scholarly journals Internal motions in OB associations with Gaia DR2

2020 ◽  
Vol 493 (2) ◽  
pp. 2339-2351 ◽  
Author(s):  
A M Melnik ◽  
A K Dambis

ABSTRACT We study the motions inside 28 OB associations with the use of Gaia DR2 proper motions. The average velocity dispersion calculated for 28 OB associations including more than 20 stars with Gaia DR2 proper motion is σv = 4.5 km s−1. The median virial and stellar masses of OB associations are Mvir = 8.9 × 105 and Mst = 8.1 × 103 M⊙, respectively. The median star-formation efficiency in parent giant molecular clouds appears to be ϵ = 1.2 per cent. Gaia DR2 proper motions confirm the expansion in the Per OB1, Car OB1, and Sgr OB1 associations found earlier with Gaia DR1 data. We also detect the expansion in Gem OB1, Ori OB1, and Sco OB1 associations, which became possible for the first time now when analysed with Gaia DR2 proper motions. The analysis of the distribution of OB stars in the Per OB1 association shows the presence of a shell-like structure with the radius of 40 pc. Probably, the expansion of the Per OB1 association started with the velocity greater than the present-day expansion velocity equal to 5.0 ± 1.7 km s−1.

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (S345) ◽  
pp. 39-42
Author(s):  
Anna M. Melnik ◽  
Andrei K. Dambis ◽  
Elena V. Glushkova ◽  
Pertti Rautiainen

AbstractWe use Gaia (DR1, DR2) stellar proper motions to study the kinematics of OB-associations. The average one-dimensional velocity dispersion inside 18 OB-associations with more than 10 Gaia DR1 stars is σv = 3.9 km s−1. The median virial and stellar masses of OB-associations are equal to 7×105 and 9 × 103 solar masses, respectively. The median star-formation efficiency is ε = 2.1%. We have found the expansion in several OB-associations. Models of the Galaxy with a two-component outer ring R1R2 can reproduce the average residual velocities of OB-associations in the Perseus, Sagittarius and Local System complexes.


2019 ◽  
Vol 623 ◽  
pp. A112 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Damiani ◽  
L. Prisinzano ◽  
I. Pillitteri ◽  
G. Micela ◽  
S. Sciortino

Context. The Sco OB2 association is the nearest OB association, extending over approximately 2000 square degrees on the sky. Only its brightest and most massive members are already known (from HIPPARCOS) across its entire size, while studies of its lower mass population refer only to small portions of its extent. Aims. In this work we exploit the capabilities of Gaia DR2 measurements to search for Sco OB2 members across its entire size and down to the lowest stellar masses. Methods. We used both Gaia astrometric (proper motions and parallaxes) and photometric measurements (integrated photometry and colors) to select association members, using minimal assumptions derived mostly from the HIPPARCOS studies. Gaia resolves small details in both the kinematics of individual Sco OB2 subgroups and their distribution with distance from the Sun. We developed methods to explore the 3D kinematics of a stellar population covering large sky areas. Results. We find nearly 11 000 pre-main-sequence (PMS) members of Sco OB2 (with less than 3% field-star contamination), plus ∼3600 main-sequence (MS) candidate members with a larger (10–30%) field-star contamination. A higher confidence subsample of ∼9200 PMS (and ∼1340 MS) members is also selected (<1% contamination for the PMS), however this group is affected by larger (∼15%) incompleteness. We separately classify stars in compact and diffuse populations. Most members belong to one of several kinematically distinct diffuse populations, whose ensemble clearly outlines the shape of the entire association. Upper Sco is the densest region of Sco OB2. It is characterized by a complex spatial and kinematical structure and has no global pattern of motion. Other dense subclusters are found in Lower Centaurus-Crux and in Upper Centaurus-Lupus; the richest example of the latter, which has been recently identified, is coincident with the group near V1062 Sco. Most of the clustered stars appear to be younger than the diffuse PMS population, suggesting star formation in small groups that rapidly disperse and are diluted, reaching space densities lower than field stars while keeping memory of their original kinematics. We also find that the open cluster IC 2602 has a similar dynamics to Sco OB2, and its PMS members are currently evaporating and forming a diffuse (size ∼10°) halo around its double-peaked core.


2018 ◽  
Vol 616 ◽  
pp. L15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Xu ◽  
S. B. Bian ◽  
M. J. Reid ◽  
J. J. Li ◽  
B. Zhang ◽  
...  

Context. The Gaia mission has released the second data set (Gaia DR2), which contains parallaxes and proper motions for a large number of massive, young stars. Aims. We investigate the spiral structure in the solar neighborhood revealed by Gaia DR2 and compare it with that depicted by VLBI maser parallaxes. Methods. We examined three samples with different constraints on parallax uncertainty and distance errors and stellar spectral types: (1) all OB stars with parallax errors of less than 10%; (2) only O-type stars with 0.1 mas errors imposed and with parallax distance errors of less than 0.2 kpc; and (3) only O-type stars with 0.05 mas errors imposed and with parallax distance errors of less than 0.3 kpc. Results. In spite of the significant distance uncertainties for stars in DR2 beyond 1.4 kpc, the spiral structure in the solar neighborhood demonstrated by Gaia agrees well with that illustrated by VLBI maser results. The O-type stars available from DR2 extend the spiral arm models determined from VLBI maser parallaxes into the fourth Galactic quadrant, and suggest the existence of a new spur between the Local and Sagittarius arms.


1987 ◽  
Vol 115 ◽  
pp. 93-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Downes

The massive OB stars in our Galaxy form predominantly in the warm giant molecular clouds which constitute the spiral arms. The clouds are subject to a variety of mechanisms which retard or prevent further contraction, but are nevertheless able to form stable “cores”. In the regime of subsonic internal motions, the cores may be regarded as potential protostars. The formation of massive cores, which then form massive stars, may initially be determined by the statistics of fragmentation, but may then be a feedback process, once underway, due to the steep increase of the minimum Jeans' mass with increasing temperature of the surroundings. This concept is the basis for the model of bi-modal star formation, and its implications for the initial mass function and the distribution of massive stars and metallicity gradients in the Galaxy.


2020 ◽  
Vol 497 (4) ◽  
pp. 4733-4741 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mattia Libralato ◽  
Mark Fardal ◽  
Daniel Lennon ◽  
Roeland P van der Marel ◽  
Andrea Bellini

ABSTRACT Arches and Quintuplet are two young, massive clusters projected near the Galactic Centre. To date, studies focused on understanding their origin have been based on proper motions (PMs) derived in the clusters’ reference frames and required some assumptions about their 3D motion. In this paper, we combine public PM catalogues of these clusters with the Gaia DR2 catalogue and, for the first time, transform the relative PMs of the Arches and Quintuplet clusters on to an absolute reference system. We find that the absolute PM of the Arches is (μαcos δ, μδ) = (−1.45 ± 0.23, −2.68 ± 0.14) mas yr−1 and that of the Quintuplet is (μαcos δ, μδ) = (−1.19 ± 0.09, −2.66 ± 0.18) mas yr−1. These values suggest that these systems are moving almost parallel to the Galactic plane. A measurement of the clusters’ distances is still required to meaningfully constrain the clusters’ orbits and shed light on the origin of the Arches and Quintuplet.


1991 ◽  
Vol 148 ◽  
pp. 415-420 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. S. Booth ◽  
Th. De Graauw

In this short review we describe recent new observations of millimetre transitions of molecules in selected regions of the Magellanic Clouds. The observations were made using the Swedish-ESO Submillimetre Telescope, SEST, (Booth et al. 1989), the relatively high resolution of which facilitates, for the first time, observations of individual giant molecular clouds in the Magellanic Clouds. We have mapped the distribution of the emission from the two lowest rotational transitions of 12CO and 13CO and hence have derived excitation conditions for the molecule. In addition, we have observed several well-known interstellar molecules in the same regions, thus doubling the number of known molecules in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). The fact that all the observations have been made under controlled conditions with the same telescope enables a reasonable intercomparison of the molecular column densities. In particular, we are able to observe the relative abundances among the different isotopically substituted species of CO.


1998 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 551-551
Author(s):  
N. Zacharias ◽  
M.I. Zacharias ◽  
C. de Vegt ◽  
C.A. Murray

The Second Cape Photographic Catalog (CPC2) contains 276,131 stars covering the entire Southern Hemisphere in a 4-fold overlap pattern. Its mean epoch is 1968, which makes it a key catalog for proper motions. A new reduction of the 5687 plates using on average 40 Hipparcos stars per plate has resulted in a vastly improved catalog with a positional accuracy of about 40 mas (median value) per coordinate, which comes very close to the measuring precision. In particular, for the first time systematic errors depending on magnitude and color can be solved unambiguously and have been removed from the catalog. In combination with the Tycho Catalogue (mean epoch 1991.25) and the upcoming U.S. Naval Observatory CCD Astrograph Catalog (UCAC) project proper motions better than 2 mas/yr can be obtained. This will lead to a vastly improved reference star catalog in the Southern Hemisphere for the final Astrographic Catalogue (AC) reductions, which will then provide propermotions for millions of stars when combined with new epoch data. These data then will allow an uncompromised reduction of the southern Schmidt surveys on the International Celestial Reference System (ICRS).


1998 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 583-583
Author(s):  
S. Röser ◽  
U. Bastian ◽  
K.S. de Boer ◽  
E. Høg ◽  
E. Schilbach ◽  
...  

DIVA (Double Interferometer for Visual Astrometry) is a Fizeau interferometer on a small satellite. It will perform astrometric and photometric observations of at least 4 million stars. A launch in 2002 and a minimum mission length of 24 months are aimed at. A detailed description of the experiment can be obtained from the DIVA homepage at http://www.aip.de:8080/᷉dso/diva. An overview is given by Röser et al., 1997. The limiting magnitude of DIVA is about V = 15 for spectral types earlier than M0, but drops to about V = 17.5 for stars later than M5. Table 1 gives a short overview on DIVA’s performance. DIVA will carry out a skysurvey complete to V = 12.5. For the first time this survey will comprise precise photometry in at least 8 bands in the wavelength range from 400 to 1000 nm. DIVA will improve parallaxes by a factor of 3 compared to Hipparcos; proper motions by at least a factor of 2 and, in combination with the Hipparcos observations, by a factor of 10 for Hipparcos stars. At least 30 times asmany stars as Hipparcos will be observed, and doing this DIVA will fill the gap in observations between Hipparcos and GAIA. DIVA’s combined astrometric and photometric measurements of high precision will have important impacts on astronomy and astrophysics in the next decade.


2018 ◽  
Vol 619 ◽  
pp. A78 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. J. Lennon ◽  
C. J. Evans ◽  
R. P. van der Marel ◽  
J. Anderson ◽  
I. Platais ◽  
...  

A previous spectroscopic study identified the very massive O2 III star VFTS 16 in the Tarantula Nebula as a runaway star based on its peculiar line-of-sight velocity. We use the Gaia DR2 catalog to measure the relative proper motion of VFTS 16 and nearby bright stars to test if this star might have been ejected from the central cluster, R136, via dynamical ejection. We find that the position angle and magnitude of the relative proper motion (0.338±0.046 mas yr−1, or approximately 80±11 km s−1) of VFTS 16 are consistent with ejection from R136 approximately 1.5±0.2 Myr ago, very soon after the cluster was formed. There is some tension with the presumed age of VFTS 16 that, from published stellar parameters, cannot be greater than 0.9+0.3−0.2 Myr. Older ages for this star would appear to be prohibited due to the absence of He I lines in its optical spectrum, since this sets a firm lower limit on its effective temperature. The dynamical constraints may imply an unusual evolutionary history for this object, perhaps indicating it is a merger product. Gaia DR2 also confirms that another very massive star in the Tarantula Nebula, VFTS 72 (alias BI 253; O2 III-V(n)((f*)), is also a runaway on the basis of its proper motion as measured by Gaia. While its tangential proper motion (0.392±0.062 mas yr−1 or 93±15 km s−1) would be consistent with dynamical ejection from R136 approximately 1 Myr ago, its position angle is discrepant with this direction at the 2σ level. From their Gaia DR2 proper motions we conclude that the two ∼100 M⊙ O2 stars, VFTS 16 and VFTS 72, are fast runaway stars, with space velocities of around 100 km s−1 relative to R136 and the local massive star population. The dynamics of VFTS 16 are consistent with it having been ejected from R136, and this star therefore sets a robust lower limit on the age of the central cluster of ∼1.3 Myr.


2018 ◽  
Vol 619 ◽  
pp. A103 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. K. Fritz ◽  
G. Battaglia ◽  
M. S. Pawlowski ◽  
N. Kallivayalil ◽  
R. van der Marel ◽  
...  

A proper understanding of the Milky Way (MW) dwarf galaxies in a cosmological context requires knowledge of their 3D velocities and orbits. However, proper motion (PM) measurements have generally been of limited accuracy and are available only for more massive dwarfs. We therefore present a new study of the kinematics of the MW dwarf galaxies. We use the Gaia DR2 for those dwarfs that have been spectroscopically observed in the literature. We derive systemic PMs for 39 galaxies and galaxy candidates out to 420 kpc, and generally find good consistency for the subset with measurements available from other studies. We derive the implied Galactocentric velocities, and calculate orbits in canonical MW halo potentials of low (0.8 × 1012 M⊙) and high mass (1.6 × 1012 M⊙). Comparison of the distributions of orbital apocenters and 3D velocities to the halo virial radius and escape velocity, respectively, suggests that the satellite kinematics are best explained in the high-mass halo. Tuc III, Crater II, and additional candidates have orbital pericenters small enough to imply significant tidal influences. Relevant to the missing satellite problem, the fact that fewer galaxies are observed to be near apocenter than near pericenter implies that there must be a population of distant dwarf galaxies yet to be discovered. Of the 39 dwarfs: 12 have orbital poles that do not align with the MW plane of satellites (given reasonable assumptions about its intrinsic thickness); 10 have insufficient PM accuracy to establish whether they align; and 17 satellites align, of which 11 are co-orbiting and (somewhat surprisingly, in view of prior knowledge) 6 are counter-orbiting. Group infall might have contributed to this, but no definitive association is found for the members of the Crater-Leo group.


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