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arXiv · 1904.09902

A tale of two clusters: dynamical history determines disc survival in Tr14 and Tr16 in the Carina Nebula

Megan Reiter·Richard J. Parker
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Abstract

Understanding how the birthplace of stars affects planet-forming discs is important for a comprehensive theory of planet formation. Most stars are born in dense star-forming regions where the external influence of other stars, particularly the most massive stars, will affect the survival and enrichment of their planet-forming discs. Simulations suggest that stellar dynamics play a central role in regulating how external feedback affects discs, but comparing models to observations requires an estimate of the initial stellar density in star-forming regions. Structural analyses constrain the amount of dynamical evolution a star-forming region has experienced; regions that maintain substructure and do not show mass segregation are likely dynamically young, and therefore close to their birth density. In this paper, we present a structural analysis of two clusters in the Carina Nebula, Tr14 and Tr16. We show that neither cluster shows evidence for mass segregation or a centrally concentrated morphology, suggesting that both regions are dynamically young. This allows us to compare to simulations from Nicholson et al. (2019) who predict disc survival rates in star-forming regions of different initial densities. The surviving disc fractions in Tr14 and Tr16 are consistent with their predictions (both are $\sim 10$%), supporting a growing body of evidence that the star-forming environment plays an important role in the survival and enrichment of protoplanetary discs.

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Megan Reiter, Richard J. Parker. 2019-04-22. A tale of two clusters: dynamical history determines disc survival in Tr14 and Tr16 in the Carina Nebula. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stz1115

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