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A-Ran Lyo

Publications and source records attributed to A-Ran Lyo.

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The JCMT BISTRO Survey: The Magnetic Field In The Starless Core $\rho$ Ophiuchus C

We report 850~$\mu$m dust polarization observations of a low-mass ($\sim$12 $M_{\odot}$) starless core in the $\rho$ Ophiuchus cloud, Ophiuchus C, made with the POL-2 instrument on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) as part of the JCMT B-fields In STar-forming Region Observations (BISTRO) survey. We detect an ordered magnetic field projected on the plane of sky in the starless core. The magnetic field across the $\sim$0.1~pc core shows a predominant northeast-southwest orientation centering between $\sim$40$^\circ$ to $\sim$100$^\circ$, indicating that the field in the core is well aligned with the magnetic field in lower-density regions of the cloud probed by near-infrared observations and also the cloud-scale magnetic field traced by Planck observations. The polarization percentage ($P$) decreases with an increasing total intensity ($I$) with a power-law index of $-$1.03 $\pm$ 0.05. We estimate the plane-of-sky field strength ($B_{\mathrm{pos}}$) using modified Davis-Chandrasekhar-Fermi (DCF) methods based on structure function (SF), auto-correlation (ACF), and unsharp masking (UM) analyses. We find that the estimates from the SF, ACF, and UM methods yield strengths of 103 $\pm$ 46 $\mu$G, 136 $\pm$ 69 $\mu$G, and 213 $\pm$ 115 $\mu$G, respectively. Our calculations suggest that the Ophiuchus C core is near magnetically critical or slightly magnetically supercritical (i.e. unstable to collapse). The total magnetic energy calculated from the SF method is comparable to the turbulent energy in Ophiuchus C, while the ACF method and the UM method only set upper limits for the total magnetic energy because of large uncertainties.

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JCMT BISTRO survey: Magnetic Fields within the Hub-Filament Structure in IC 5146

We present the 850 $\mu$m polarization observations toward the IC5146 filamentary cloud taken using the Submillimetre Common-User Bolometer Array 2 (SCUBA-2) and its associated polarimeter (POL-2), mounted on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT), as part of the B-fields In STar forming Regions Observations (BISTRO). This work is aimed at revealing the magnetic field morphology within a core-scale ($\lesssim 1.0$ pc) hub-filament structure (HFS) located at the end of a parsec-scale filament. To investigate whether or not the observed polarization traces the magnetic field in the HFS, we analyze the dependence between the observed polarization fraction and total intensity using a Bayesian approach with the polarization fraction described by the Rice likelihood function, which can correctly describe the probability density function (PDF) of the observed polarization fraction for low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) data. We find a power-law dependence between the polarization fraction and total intensity with an index of 0.56 in $A_V\sim$ 20--300 mag regions, suggesting that the dust grains in these dense regions can still be aligned with magnetic fields in the IC5146 regions. Our polarization maps reveal a curved magnetic field, possibly dragged by the contraction along the parsec-scale filament. We further obtain a magnetic field strength of 0.5$\pm$0.2 mG toward the central hub using the Davis-Chandrasekhar-Fermi method, corresponding to a mass-to-flux criticality of $\sim$ $1.3\pm0.4$ and an Alfv\'{e}nic Mach number of $<$0.6. These results suggest that gravity and magnetic field is currently of comparable importance in the HFS, and turbulence is less important.

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High-resolution ALMA Study of the Proto-Brown-Dwarf Candidate L328-IRS

This paper presents our observational attempts to precisely measure the central mass of a proto-brown dwarf candidate, L328-IRS, in order to investigate whether L328-IRS is in the substellar mass regime. Observations were made for the central region of L328-IRS with the dust continuum and CO isotopologue line emission at ALMA band 6, discovering the detailed outflow activities and a deconvolved disk structure of a size of $\sim$87 AU $\times$ 37 AU. We investigated the rotational velocities as a function of the disk radius, finding that its motions between 130 AU and 60 AU are partially fitted with a Keplerian orbit by a stellar object of $\sim0.30 ~\rm\,M_\odot$, while the motions within 60 AU do not follow any Keplerian orbit at all. This makes it difficult to lead a reliable estimation of the mass of L328-IRS. Nonetheless, our ALMA observations were useful enough to well constrain the inclination angle of the outflow cavity of L328-IRS as $\sim 66^{\circ}$, enabling us to better determine the mass accretion rate of $\sim 8.9\times 10^{-7} \rm\,M_\odot~yr^{-1}$. From assumptions that the internal luminosity of L328-IRS is mostly due to this mass accretion process in the disk, or that L328-IRS has mostly accumulated the mass through this constant accretion rate during its outflow activity, its mass was estimated to be $\sim 0.012 - 0.023\rm\,M_\odot$, suggesting L328-IRS to be a substellar object. However, we leave our identification of L328-IRS as a proto-brown dwarf to be tentative because of various uncertainties especially regarding the mass accretion rate.

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Magnetic fields towards Ophiuchus-B derived from SCUBA-2 polarization measurements

We present the results of dust emission polarization measurements of Ophiuchus-B (Oph-B) carried out using the Submillimetre Common-User Bolometer Array 2 (SCUBA-2) camera with its associated polarimeter (POL-2) on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) in Hawaii. This work is part of the B-fields In Star-forming Region Observations (BISTRO) survey initiated to understand the role of magnetic fields in star formation for nearby star-forming molecular clouds. We present a first look at the geometry and strength of magnetic fields in Oph-B. The field geometry is traced over $\sim$0.2 pc, with clear detection of both of the sub-clumps of Oph-B. The field pattern appears significantly disordered in sub-clump Oph-B1. The field geometry in Oph-B2 is more ordered, with a tendency to be along the major axis of the clump, parallel to the filamentary structure within which it lies. The degree of polarization decreases systematically towards the dense core material in the two sub-clumps. The field lines in the lower density material along the periphery are smoothly joined to the large scale magnetic fields probed by NIR polarization observations. We estimated a magnetic field strength of 630$\pm$410 $\mu$G in the Oph-B2 sub-clump using a Davis-Chandeasekhar-Fermi analysis. With this magnetic field strength, we find a mass-to-flux ratio $\lambda$= 1.6$\pm$1.1, which suggests that the Oph-B2 clump is slightly magnetically supercritical.

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A First Look at BISTRO Observations of The $\rho$ Oph-A core

We present 850 $\mu$m imaging polarimetry data of the $\rho$ Oph-A core taken with the Submillimeter Common-User Bolometer Array-2 (SCUBA-2) and its polarimeter (POL-2), as part of our ongoing survey project, BISTRO (B-fields In STar forming RegiOns). The polarization vectors are used to identify the orientation of the magnetic field projected on the plane of the sky at a resolution of 0.01 pc. We identify 10 subregions with distinct polarization fractions and angles in the 0.2 pc $\rho$ Oph A core; some of them can be part of a coherent magnetic field structure in the $\rho$ Oph region. The results are consistent with previous observations of the brightest regions of $\rho$ Oph-A, where the degrees of polarization are at a level of a few percents, but our data reveal for the first time the magnetic field structures in the fainter regions surrounding the core where the degree of polarization is much higher ($> 5 \%$). A comparison with previous near-infrared polarimetric data shows that there are several magnetic field components which are consistent at near-infrared and submillimeter wavelengths. Using the Davis-Chandrasekhar-Fermi method, we also derive magnetic field strengths in several sub-core regions, which range from approximately 0.2 to 5 mG. We also find a correlation between the magnetic field orientations projected on the sky with the core centroid velocity components.

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How do stars gain their mass? A JCMT/SCUBA-2 Transient Survey of Protostars in Nearby Star Forming Regions

Most protostars have luminosities that are fainter than expected from steady accretion over the protostellar lifetime. The solution to this problem may lie in episodic mass accretion -- prolonged periods of very low accretion punctuated by short bursts of rapid accretion. However, the timescale and amplitude for variability at the protostellar phase is almost entirely unconstrained. In "A JCMT/SCUBA-2 Transient Survey of Protostars in Nearby Star Forming Regions", we are monitoring monthly with SCUBA-2 the sub-mm emission in eight fields within nearby (<500 pc) star forming regions to measure the accretion variability of protostars. The total survey area of ~1.6 sq.deg. includes ~105 peaks with peaks brighter than 0.5 Jy/beam (43 associated with embedded protostars or disks) and 237 peaks of 0.125-0.5 Jy/beam (50 with embedded protostars or disks). Each field has enough bright peaks for flux calibration relative to other peaks in the same field, which improves upon the nominal flux calibration uncertainties of sub-mm observations to reach a precision of ~2-3% rms, and also provides quantified confidence in any measured variability. The timescales and amplitudes of any sub-mm variation will then be converted into variations in accretion rate and subsequently used to infer the physical causes of the variability. This survey is the first dedicated survey for sub-mm variability and complements other transient surveys at optical and near-IR wavelengths, which are not sensitive to accretion variability of deeply embedded protostars.

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Inner warm disk of ESO H$α$ 279A revealed by NA I and CO overtone emission lines

We present analysis of near-infrared, high-resolution spectroscopy towards the Flat-spectrum YSO (Young Stellar Object) ESO H$α$ 279a (1.5 solar mass) in the Serpens star forming region, at the distance of 429 pc. Using the Immersion GRating INfrared Spectrometer (IGRINS, R=45,000), we detect emission lines originating from the accretion channel flow, jet, and inner disk. Specifically, we identify hydrogen Brackett series recombination, [Fe II], [Fe III], [Fe IV], Ca I, Na I, H2, H2O and CO overtone emission lines. By modeling five bands of CO overtone emission lines, and the symmetric double-peaked line profile for Na I emission lines, we find that ESO H$α$ 279a has an actively accreting Keplerian disk. From our Keplerian disk model, we find that Na I emission lines originate between 0.04 AU and 1.00 AU, while CO overtone emission lines are from the outer part of disk, in the range between 0.22 AU and 3.00 AU. It reveals that the neutral atomic Na gas is a good tracer of the innermost region of the actively accreting disk. We derive a mass accretion rate of 2-10x10^{-7} M_solar/yr from the measured Br_gamma emission luminosity of 1.78(+-0.31)x10^{31} erg/s.

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First results from BISTRO -- a SCUBA-2 polarimeter survey of the Gould Belt

We present the first results from the B-fields In STar-forming Region Observations (BISTRO) survey, using the Sub-millimetre Common-User Bolometer Array 2 (SCUBA-2) camera, with its associated polarimeter (POL-2), on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) in Hawaii. We discuss the survey's aims and objectives. We describe the rationale behind the survey, and the questions which the survey will aim to answer. The most important of these is the role of magnetic fields in the star formation process on the scale of individual filaments and cores in dense regions. We describe the data acquisition and reduction processes for POL-2, demonstrating both repeatability and consistency with previous data. We present a first-look analysis of the first results from the BISTRO survey in the OMC 1 region. We see that the magnetic field lies approximately perpendicular to the famous 'integral filament' in the densest regions of that filament. Furthermore, we see an 'hour-glass' magnetic field morphology extending beyond the densest region of the integral filament into the less-dense surrounding material, and discuss possible causes for this. We also discuss the more complex morphology seen along the Orion Bar region. We examine the morphology of the field along the lower-density north-eastern filament. We find consistency with previous theoretical models that predict magnetic fields lying parallel to low-density, non-self-gravitating filaments, and perpendicular to higher-density, self-gravitating filaments.

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Unbiased water and methanol maser surveys of NGC 1333

We present the results of unbiased 22 GHz H2O water and 44 GHz class I CH3OH methanol maser surveys in the central 7x10 arcmin area of NGC 1333 and two additional mapping observations of a 22 GHz water maser in a ~3x3arcmin area of the IRAS4A region. In the 22 GHz water maser survey of NGC 1333 with sensitivity of sigma~0.3Jy, we confirmed masers toward H2O(B) in the region of HH 7-11 and IRAS4B. We also detected new water masers at ~20arcsec away in the western direction of IRAS4B or ~25arcsec away in the southern direction of IRAS4A. We could not however find young stellar objects or molecular outflows associated with them. They showed two different velocity components of ~0 and ~16 km/s, which are blue- and red-shifted relative to the adopted systemic velocity of ~7 km/s for NGC 1333. They also showed time variabilities in both intensity and velocity from multi-epoch observations and an anti-correlation between the intensities of the blue- and the red-shifted velocity components. We suggest that the unidentified powering source of these masers might be in the earliest evolutionary stage of star formation before the onset of molecular outflows. Finding this kind of water masers is only possible by an unbiased blind survey. In the 44 GHz methanol maser survey with sensitivity of sigma~0.5 Jy, we confirmed masers toward the IRAS4A2 and the eastern shock region of the IRAS2A. Both sources are also detected in 95 and 132 GHz methanol maser lines. In addition, we had new detections of methanol masers at 95 and 132 GHz toward IRAS4B. In terms of the isotropic luminosity, we detected the methanol maser sources brighter than ~5x1025 erg/s from our unbiased survey.

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The First Very Long Baseline Interferometry Image of 44 GHz Methanol Maser with the KVN and VERA Array (KaVA)

We have carried out the first very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) imaging of 44 GHz class I methanol maser (7_{0}-6_{1}A^{+}) associated with a millimeter core MM2 in a massive star-forming region IRAS 18151-1208 with KaVA (KVN and VERA Array), which is a newly combined array of KVN (Korean VLBI Network) and VERA (VLBI Exploration of Radio Astrometry). We have succeeded in imaging compact maser features with a synthesized beam size of 2.7 milliarcseconds x 1.5 milliarcseconds (mas). These features are detected at a limited number of baselines within the length of shorter than approximately 650 km corresponding to 100 Mlambda in the uv-coverage. The central velocity and the velocity width of the 44 GHz methanol maser are consistent with those of the quiescent gas rather than the outflow traced by the SiO thermal line. The minimum component size among the maser features is ~ 5 mas x 2 mas, which corresponds to the linear size of ~ 15 AU x 6 AU assuming a distance of 3 kpc. The brightness temperatures of these features range from ~ 3.5 x 10^{8} to 1.0 x 10^{10} K, which are higher than estimated lower limit from a previous Very Large Array observation with the highest spatial resolution of ~ 50 mas. The 44 GHz class I methanol maser in IRAS 18151-1208 is found to be associated with the MM2 core, which is thought to be less evolved than another millimeter core MM1 associated with the 6.7 GHz class II methanol maser.

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Millimeter Observations of the Transition Disk around HD135344B (SAO 206462)

We present \sim1" resolution 1.3 millimeter dust continuum and spectral line (12CO and 13CO J=2-1) observations of the transitional disk system HD 135344B obtained with the Submillimeter Array. The disk shows a Keplerian rotation pattern with an inclination of \sim11°, based on the spatially and spectrally resolved 12CO and 13CO emission. The data show clear evidence for both dust and gas surface density reductions in the inner region of the disk (radius \lesssim 50 AU) from the continuum and 13CO J=2-1 data, respectively. The presence of this inner cavity in both the dust and gas is more consistent with clearing by giant planet formation than by photoevaporation or by grain growth. There is also an indication of global CO gas depletion in the disk, as the mass estimated from 13CO emission (\sim3.8 \times 10^(-4) M\odot) is about two orders of magnitude lower than that derived from the 1.3 mm continuum (\sim2.8 \times 10^(-2) M\odot).

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Spectrophotometric properties of pre-main sequence stars: the Epsilon Chamaeleontis cluster

We present a study of flux-calibrated low-resolution optical spectroscopy of ten stars belonging to eight systems in the ~ 5 Myr-old Epsilon Chamaeleontis (Eps Cha) pre-main-sequence (PMS) star cluster. Using synthetic broadband colours, narrow-band continuum, atomic and molecular lines derived from the spectra, we compare the Eps Cha stars to a slightly older PMS cluster, the ~ 8 Myr-old Eta Cha cluster, and to main-sequence dwarfs. Using synthetic VRI colours and other indices, we find that the relationship between broadband colours and spectroscopic temperature indicators for Eps Cha cluster members is indistinguishable from that of Gyr-old dwarfs. This result is identical to that found earlier in Eta Cha. Gravity-sensitive line indices place the cluster between the giant and dwarf sequences, and there is clear evidence that Eps Cha stars have lower surface gravity than Eta Cha stars. This result is consistent with Eps Cha being the slightly younger PMS association, a few Myr younger according to the Hertzsprung-Russell (HR) diagram placement of these two clusters and comparison with PMS evolutionary grids. Late M-type Eps Cha cluster members show a B-band flux excess of ~ 0.2 mag compared to observations of standard dwarfs, which might be related to enhanced magnetic activity. A similar level of excess B-band emission appears to be a ubiquitous feature of low mass members of young stellar populations with ages less than a few hundred Myr, a very similar timescale to the PMS phase of elevated relative X-ray luminosity.

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A deep photometric survey of the eta Chamaeleontis cluster down to the brown dwarf - planet boundary

We report the outcome of the deep optical/infrared photometric survey of the central region (33 X 33 arcmin or 0.9 pc^2) of the eta Chamaeleontis pre-main sequence star cluster. The completeness limits of the photometry are I = 19.1, J = 18.2 and H = 17.6; faint enough to reveal low mass members down to the brown dwarf and planet boundary of ~ 13 M_Jup. We found no such low mass members in this region. Our result combined with a previous shallower (I = 17) but larger area survey indicates that low mass objects (0.013 < M/M(solar mass) < 0.075) either were not created in the eta Cha cluster or were lost due to the early dynamical history of the cluster and ejected to outside the surveyed areas.

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Population and dynamical state of the eta Chamaeleontis sparse young open cluster

We report new results in our continuing study of the unique compact (1 pc extent), nearby (d = 97 pc), young (t = 9 Myr) stellar cluster dominated by the B9 star eta Chamaeleontis. An optical photometric survey spanning 1.3 x 1.3 pc adds two M5-M5.5 weak-lined T Tauri (WTT) stars to the cluster inventory which is likely to be significantly complete for primaries with masses > 0.15 M_sun. The cluster now consists of 17 primaries and approximately 9 secondaries lying within 100 AU of their primaries. The apparent distribution of 9:7:1 single:binary:triple systems shows 2-4 x higher multiplicity than in the field main sequence stars, and is comparable to that seen in other pre-main sequence (PMS) populations. The initial mass function (IMF) is consistent with that of rich young clusters and field stars. By extending the cluster IMF to lower masses, we predict 10-14 additional low mass stars with 0.08 < M < 0.15 M-sun and 10-15 brown dwarfs with 0.025 < M < 0.08 M_sun remain to be discovered. The eta Cha cluster extends the established stellar density and richness relationship for young open clusters. The radial distribution of stars is consistent with an isothermal sphere, but mass segregation is present with > 50 percent of the stellar mass residing in the inner 6 arcmin (0.17 pc). Considering that the eta Cha cluster is sparse, diffuse and young, the cluster may be an ideal laboratory for distinguishing between mass segregation that is primordial in nature, or arising from dynamical interaction processes.

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Infrared study of the eta Chamaeleontis cluster and the longevity of circumstellar discs

We have analyzed JHKL observations of the stellar population of the ~9 Myr-old eta Chamaeleontis cluster. Using infrared (IR) colour-colour and colour-excess diagrams, we find the fraction of stellar systems with near-IR excess emission is 0.60 pm 0.13 (2_sigma). This results implies considerably longer disc lifetimes than found in some recent studies of other young stellar clusters. For the classical T Tauri (CTT) and weak-lined T Tauri (WTT) star population, we also find a strong correlation between the IR excess and H_alpha emission. The IR excesses of these stars indicate a wide range of star-disc activity; from a CTT star showing high levels of accretion, to CTT - WTT transition objects with evidence for some on-going accretion, and WTT stars with weak or absent IR excesses. Of the 15 known cluster members, 4 stars with IR excesses delta(K-L) > 0.4 mag are likely experiencing on-going accretion owing to strong or variable optical emission. The resulting accretion fraction (0.27 pm 0.13; 2_sigma) shows that the accretion phase, in addition to the discs themselves, can endure for at least ~10 Myr.

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