also detected in the core of three supernova remnants - W41, G22.7-0.2, and G22.7583-0.4917. A large population of massive stars appears associated with the GMC G23.3-0.3, with the properties inferred for them indicative of an extended history of stars formation.
Mass-loss from evolved stars chemically enriches the ISM. Stellar winds from massive stars and their explosions as SNs shape the ISM and trigger star formation. Studying evolved stars is fundamental for understanding galaxy formation and evolution, a
t any redshift. We aim to establish a photometric classification scheme for Galactic mass-losing evolved stars (e.g., WR, RSG, and AGB stars) with the goal of identifying new ones, and subsequently to use the sample as tracers of Galactic structure. We searched for counterparts of known Galactic WR, LBV, RSG, and O-rich AGBs in the 2MASS, GLIMPSE, and MSX catalogs, and we analyzed their properties with near- and mid-infrared color-color diagrams. We used the Q1 parameter, which measures the deviation from the interstellar reddening vector in the J-H versus H-Ks diagram, and we defined a new parameter, Q2, that measures the deviation from the interstellar reddening vector in the J-Ks versus Ks-[8.0] diagram. The latter plane enables to distinguish between interstellar and circumstellar reddening, and to identify stars with envelopes. WR stars and late-type mass-losing stars are distributed in two different regions of the Q1 versus Ks-[8.0] diagram. A sequence of increasing [3.6]-[4.5] and [3.6]-[8.0] colors with increasing pulsation amplitudes (SRs, Miras, and OH/IRs) is found. Spectra of Miras and OH/IRs have stronger H2O absorption at 3.0um than SRs or most of the RSGs. Masing Miras have H2O, but stronger SiO (~ 4 um) and CO2 absorption (~4.25 um), as suggested by their bluer [3.6]-[4.5] colors. A fraction of RSGs (22%) have the bluest [3.6]-[4.5] colors, but small Q2 values. We propose a new set of photometric criteria to distinguish among IR bright Galactic stars. The GLIMPSE catalog is a powerful tool for photometric classification of mass-losing evolved stars. Our new criteria will yield many new RSGs and WRs.
We present sensitive high angular resolution submillimeter and millimeter observations of torsionally/vibrationally highly excited lines of the CH$_3$OH, HC$_3$N, SO$_2$, and CH$_3$CN molecules and of the continuum emission at 870 and 1300 $mu$m from
the Orion KL region, made with the Submillimeter Array (SMA). These observations plus recent SMA CO J=3-2 and J=2-1 imaging of the explosive flow originating in this region, which is related to the non-hierarchical disintegration of a massive young stellar system, suggest that the molecular Orion Hot Core is a pre-existing density enhancement heated from the outside by the explosive event -- unlike in other hot cores we do not find any self-luminous submillimeter, radio or infrared source embedded in the hot molecular gas. Indeed, we do not observe filamentary CO flow structures or fingers in the shadow of the hot core pointing away from the explosion center. The low-excitation CH$_3$CN emission shows the typical molecular heart-shaped structure, traditionally named the Hot Core, and is centered close to the dynamical origin of the explosion. The highest excitation CH$_3$CN lines are all arising from the northeast lobe of the heart-shaped structure, {it i. e.} from the densest and most highly obscured parts of the Extended Ridge. The torsionally excited CH$_3$OH and vibrationally excited HC$_3$N lines appear to form a shell around the strongest submillimeter continuum source. Surprisingly the kinematics of the Hot Core and Compact Ridge regions as traced by CH$_3$CN and HC$_3$N also reveal filament-like structures that emerge from the dynamical origin. All of these observations suggest the southeast and southwest sectors of the explosive flow to have impinged on a pre-existing very dense part of the Extended Ridge, thus creating the bright Orion KL Hot Core.
We present molecular line mapping of the Giant Molecular Cloud G1.6-0.025, which is located at the high longitude end of the Central Molecular Zone of our Galaxy. We assess the degree of star formation activity in that region using several tracers an
d find very little. We made a large scale, medium (2) resolution map in the J = 2-1 transition of SiO for which we find clumpy emission over a ~0.8 x 0.3 degree-sized region stretching along the Galactic plane. Toward selected positions we also took spectra in the easy to excite J_k=2_k-1_k quartet of CH3OH and the CS 2-1 line. Throughout the cloud these meth lines are, remarkably, several times stronger than, both, the CS and the SiO lines. The large widths of all the observed lines, similar to values generally found in the Galactic center, indicate a high degree of turbulence. Several high LSR velocity clumps that have 0-80 km/s higher velocities than the bulk of the molecular cloud appear at the same projected position as normal velocity material; this may indicate cloud-cloud collisions. Statistical equilibrium modeling of the CH3OH lines observed by us and others yield relatively high densities and moderate temperatures for a representative dual velocity position. We find 8 10^4 cm-3/30 K for material in the G1.6-0.025 cloud and a higher temperature (190 K), but a 50% lower density in a high velocity clump projected on the same location. Several scenarios are discussed in which shock chemistry might enhance the CH3OH and SiO abundances in G1.6-0.025 and elsewhere in the Central Molecular Zone.
We have analyzed sensitive high spatial resolution archival radio continuum data at 1.3, 2.0, 3.6 and 6.0 cm as well as the H2O maser molecular line data obtained using the Very Large Array (VLA) in its hybrid AB configuration toward the high-mass st
ar-forming region IRAS 17233-3606 (G351.78-0.54). We find nine compact radio sources associated with this region, six of them are new radio detections. We discuss the characteristics of these sources based mostly on their spectral indices and find that most of them appear to be optically thin or thick ultra- and hyper-compact HII regions ionized by B ZAMS stars. Furthermore, in a few cases the radio emission may arise from optically thick dusty disks and/or cores, however more observations at different wavelengths are necessity to firmly confirm their true nature. In addition, we compared our centimeter maps with the mid-infrared images fromthe Spitzer Space Observatory GLIMPSE survey revealing a cluster of young protostars in the region together with multiple collimated outflows some of whom might be related with the compact centimeter objects.
