Abstract Variable accretion has been well studied in the evolved stages of low-mass star formation. However, the accretion history in the initial phases of star formation is still a seldom studied ...topic. The outflows and jets emerging from protostellar objects could shed some light on their accretion history. We consider the recently studied case of W43-MM1, a protocluster containing 46 outflows driven by 27 protostellar cores. The outflow kinematics of the individual cores and associated knots in W43-MM1 indicate episodic protostellar ejection. We take the observed parameters of an individual core system (core #8) and perform 3D hydrodynamic simulations of such a system, including episodic changes in the velocity of the outflow. The simulations consist of a collimated jet emerging from a core, taking into account one- and two-velocity modes in the variation of the ejection velocity of the jet. In addition, we investigated the effect of including the precession of the jet in the one- and two-velocity-mode models. From the simulations, we constructed position–velocity diagrams and compared them with the observations. We find that including a second mode in the ejection velocity, as well as the precession, are required to explain the positions of the outflow knots and other position–velocity features observed in core #8 in W43-MM1.
As part of our effort to search for circumstellar disks around high-mass stellar objects, we observed the well-known core G31.41 +0.31 with ALMA at 1.4 mm with an angular resolution of ~0.′′22 (~1700 ...au). The dust continuum emission has been resolved into two cores namely Main and NE. The Main core, which has the stronger emission and is the more chemically rich, has a diameter of ~5300 au, and is associated with two free-free continuum sources. The Main core looks featureless and homogeneous in dust continuum emission and does not present any hint of fragmentation. Each transition of CH3CN and CH3OCHO, both ground and vibrationally excited, as well as those of CH3CN isotopologues, shows a clear velocity gradient along the NE–SW direction, with velocity linearly increasing with distance from the center, consistent with solid-body rotation. However, when comparing the velocity field of transitions with different upper level energies, the rotation velocity increases with increasing energy of the transition, which suggests that the rotation speeds up toward the center. Spectral lines towardtoward the dust continuum peak show an inverse P-Cygni profile that supports the existence of infall in the core. The infall velocity increases with the energy of the transition suggesting that the infall is accelerating toward the center of the core, consistent with gravitational collapse. Despite the monolithic appearance of the Main core, the presence of red-shifted absorption, the existence of two embedded free-free sources at the center, and the rotational spin-up are consistent with an unstable core undergoing fragmentation with infall and differential rotation due to conservation of angular momentum. Therefore, the most likely explanation for the monolithic morphology is that the large opacity of the dust emission prevents the detection of any inhomogeneity in the core.
Recent high angular resolution ( 40 mas) ALMA observations at 1.14 mm resolve a compact (R 200 au), flattened dust structure perpendicular to the HH 80-81 jet emanating from the GGD 27-MM1 high-mass ...protostar, making it a robust candidate for a true accretion disk. The jet-disk system (HH 80-81/GGD 27-MM1) resembles those found in association with low- and intermediate-mass protostars. We present radiative transfer models that fit the 1.14 mm ALMA dust image of this disk, which allow us to obtain its physical parameters and predict its density and temperature structure. Our results indicate that this accretion disk is compact (Rdisk 170 au) and massive ( 5 M ), at about 20% of the stellar mass of 20 M . We estimate the total dynamical mass of the star-disk system from the molecular line emission, finding a range between 21 and 30 M , which is consistent with our model. We fit the density and temperature structures found by our model with power-law functions. These results suggest that accretion disks around massive stars are more massive and hotter than their low-mass siblings, but they still are quite stable. We also compare the temperature distribution in the GGD 27-MM1 disk with that found in low- and intermediate-mass stars and discuss possible implications for the water snow line. We have also carried out a study of the distance based on Gaia DR2 data and the population of young stellar objects in this region and from the extinction maps. We conclude that the source distance is within 1.2 and 1.4 kpc, closer than what was derived in previous studies (1.7 kpc).
Young massive clusters (YMCs) have central stellar mass surface densities exceeding 104 M⊙ pc−2. It is currently unknown whether the stars formed at such high (proto)stellar densities. We compile a ...sample of gas clouds in the Galaxy which have sufficient gas mass within a radius of a few parsecs to form a YMC, and compare their radial gas mass distributions to the stellar mass distribution of Galactic YMCs. We find that the gas in the progenitor clouds is distributed differently than the stars in YMCs. The mass surface density profiles of the gas clouds are generally shallower than the stellar mass surface density profiles of the YMCs, which are characterized by prominent dense core regions with radii ∼0.1 pc, followed by a power-law tail. On the scale of YMC core radii, we find that there are no known clouds with significantly more mass in their central regions when compared to Galactic YMCs. Additionally, we find that models in which stars form from very dense initial conditions require surface densities that are generally higher than those seen in the known candidate YMC progenitor clouds. Our results show that the quiescent, less evolved clouds contain less mass in their central regions than in the highly star-forming clouds. This suggests an evolutionary trend in which clouds continue to accumulate mass towards their centres after the onset of star formation. We conclude that a conveyor-belt scenario for YMC formation is consistent with the current sample of Galactic YMCs and their progenitor clouds.
Context.
Star formation (SF) is a multi-scale process in which the mode of fragmentation of the collapsing clump on scales of 0.1–1 pc determines the mass reservoir and affects the accretion process ...of the individual protostars on scales of 10–100 au.
Aims.
We want to investigate the nearby (located at 1.63 ± 0.05 kpc) high-mass star-forming region IRAS 21078+5211 at linear scales from ~1 pc down to ~10 au.
Methods.
We combine the data of two recent programs: the NOrthern Extended Millimeter Array large project CORE and the Protostellar Outflows at the EarliesT Stages (POETS) survey. The former provides images of the 1 mm dust continuum and molecular line emissions with a linear resolution of ≈600 au covering a field of view up to ≈0.5 pc. The latter targets the ionized gas and 22 GHz water masers, mapping linear scales from a few 10
3
au down to a few astronomical units.
Results.
In IRAS 21078+5211, a highly fragmented cluster (size ~0.1 pc) of molecular cores is observed, located at the density peak of an elongated (size ~1 pc) molecular cloud. A small (≈1 km s
−1
per 0.1 pc) LSR velocity (
V
LSR
) gradient is detected across the major axis of the molecular cloud. Assuming we are observing a mass flow from the harboring cloud to the cluster, we derive a mass infall rate of ≈10
−4
M
⊙
yr
−1
. The most massive cores (labeled 1, 2, and 3) are found at the center of the cluster, and these are the only ones that present a signature of protostellar activity in terms of emission from high-excitation molecular lines or a molecular outflow. The masses of the young stellar objects (YSOs) inside these three cores are estimated in the range 1–6
M
⊙
. We reveal an extended (size ~0.1 pc), bipolar collimated molecular outflow emerging from core 1. We believe this is powered by the compact (size ≲1000 au) radio jet discovered in the POETS survey, ejected by a YSO embedded in core 1 (named YSO-1), since the molecular outflow and the radio jet are almost parallel and have a comparable momentum rate. By means of high-excitation lines, we find a large (≈14 km s
−1
over 500 au)
V
LSR
gradient at the position of YSO-1, oriented approximately perpendicular to the radio jet. Assuming this is an edge-on, rotating disk and fitting a Keplerian rotation pattern, we determine the YSO-1 mass to be 5.6 ± 2.0
M
⊙
. The water masers observed in the POETS survey emerge within 100–300 au from YSO-1 and are unique tracers of the jet kinematics. Their three-dimensional (3D) velocity pattern reveals that the gas flows along, and rotates about, the jet axis. We show that the 3D maser velocities are fully consistent with the magneto-centrifugal disk-wind models predicting a cylindrical rotating jet. Under this hypothesis, we determine the jet radius to be ≈ 16 au and the corresponding launching radius and terminal velocity to be ≈ 2.2 au and ≈ 200 km s
−1
, respectively.
Conclusions.
Complementing high-angular resolution, centimeter and millimeter interferometric observations in thermal tracers with Very Long Baseline Interferometry of molecular masers, is invaluable in studying high-mass SF. The combination of these twodatasets allows us to connect the events that we see at large scales, as clump fragmentation and mass flows, with the physical processes identified at small scales, specifically, accretion and ejection in disk-jet systems.
Context. Circumstellar discs around massive stars could mediate the accretion onto the star from the infalling envelope, and could minimize the effects of radiation pressure. Despite such a crucial ...role, only a few convincing candidates have been provided for discs around deeply embedded O-type (proto)stars. Aims. In order to establish whether disc-mediated accretion is the formation mechanism for the most massive stars, we have searched for circumstellar, rotating discs around a limited sample of six luminous (>105L⊙) young stellar objects. These objects were selected on the basis of their IR and radio properties in order to maximize the likelihood of association with disc+jet systems. Methods. We used ALMA with ~0.̋2 resolution to observe a large number of molecular lines typical of hot molecular cores. In this paper we limit our analysis to two disc tracers (methyl cyanide, CH3CN, and its isotopologue, 13CH3CN), and an outflow tracer (silicon monoxide, SiO). Results. We reveal many cores, although their number depends dramatically on the target. We focus on the cores that present prominent molecular line emission. In six of these a velocity gradient is seen across the core,three of which show evidence of Keplerian-like rotation. The SiO data reveal clear but poorly collimated bipolar outflow signatures towards two objects only. This can be explained if real jets are rare (perhaps short-lived) in very massive objects and/or if stellar multiplicity significantly affects the outflow structure.For all cores with velocity gradients, the velocity field is analysed through position–velocity plots to establish whether the gas is undergoing rotation with νrot ∝ R− α, as expected for Keplerian-like discs. Conclusions. Our results suggest that in three objects we are observing rotation in circumstellar discs, with three more tentative cases, and one core where no evidence for rotation is found. In all cases but one, we find that the gas mass is less than the mass of any embedded O-type star, consistent with the (putative) discs undergoing Keplerian-like rotation. With the caveat of low number statistics, we conclude that the disc detection rate could be sensitive to the evolutionary stage of the young stellar object. In young, deeply embedded sources, the evidence for discs could be weak because of confusion with the surrounding envelope, while in the most evolved sources the molecular component of the disc could have already been dispersed. Only in those objects that are at an intermediate stage of the evolution would the molecular disc be sufficiently prominent and relatively less embedded to be detectable by mm/submm observations.
The object W33 is a giant molecular cloud that contains star forming regions at various evolutionary stages from quiescent clumps to developed H ii regions. Since its star forming regions are located ...at the same distance and the primary material of the birth clouds is probably similar, we conducted a comparative chemical study to trace the chemical footprint of the different phases of evolution. We observed six clumps in W33 with the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) telescope at 280 GHz and the Submillimeter Array (SMA) at 230 GHz. We detected 27 transitions of 10 different molecules in the APEX data and 52 transitions of 16 different molecules in the SMA data. The chemistry on scales larger than ~0.2 pc, which are traced by the APEX data, becomes more complex and diverse the more evolved the star forming region is. On smaller scales traced by the SMA data, the chemical complexity and diversity increase up to the hot core stage. In the H ii region phase, the SMA spectra resemble the spectra of the protostellar phase. Either these more complex molecules are destroyed or their emission is not compact enough to be detected with the SMA. Synthetic spectra modelling of the H2CO transitions, as detected with the APEX telescope, shows that both a warm and a cold component are needed to obtain a good fit to the emission for all sources except for W33 Main1. The temperatures and column densities of the two components increase during the evolution of the star forming regions. The integrated intensity ratios N2H+(3−2)/CS(6−5) and N2H+(3−2)/H2CO(42,2–32,1) show clear trends as a function of evolutionary stage, luminosity, luminosity-to-mass ratio, and H2 peak column density of the clumps and might be usable as chemical clocks.
We present new JVLA observations of the high-mass cluster-forming region W51A from 2 to 16 GHz with resolution θfwhm ≈ 0.3−0.5″. The data reveal a wealth of observational results: (1) Currently ...forming, very massive (proto-O) stars are traced by o - H2CO21,1−21,2 emission, suggesting that this line can be used efficiently as a massive protostar tracer; (2) there is a spatially distributed population of ≲mJy continuum sources, including hypercompact H ii regions and candidate colliding wind binaries, in and around the W51 proto-clusters; and (3) there are two clearly detected protoclusters, W51e and W51 IRS2, that are gas-rich but may have most of their mass in stars within their inner ≲0.05 pc. The majority of the bolometric luminosity in W51 most likely comes from a third population of OB stars between these clusters. The presence of a substantial population of exposed O-stars coincident with a population of still-forming massive stars, together with a direct measurement of the low mass loss rate via ionized gas outflow from W51 IRS2, implies that feedback is ineffective at halting star formation in massive protoclusters. Instead, feedback may shut off the large-scale accretion of diffuse gas onto the W51 protoclusters, implying that they are evolving toward a state of gas exhaustion rather than gas expulsion. Recent theoretical models predict gas exhaustion to be a necessary step in the formation of gravitationally bound stellar clusters, and our results provide an observational validation of this process.
The Multi-scale Continuum and Line Exploration of W49 is a comprehensive gas and dust survey of the giant molecular cloud (GMC) of W49A, the most luminous star-formation region in the Milky Way. In ...this paper, we present (1) an all-configuration Submillimeter Array mosaic in the 230 GHz (1.3 mm) band covering the central ~3' x 3' (~10 pc, known as W49N), where most of the embedded massive stars reside and (2) Purple Mountain Observatory 14 m telescope observations in the 90 GHz band, covering the entire GMC with maps of up to ~35' x 35' in size, or ~113 pc. We also make use of archival data from the Very Large Array, JCMT-SCUBA, the IRAM 30 m telescope, and the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory BOLOCAM Galactic Plane Survey. The resulting stellar content will probably remain as a gravitationally bound massive star cluster or a small system of bound clusters.
Aims. We aim to identify and characterize cores in the high-mass protocluster W49A, determine their evolutionary stages, and measure the associated lifetimes. Methods. We built a catalog of 129 cores ...extracted from an ALMA 1.3 mm continuum image at 0.26″ (2900 au) angular resolution. The association between cores and hypercompact or ultracompact H II (H/UC H II ) regions was established from the analysis of VLA 3.3 cm continuum and H30 α line observations. We also looked for emission of hot molecular cores (HMCs) using the methyl formate doublet at 218.29 GHz. Results. We identified 40 cores associated with an H/UC H II region and 19 HMCs over the ALMA mosaic. The 52 cores with an H/UC H II region and/or an HMC are assumed to be high-mass protostellar cores, while the rest of the core population likely consists of prestellar cores and low-mass protostellar cores. We found a good agreement between the two tracers of ionized gas, with 23 common detections and only four cores detected at 3.3 cm and not in H30 α . The spectral indexes from 3.3 cm to 1.3 mm range from 1, for the youngest cores with partially optically thick free-free emission, to about −0.1, which is for the optically thin free-free emission obtained for cores that are likely more evolved. Conclusions. Using the H/UC H II regions as a reference, we found the statistical lifetimes of the HMC and massive protostellar phases in W49N to be about 6 × 10 4 yr and 1.4 × 10 5 yr, respectively. We also showed that HMCs can coexist with H/UC H II regions during a short fraction of the core lifetime, about 2 × 10 4 yr. This indicates a rapid dispersal of the inner molecule envelope once the HC H II is formed.
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