ABSTRACT We present the first results of the Gould's Belt Distances Survey (GOBELINS), a project aimed at measuring the proper motion and trigonometric parallax of a large sample of young stars in ...nearby regions using multi-epoch Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) radio observations. Enough VLBA detections have now been obtained for 16 stellar systems in Ophiuchus to derive their parallax and proper motion. This leads to distance determinations for individual stars with an accuracy of 0.3 to a few percent. In addition, the orbits of six multiple systems were modelled by combining absolute positions with VLBA (and, in some cases, near-infrared) angular separations. Twelve stellar systems are located in the dark cloud Lynds 1688; the individual distances for this sample are highly consistent with one another and yield a mean parallax for Lynds 1688 of mas, corresponding to a distance pc. This represents an accuracy greater than 1%. Three systems for which astrometric elements could be measured are located in the eastern streamer (Lynds 1689) and yield an estimate of mas, corresponding to a distance pc. This suggests that the eastern streamer is located about 10 pc farther than the core, but this conclusion needs to be confirmed by observations of additional sources in the eastern streamer (currently being collected). From the measured proper motions, we estimate the one-dimensional velocity dispersion in Lynds 1688 to be 2.8 1.8 and 3.0 2.0 km s−1, in R.A. and decl., respectively; these are larger than, but still consistent within of, those found in other studies.
ABSTRACT We report on new distances and proper motions to seven stars across the Serpens/Aquila complex. The observations were obtained as part of the Gould's Belt Distances Survey (GOBELINS) project ...between 2013 September and 2016 April with the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA). One of our targets is the proto-Herbig AeBe object EC 95, which is a binary system embedded in the Serpens Core. For this system, we combined the GOBELINS observations with previous VLBA data to cover a total period of 8 years, and derive the orbital elements and an updated source distance. The individual distances to sources in the complex are fully consistent with each other, and the mean value corresponds to a distance of 436.0 9.2 pc for the Serpens/W40 complex. Given this new evidence, we argue that Serpens Main, W40, and Serpens South are physically associated and form a single cloud structure.
Abstract We report dynamical mass measurements of the individual stars in the most luminous and massive stellar member of the nearby Ophiuchus star-forming region, the young tight binary system S1. ...We combine 28 archival data sets with seven recent proprietary Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) observations obtained as part of the Dynamical Masses of Young Stellar Multiple Systems with the VLBA project (DYNAMO–VLBA), to constrain the astrometric and orbital parameters of the system, and recover high-accuracy dynamical masses. The primary component, S1A, is found to have a mass of 4.11 ± 0.10 M ⊙ , significantly lower than the typical value ∼6 M ⊙ previously reported in the literature. We show that the spectral energy distribution (SED) of S1A can be reproduced by a reddened blackbody with a temperature between roughly 14,000 and 17,000 K. According to evolutionary models, this temperature range corresponds to stellar masses between 4 M ⊙ and 6 M ⊙ , so the SED is not a priori inconsistent with the dynamical mass of S1A. The luminosity of S1 derived from SED fitting, however, is only consistent with models for stellar masses above 5 M ⊙ . Thus, we cannot reconcile the evolutionary models with the dynamical mass measurement of S1A: The models consistent with the location of S1A in the Hertzsprung-Russel diagram correspond to masses higher by 25% at least than the dynamical mass. For the secondary component, S1B, a mass of 0.831 ± 0.014 M ⊙ is determined, consistent with a low-mass young star. While the radio flux of S1A remains roughly constant throughout the orbit, the flux of S1B is found to be higher near apastron.
ABSTRACT Using multi-epoch Very Large Array observations, covering a time baseline of 29.1 years, we have measured the proper motions of 88 young stars with compact radio emission in the core of the ...Orion Nebula Cluster (ONC) and the neighboring BN/KL region. Our work increases the number of young stars with measured proper motion at radio frequencies by a factor of 2.5 and enables us to perform a better statistical analysis of the kinematics of the region than was previously possible. Most stars (79 out of 88) have proper motions consistent with a Gaussian distribution centered on mas yr−1, and mas yr−1, with velocity dispersions of mas yr−1, mas yr−1. We looked for organized movements of these stars but found no clear indication of radial expansion/contraction or rotation. The remaining nine stars in our sample show peculiar proper motions that differ from the mean proper motions of the ONC by more than 3 . One of these stars, V 1326 Ori, could have been expelled from the Orion Trapezium 7000 years ago. Two could be related to the multi-stellar disintegration in the BN/KL region, in addition to the previously known sources BN, I and n. The others either have high uncertainties (so their anomalous proper motions are not firmly established) or could be foreground objects.
ABSTRACT We present multiepoch, large-scale (∼2000 arcmin2), fairly deep (∼16 Jy), high-resolution (∼1″) radio observations of the Perseus star-forming complex obtained with the Karl G. Jansky Very ...Large Array at frequencies of 4.5 and 7.5 GHz. These observations were mainly focused on the clouds NGC 1333 and IC 348, although we also observed several fields in other parts of the Perseus complex. We detect a total of 206 sources, 42 of which are associated with young stellar objects (YSOs). The radio properties of about 60% of the YSOs are compatible with a nonthermal radio emission origin. Based on our sample, we find a fairly clear relation between the prevalence of nonthermal radio emission and evolutionary status of the YSOs. By comparing our results with previously reported X-ray observations, we show that YSOs in Perseus follow a Güdel-Benz relation with κ = 0.03, consistent with other regions of star formation. We argue that most of the sources detected in our observations but not associated with known YSOs are extragalactic, but provide a list of 20 unidentified radio sources whose radio properties are consistent with being YSO candidates. Finally, we also detect five sources with extended emission features that can clearly be associated with radio galaxies.
We present a multi-epoch radio study of the Taurus-Auriga star-forming complex made with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array at frequencies of 4.5 GHz and 7.5 GHz. We detect a total of 610 sources, ...59 of which are related to young stellar objects (YSOs) and 18 to field stars. The properties of 56% of the young stars are compatible with non-thermal radio emission. We also show that the radio emission of more evolved YSOs tends to be more non-thermal in origin and, in general, that their radio properties are compatible with those found in other star-forming regions. By comparing our results with previously reported X-ray observations, we notice that YSOs in Taurus-Auriga follow a Gudel-Benz relation with Kappa = 0.03, as we previously suggested for other regions of star formation. In general, YSOs in Taurus-Auriga and in all the previous studied regions seem to follow this relation with a dispersion of ~1 dex. Finally, we propose that most of the remaining sources are related with extragalactic objects but provide a list of 46 unidentified radio sources whose radio properties are compatible with a YSO nature.
The Orion Complex is a notable star-forming region fragmented into several different populations with substantial differences in their phase space. I propose a model that attempts to explain the how ...the Complex has evolved into this current configuration. In the model presented here, the large-scale expansion can be attributable to a supernova that exploded 6 Myr ago. The remnants of this explosion can be seen as Barnard's loop, as the center of the expansion is consistent with the geometrical center of the H ii bubble. This is similar to the H ii bubble and the ballistic expansion that is associated with λ Ori, a region that was also the site of an ancient supernova. Assuming that the Orion Complex originally formed as one long filament spanning from the bottom of Orion A to 2 Ori (or potentially as far as λ Ori), Barnard's loop supernova could have split the cloud, which led to the formation of Orion C & D. Furthermore, the shockwave that propagated into the filament could have swept along the gas through several parsecs, which led to the formation of the singularly most massive cluster in the solar neighborhood, the Orion Nebula Cluster. I also discuss other related nearby events, such as the formation of the Monogem ring and various runaways that have been ejected from the Orion Complex.
Gaia DR2 provides unprecedented precision in measurements of the distance and kinematics of stars in the solar neighborhood. Through applying unsupervised machine learning on DR2's 5D data set (3D ...position + 2D velocity), we identify a number of clusters, associations, and comoving groups within 1 kpc and (many of which have not been previously known). We estimate their ages with the precision of ∼0.15 dex. Many of these groups appear to be filamentary or string-like, oriented in parallel to the Galactic plane, and some span hundreds of parsec in length. Most of these string lack a central cluster, indicating that their filamentary structure is primordial, rather than the result of tidal stripping or dynamical processing. The youngest strings (<100 Myr) are orthogonal to the Local Arm. The older ones appear to be remnants of several other arm-like structures that cannot be presently traced by dust and gas. The velocity dispersion measured from the ensemble of groups and strings increase with age, suggesting a timescale for dynamical heating of ∼300 Myr. This timescale is also consistent with the age at which the population of strings begins to decline, while the population in more compact groups continues to increase, suggesting that dynamical processes are disrupting the weakly bound string populations, leaving only individual clusters to be identified at the oldest ages. These data shed a new light on the local galactic structure and a large-scale cloud collapse.
The star-forming region of the Orion Nebula (ONC) is ideal to study the stellar dynamics of young stars in a clustered environment. Using Gaia DR2 we search for pre-main sequence stars with unusually ...high proper motions that may be representative of a dynamical ejection from unstable young triple systems or other close three-body encounters. We identify 26 candidate stars that are likely to have had such an encounter in the last 1 Myr. Nine of these stars could be traced back to the densest central-most region of the ONC, the Trapezium, while five others have likely interactions with other OB-type stars in the cluster. Seven stars originate from other nearby populations within the Orion Complex that coincidentally scattered toward the ONC. A definitive point of origin cannot be identified for the remaining sources. These observations shed light on the frequency of the ejection events in young clusters.
We present the results of the hierarchical clustering analysis of the Gaia DR2 data to search for clusters, comoving groups, and other stellar structures. The current paper builds on the sample from ...the previous work, extending it in distance from 1 to 3 kpc and increasing the number of identified structures up to 8292. To aid in the analysis of the population properties, we developed a neural network called Auriga to robustly estimate the age, extinction, and distance of a stellar group based on the input photometry and parallaxes of the individual members. We apply Auriga to derive the properties of not only the structures found in this paper, but also previously identified open clusters. Through this work, we examine the temporal structure of the spiral arms. Specifically, we find that the Sagittarius Arm has moved by >500 pc in the last 100 Myr and the Perseus Arm has been experiencing a relative lull in star formation activity over the last 25 Myr. We confirm the findings of the previous paper on the transient nature of the spiral arms, with the timescale of transition of a few 100 Myr. Finally, we find a peculiar ∼1 Gyr old stream of stars that appears to be heliocentric. Its origin is unclear.
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