scholarly journals An unusual abundance of T Tauri stars? NIR study of the southern high-mass star-forming region RCW 34

2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (S266) ◽  
pp. 384-384
Author(s):  
H. M. de Villiers ◽  
D. J. Van der Walt

AbstractRCW 34 is a special star-forming region with a few stars showing an infrared excess, but seems as if it has an uncommon abundance in T Tauri stars. This possibility was confirmed by (i) clustering of classical T Tauri (CTT) stars in the two-color diagram, (ii) clustering of pre-main-sequence stars in the color–magnitude diagram, as well as (iii) the significant clustering at dimensions larger than the image-frame size, indicated by the second ‘bump’ in the two-point correlation analysis. A possible explanation for the above features could be the existence of an underlying wide CTT cluster with a smaller cluster centered around the massive star. The Ks-band luminosity function (α = 0.31) of RCW 34 shows that it is indeed a region of low stellar masses with an age of about of 1 Myr. Spectroscopic confirmation of such an underlying T Tauri cluster is necessary before any definite conclusions can be reached.

2019 ◽  
Vol 627 ◽  
pp. A135 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Bhardwaj ◽  
N. Panwar ◽  
G. J. Herczeg ◽  
W. P. Chen ◽  
H. P. Singh

Context. Pre-main-sequence variability characteristics can be used to probe the physical processes leading to the formation and initial evolution of both stars and planets. Aims. The photometric variability of pre-main-sequence stars is studied at optical wavelengths to explore star–disk interactions, accretion, spots, and other physical mechanisms associated with young stellar objects. Methods. We observed a field of 16′ × 16′ in the star-forming region Pelican Nebula (IC 5070) at BVRI wavelengths for 90 nights spread over one year in 2012−2013. More than 250 epochs in the VRI bands are used to identify and classify variables up to V ∼ 21 mag. Their physical association with the cluster IC 5070 is established based on the parallaxes and proper motions from the Gaia second data release (DR2). Multiwavelength photometric data are used to estimate physical parameters based on the isochrone fitting and spectral energy distributions. Results. We present a catalog of optical time-series photometry with periods, mean magnitudes, and classifications for 95 variable stars including 67 pre-main-sequence variables towards star-forming region IC 5070. The pre-main-sequence variables are further classified as candidate classical T Tauri and weak-line T Tauri stars based on their light curve variations and the locations on the color-color and color-magnitude diagrams using optical and infrared data together with Gaia DR2 astrometry. Classical T Tauri stars display variability amplitudes up to three times the maximum fluctuation in disk-free weak-line T Tauri stars, which show strong periodic variations. Short-term variability is missed in our photometry within single nights. Several classical T Tauri stars display long-lasting (≥10 days) single or multiple fading and brightening events of up to two magnitudes at optical wavelengths. The typical mass and age of the pre-main-sequence variables from the isochrone fitting and spectral energy distributions are estimated to be ≤1 M⊙ and ∼2 Myr, respectively. We do not find any correlation between the optical amplitudes or periods with the physical parameters (mass and age) of pre-main-sequence stars. Conclusions. The low-mass pre-main-sequence stars in the Pelican Nebula region display distinct variability and color trends and nearly 30% of the variables exhibit strong periodic signatures attributed to cold spot modulations. In the case of accretion bursts and extinction events, the average amplitudes are larger than one magnitude at optical wavelengths. These optical magnitude fluctuations are stable on a timescale of one year.


2019 ◽  
Vol 487 (2) ◽  
pp. 1765-1776 ◽  
Author(s):  
Somnath Dutta ◽  
Soumen Mondal ◽  
Santosh Joshi ◽  
Ramkrishna Das

ABSTRACT We present optical I-band light curves of the stars towards a star-forming region Cygnus OB7 from 17-night photometric observations. The light curves are generated from a total of 381 image frames with very good photometric precision. From the light curves of 1900 stars and their periodogram analyses, we detect 31 candidate variables including five previously identified. 14 out of 31 objects are periodic and exhibit the rotation rates in the range of 0.15–11.60 d. We characterize those candidate variables using optical/infrared colour–colour diagram and colour–magnitude diagram (CMD). From spectral indices of the candidate variables, it turns out that four are probably Classical T-Tauri stars (CTTSs), rest remain unclassified from present data, they are possibly field stars or discless pre-main-sequence stars towards the region. Based on their location on the various CMDs, the ages of two T Tauri Stars were estimated to be ∼5 Myr. The light curves indicate at least five of the periodic variables are eclipsing systems. The spatial distribution of young variable candidates on Planck 857 GHz (350 $\mu$m) and 2MASS (Two Micron All Sky Survey) Ks images suggest that at least two of the CTTSs are part of the active star-forming cloud Lynds 1003.


2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (S314) ◽  
pp. 191-192
Author(s):  
P. A. B. Galli ◽  
C. Bertout ◽  
R. Teixeira ◽  
C. Ducourant

AbstractIn a recent study, we derived individual distances for a sample of pre-main sequence stars that define the comoving association of young stars in the Lupus star-forming region. Here, we use these new distances to investigate the mass and age distributions of Lupus T Tauri stars and derive the average disk lifetime in the Lupus association based on an empirical disk model.


1997 ◽  
Vol 182 ◽  
pp. 381-390
Author(s):  
Yoshimi Kitamura ◽  
Masao Saito ◽  
Ryohei Kawabe ◽  
Kazuyoshi Sunada

We are intensively studying low mass star formation with the radio telescopes at Nobeyama in Japan. Using both the Nobeyama 45 m dish equipped with a 2 × 2 array receiver and the Nobeyama Millimeter Array (NMA), we can cover a very wide spatial range from overall molecular clouds down to compact protoplanetary disks. With the 45 m dish we are investigating hierarchical structures of molecular clouds including star-forming cores. With NMA we are imaging disklike structures (i.e., envelopes, accretion disks, and protoplanetary disks) around protostars and T Tauri stars. Recently, we have completed our survey for dense disklike envelopes around eleven Class 0 & I protostars by NMA. In this paper, we will present our recent results of the disklike envelopes in addition to the previous NMA results of the disks around three T Tauri stars. On the basis of the data, we will discuss the evolution of the disklike structures (dense envelopes → tenuous ones → dispersing ones → accretion disks → protoplanetary ones), and propose a new scenario for the formation of low mass stars.


Author(s):  
A J Rigby ◽  
N Peretto ◽  
R Adam ◽  
P Ade ◽  
M Anderson ◽  
...  

Abstract Determining the mechanism by which high-mass stars are formed is essential for our understanding of the energy budget and chemical evolution of galaxies. By using the New IRAM KIDs Array 2 (NIKA2) camera on the Institut de Radio Astronomie Millimétrique (IRAM) 30-m telescope, we have conducted high-sensitivity and large-scale mapping of a fraction of the Galactic plane in order to search for signatures of the transition between the high- and low-mass star-forming modes. Here, we present the first results from the Galactic Star Formation with NIKA2 (GASTON) project, a Large Programme at the IRAM 30-m telescope which is mapping ≈2 deg2 of the inner Galactic plane (GP), centred on ℓ = 23${_{.}^{\circ}}$9, b = 0${_{.}^{\circ}}$05, as well as targets in Taurus and Ophiuchus in 1.15 and 2.00 mm continuum wavebands. In this paper we present the first of the GASTON GP data taken, and present initial science results. We conduct an extraction of structures from the 1.15 mm maps using a dendrogram analysis and, by comparison to the compact source catalogues from Herschel survey data, we identify a population of 321 previously-undetected clumps. Approximately 80 per cent of these new clumps are 70 μm-quiet, and may be considered as starless candidates. We find that this new population of clumps are less massive and cooler, on average, than clumps that have already been identified. Further, by classifying the full sample of clumps based upon their infrared-bright fraction – an indicator of evolutionary stage – we find evidence for clump mass growth, supporting models of clump-fed high-mass star formation.


1998 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 423-424
Author(s):  
Motohide Tamura ◽  
Yoichi Itoh ◽  
Yumiko Oasa ◽  
Alan Tokunaga ◽  
Koji Sugitani

Abstract In order to tackle the problems of low-mass end of the initial mass function (IMF) in star-forming regions and the formation mechanisms of brown dwarfs, we have conducted deep infrared surveys of nearby molecular clouds. We have found a significant population of very low-luminosity sources with IR excesses in the Taurus cloud and the Chamaeleon cloud core regions whose extinction corrected J magnitudes are 3 to 8 mag fainter than those of typical T Tauri stars in the same cloud. Some of them are associated with even fainter companions. Follow-up IR spectroscopy has confirmed for the selected sources that their photospheric temperature is around 2000 to 3000 K. Thus, these very low-luminosity young stellar sources are most likely very low-mass T Tauri stars, and some of them might even be young brown dwarfs.


2009 ◽  
Vol 330 (5) ◽  
pp. 482-492
Author(s):  
A. Koeltzsch ◽  
M. Mugrauer ◽  
St. Raetz ◽  
T.O.B. Schmidt ◽  
T. Roell ◽  
...  

2012 ◽  
Vol 538 ◽  
pp. A140 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. D. Klaassen ◽  
L. Testi ◽  
H. Beuther

2018 ◽  
Vol 609 ◽  
pp. A129 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Colzi ◽  
F. Fontani ◽  
P. Caselli ◽  
C. Ceccarelli ◽  
P. Hily-Blant ◽  
...  

The ratio between the two stable isotopes of nitrogen, 14N and 15N, is well measured in the terrestrial atmosphere (~272), and for the pre-solar nebula (~441, deduced from the solar wind). Interestingly, some pristine solar system materials show enrichments in 15N with respect to the pre-solar nebula value. However, it is not yet clear if and how these enrichments are linked to the past chemical history because we have only a limited number of measurements in dense star-forming regions. In this respect, dense cores, which are believed to be the precursors of clusters and also contain intermediate- and high-mass stars, are important targets because the solar system was probably born within a rich stellar cluster, and such clusters are formed in high-mass star-forming regions. The number of observations in such high-mass dense cores has remained limited so far. In this work, we show the results of IRAM-30 m observations of the J = 1−0 rotational transition of the molecules HCN and HNC and their 15N-bearing counterparts towards 27 intermediate- and high-mass dense cores that are divided almost equally into three evolutionary categories: high-mass starless cores, high-mass protostellar objects, and ultra-compact Hii regions. We have also observed the DNC(2–1) rotational transition in order to search for a relation between the isotopic ratios D/H and 14N/15N. We derive average 14N/15N ratios of 359 ± 16 in HCN and of 438 ± 21 in HNC, with a dispersion of about 150–200. We find no trend of the 14N/15N ratio with evolutionary stage. This result agrees with what has been found for N2H+ and its isotopologues in the same sources, although the 14N/15N ratios from N2H+ show a higher dispersion than in HCN/HNC, and on average, their uncertainties are larger as well. Moreover, we have found no correlation between D/H and 14N/15N in HNC. These findings indicate that (1) the chemical evolution does not seem to play a role in the fractionation of nitrogen, and that (2) the fractionation of hydrogen and nitrogen in these objects is not related.


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