arXiv subjects

C. J. Chandler

Publications and source records attributed to C. J. Chandler.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2011

Unveiling Sources of Heating in the Vicinity of the Orion BN/KL Hot Core as Traced by Highly Excited Inversion Transitions of Ammonia

Using the Expanded Very Large Array, we have mapped the vicinity of the Orion BN/KL Hot Core with sub-arcsecond angular resolution in seven metastable inversion transitions of ammonia: (J,K)=(6,6) to (12,12). This emission comes from levels up to 1500 K above the ground state, enabling identification of source(s) responsible for heating the region. We used this multi-transition dataset to produce images of the rotational/kinetic temperature and the column density of ammonia for ortho and para species separately and on a position-by-position basis. We find rotational temperature and column density in the range 160-490 K and (1-4)x10^17 cm^-2, respectively. Our spatially-resolved images show that the highest (column) density and hottest gas is found in a northeast-southwest elongated ridge to the southeast of Source I. We have also measured the ortho-para ratio of ammonia, estimated to vary in the range 0.9-1.6. Enhancement of ortho with respect to para and the offset of hot ammonia emission peaks from known (proto)stellar sources provide evidence that the ammonia molecules have been released from dust grains into the gas-phase through the passage of shocks and not by stellar radiation. We propose that the combined effect of Source I's proper motion and its low-velocity outflow impinging on a pre-existing dense medium is responsible for the excitation of ammonia and the Orion Hot Core. Finally, we found for the first time evidence of a slow (5 km/s) and compact (1000 AU) outflow towards IRc7.

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arXiv2011

First Results from a 1.3 cm EVLA Survey of Massive Protostellar Objects: G35.03+0.35

We have performed a 1.3 centimeter survey of 24 massive young stellar objects (MYSOs) using the Expanded Very Large Array (EVLA). The sources in the sample exhibit a broad range of massive star formation signposts including Infrared Dark Clouds (IRDCs), UCHII regions, and extended 4.5 micron emission in the form of Extended Green Objects (EGOs). In this work, we present results for G35.03+0.35 which exhibits all of these phenomena. We simultaneously image the 1.3 cm ammonia (1,1) through (6,6) inversion lines, four methanol transitions, two H recombination lines, plus continuum at 0.05 pc resolution. We find three areas of thermal ammonia emission, two within the EGO (designated the NE and SW cores) and one toward an adjacent IRDC. The NE core contains an UCHII region (CM1) and a candidate HCHII region (CM2). A region of non-thermal, likely masing ammonia (3,3) and (6,6) emission is coincident with an arc of 44 GHz methanol masers. We also detect two new 25 GHz Class I methanol masers. A complementary Submillimeter Array 1.3 mm continuum image shows that the distribution of dust emission is similar to the lower-lying ammonia lines, all peaking to the NW of CM2, indicating the likely presence of an additional MYSO in this protocluster. By modeling the ammonia and 1.3 mm continuum data, we obtain gas temperatures of 20-220 K and masses of 20-130 solar. The diversity of continuum emission properties and gas temperatures suggest that objects in a range of evolutionary states exist concurrently in this protocluster.

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arXiv2011

The Expanded Very Large Array -- a New Telescope for New Science

Since its commissioning in 1980, the Very Large Array (VLA) has consistently demonstrated its scientific productivity. However, its fundamental capabilities have changed little since 1980, particularly in the key areas of sensitivity, frequency coverage, and velocity resolution. These limitations have been addressed by a major upgrade of the array, which began in 2001 and will be completed at the end of 2012. When completed, the Expanded VLA -- the EVLA -- will provide complete frequency coverage from 1 to 50 GHz, a continuum sensitivity of typically 1 microJy/beam (in 9 hours with full bandwidth), and a modern correlator with vastly greater capabilities and flexibility than the VLA's. In this paper we describe the goals of the EVLA project, its current status, and the anticipated expansion of capabilities over the next few years. User access to the array through the OSRO and RSRO programs is described. The following papers in this special issue, derived from observations in its early science period, demonstrate the astonishing breadth of this most flexible and powerful general-purpose telescope.

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arXiv2011

VLA Observations of the Infrared Dark Cloud G19.30+0.07

We present Very Large Array observations of ammonia (NH3) (1,1), (2,2), and CCS (2_1-1_0) emission toward the Infrared Dark Cloud (IRDC) G19.30+0.07 at ~22GHz. The NH3 emission closely follows the 8 micron extinction. The NH3 (1,1) and (2,2) lines provide diagnostics of the temperature and density structure within the IRDC, with typical rotation temperatures of ~10 to 20K and NH3 column densities of ~10^15 cm^-2. The estimated total mass of G19.30+0.07 is ~1130 Msun. The cloud comprises four compact NH3 clumps of mass ~30 to 160 Msun. Two coincide with 24 micron emission, indicating heating by protostars, and show evidence of outflow in the NH3 emission. We report a water maser associated with a third clump; the fourth clump is apparently starless. A non-detection of 8.4GHz emission suggests that the IRDC contains no bright HII regions, and places a limit on the spectral type of an embedded ZAMS star to early-B or later. From the NH3 emission we find G19.30+0.07 is composed of three distinct velocity components, or "subclouds." One velocity component contains the two 24 micron sources and the starless clump, another contains the clump with the water maser, while the third velocity component is diffuse, with no significant high-density peaks. The spatial distribution of NH3 and CCS emission from G19.30+0.07 is highly anti-correlated, with the NH3 predominantly in the high-density clumps, and the CCS tracing lower-density envelopes around those clumps. This spatial distribution is consistent with theories of evolution for chemically young low-mass cores, in which CCS has not yet been processed to other species and/or depleted in high-density regions.

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arXiv2010

A Multi-Epoch Study of the Radio Continuum Emission of Orion Source I: Constraints on the Disk Evolution of a Massive YSO and the Dynamical History of Orion BN/KL

We present new 7mm continuum observations of Orion BN/KL with the VLA. We resolve the emission from the protostar radio Source I and BN at several epochs. Source I is highly elongated NW-SE, and remarkably stable in flux density, position angle, and overall morphology over nearly a decade. This favors the extended emission component arising from an ionized disk rather than a jet. We have measured the proper motions of Source I and BN for the first time at 43 GHz. We confirm that both sources are moving at high speed (12 and 26 km/s, respectively) approximately in opposite directions, as previously inferred from measurements at lower frequencies. We discuss dynamical scenarios that can explain the large motions of both BN and Source I and the presence of disks around both. Our new measurements support the hypothesis that a close (~50 AU) dynamical interaction occurred around 500 years ago between Source I and BN as proposed by Gomez et al. From the dynamics of encounter we argue that Source I today is likely to be a binary with a total mass on the order of 20 Msun, and that it probably existed as a softer binary before the close encounter. This enables preservation of the original accretion disk, though truncated to its present radius of ~50 AU. N-body numerical simulations show that the dynamical interaction between a binary of 20 Msun total mass (I) and a single star of 10 Msun mass (BN) may lead to the ejection of both and binary hardening. The gravitational energy released in the process would be large enough to power the wide-angle flow traced by H2 and CO emission in the BN/KL nebula. Assuming the proposed dynamical history is correct, the smaller mass for Source I recently estimated from SiO maser dynamics (>7 Msun) by Matthews et al., suggests that non-gravitational forces (e.g. magnetic) must play an important role in the circumstellar gas dynamics.

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arXiv2009

A Feature Movie of SiO Emission 20-100 AU from the Massive Young Stellar Object Orion Source I

We present multi-epoch VLBA imaging of the 28SiO v=1 & v=2, J=1-0 maser emission toward the massive YSO Orion Source I. Both SiO transitions were observed simultaneously with an angular resolution of ~0.5 mas (~0.2 AU for d=414 pc). Here we explore the global properties and kinematics of the emission through two 19-epoch animated movies spanning 21 months (2001 March 19 to 2002 December 10). These movies provide the most detailed view to date of the dynamics and temporal evolution of molecular material within ~20-100 AU of a massive (~>8M_sun) YSO. The bulk of the SiO masers surrounding Source I lie in an X-shaped locus; emission in the South/East arms is predominantly blueshifted and in the North and West is predominantly redshifted. In addition, bridges of intermediate-velocity emission connect the red and blue sides of the emission distribution. We have measured proper motions of >1000 maser features and find a combination of radially outward migrations along the four arms and motions tangent to the bridges. We interpret the SiO masers as arising from a wide-angle bipolar wind emanating from a rotating, edge-on disk. The detection of maser features along extended, curved filaments suggests that magnetic fields may play a role in launching and/or shaping the wind. Our observations appear to support a picture in which stars with M ~>8 M_sun form via disk-mediated accretion. However, we cannot rule out that the Source I disk may have been formed or altered following a close encounter. (Abridged).

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arXiv2009

Maser emission from SiO isotopologues traces the innermost 100 AU around Radio Source I in Orion BN/KL

We have used the Very Large Array (VLA) at 7 mm wavelength to image five rotational transitions (J=1-0) from three SiO isotopologues towards Orion BN/KL: 28SiO v=0,1,2; and 29SiO and 30SiO v=0. For the first time, we have mapped the 29SiO and 30SiO J=1-0 emission, established the maser nature of the emission, and confirmed association with the deeply embedded high-mass young stellar object commonly denoted radio Source I. The 28SiO v=0 maser emission shows a bipolar structure that extends over ~700 AU along a northeast-southwest axis, and we propose that it traces a bipolar outflow driven by Source I. The high-brightness isotopic SiO maser emission imaged with a ~0.2 arcsec resolution has a more compact distribution, generally similar to that of the 28SiO v=1,2 emission, and it probably traces bulk gas flows in a region of diameter <100 AU centered on Source I. On small scales of <10 AU, however, compact 29SiO/30SiO v=0 and 28SiO v=1,2 emission features may be offset from one another in position and line-of-sight velocity. From a radiative transfer analysis based on a large velocity gradient (LVG) pumping model, we derive similar temperatures and densities for the optimum excitation of both 29SiO/30SiO v=0 and 28SiO v=1,2 masers, significantly higher than required for 28SiO v=0 maser excitation. In order to account for the small-scale differences among the isotopologues (v=0) and the main species (v=1,2), follow-up radiative transfer modeling that incorporates non-local line overlap among transitions of all SiO isotopic species may be required.

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arXiv2008

A 42.3-43.6 GHz spectral survey of Orion BN/KL: First detection of the v=0 J=1-0 line from the isotopologues 29SiO and 30SiO

We have surveyed molecular line emission from Orion BN/KL from 42.3 to 43.6 GHz with the Green Bank Telescope. Sixty-seven lines were identified and ascribed to 13 different molecular species. The spectrum at 7 mm is dominated by SiO, SO2, CH3OCH3, and C2H5CN. Five transitions have been detected from the SiO isotopologues 28SiO, 29SiO, and 30SiO. We report here for the first time the spectra of the 29SiO and 30SiO v=0 J=1-0 emission in Orion BN/KL, and we show that they have double-peaked profiles with velocity extents similar to the main isotopologue. The main motivation for the survey was the search of high-velocity (100-1000 km/s) outflows in the BN/KL region as traced by SiO Doppler components. Some of the unidentified lines in principle could be high-velocity SiO features, but without imaging data their location cannot be established. Wings of emission are present in the v=0 28SiO, 29SiO and 30SiO profiles, and we suggest that the v=0 emission from the three isotopologues might trace a moderately high-velocity (~30-50 km/s) component of the flows around the high-mass protostar Source I in the Orion BN/KL region. We also confirm the 7 mm detection of a complex oxygen-bearing species, acetone (CH3COCH3), which has been recently observed towards the hot core at 3 mm, and we have found further indications of the presence of long cyanopolyynes (HC5N and HC7N) in the quiescent cold gas of the extended ridge.

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arXiv2007

A Documentary of High-Mass Star Formation: Probing the Dynamical Evolution of Orion Source I on 10-100 AU Scales using SiO Masers

A comprehensive picture of high-mass star formation has remained elusive, in part because examples of high-mass YSOs tend to be relatively distant, deeply embedded, and confused with other emission sources. These factors have impeded dynamical investigations within tens of AU of high-mass YSOs--scales that are critical for probing the interfaces where outflows from accretion disks are launched and collimated. Using observations of SiO masers obtained with the VLA and the VLBA, the KaLYPSO project is overcoming these limitations by mapping the structure and dynamical/temporal evolution of the material 10-1000 AU from the nearest high-mass YSO: Radio Source I in the Orion BN/KL region. Our data include ~40 epochs of VLBA observations over a several-year period, allowing us to track the proper motions of individual SiO maser spots and to monitor changes in the physical conditions of the emitting material with time. Ultimately these data will provide 3-D maps of the outflow structure over approximately 30% of the outflow crossing time. Here we summarize recent results from the KaLYPSO project, including evidence that high-mass star formation is occurring via disk-mediated accretion.

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arXiv2007

Imaging the Ionized Disk of the High-Mass Protostar Orion-I

We have imaged the enigmatic radio source-I (Orion-I) in the Orion-KL nebula with the VLA at 43 GHz with 34 mas angular resolution. The continuum emission is highly elongated and is consistent with that expected from a nearly edge-on disk. The high brightness and lack of strong molecular lines from Orion-I can be used to argue against emission from dust. Collisional ionization and H-minus free-free opacity, as in Mira variables, require a central star with >10^5 Lsun, which is greater than infrared observations allow. However, if significant local heating associated with accretion occurs, lower total luminosities are possible. Alternatively, photo-ionization from an early B-type star and p+/e- bremsstrahlung can explain our observations, and Orion-I may be an example of ionized accretion disk surrounding a forming massive star. Such accretion disks may not be able to form planets efficiently.

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arXiv2007

Out-Of-Focus Holography at the Green Bank Telescope

We describe phase-retrieval holography measurements of the 100-m diameter Green Bank Telescope using astronomical sources and an astronomical receiver operating at a wavelength of 7 mm. We use the technique with parameterization of the aperture in terms of Zernike polynomials and employing a large defocus, as described by Nikolic, Hills & Richer (2006). Individual measurements take around 25 minutes and from the resulting beam maps (which have peak signal to noise ratios of 200:1) we show that it is possible to produce low-resolution maps of the wavefront errors with accuracy around a hundredth of a wavelength. Using such measurements over a wide range of elevations, we have calculated a model for the wavefront-errors due to the uncompensated gravitational deformation of the telescope. This model produces a significant improvement at low elevations, where these errors are expected to be the largest; after applying the model, the aperture efficiency is largely independent of elevation. We have also demonstrated that the technique can be used to measure and largely correct for thermal deformations of the antenna, which often exceed the uncompensated gravitational deformations during daytime observing. We conclude that the aberrations induced by gravity and thermal effects are large-scale and the technique used here is particularly suitable for measuring such deformations in large millimetre wave radio telescopes.

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arXiv2007

Arcsecond Scale Kinematic and Chemical Complexity in Cepheus A-East

We present results from SMA observations of the star forming region Cepheus A-East at ~340 GHz (875 micron) with 0.7'' - 2'' resolution. At least four compact submm continuum sources have been detected, as well as a rich forest of hot core line emission. Two kinematically, chemically, and thermally distinct regions of molecular emission are present in the vicinity of the HW2 thermal jet, both spatially distinct from the submm counterpart to HW2. We propose that this emission is indicative of multiple protostars rather than a massive disk as reported by Patel et al. (2005).

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arXiv2006

Radio and X-ray observations of an exceptional radio flare in the extreme z=4.72 blazar GB B1428+4217

We report on the extreme behaviour of the high redshift blazar GB B1428+4217 at z=4.72. A continued programme of radio measurements has revealed an exceptional flare in the lightcurve, with the 15.2 GHz flux density rising by a factor ~3 from ~140 mJy to ~430 mJy in a rest-frame timescale of only ~4 months -- much larger than any previous flares observed in this source. In addition to new measurements of the 1.4-43 GHz radio spectrum we also present the analysis and results of a target-of-opportunity X-ray observation using XMM-Newton, made close to the peak in radio flux. Although the X-ray data do not show a flare in the high energy lightcurve, we are able to confirm the X-ray spectral variability hinted at in previous observations. GB B1428+4217 is one of several high-redshift radio-loud quasars that display a low energy break in the X-ray spectrum, probably due to the presence of excess absorption in the source. X-ray spectral analysis of the latest XMM-Newton data is shown to be consistent with the warm absorption scenario which we have hypothesized previously. Warm absorption is also consistent with the observed X-ray spectral variability of the source, in which the spectral changes can be successfully accounted-for with a fixed column density of material in which the ionization state is correlated with hardness of the underlying power-law emission.

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arXiv2005

Large dust particles in disks around T Tauri stars

We present 7-mm continuum observations of 14 low-mass pre-main-sequence stars in the Taurus-Auriga star-forming region obtained with the Very Large Array with ~1.5" resolution and ~0.3 mJy rms sensitivity. For 10 objects, the circumstellar emission has been spatially resolved. The large outer disk radii derived suggest that the emission at this wavelength is mostly optically thin. The millimetre spectral energy distributions are characterised by spectral indices alpha = 2.3 to 3.2. After accounting for contribution from free-free emission and corrections for optical depth, we determine dust opacity indices beta in the range 0.5 to 1.6, which suggest that millimetre-sized dust aggregates are present in the circumstellar disks. Four of the sources with beta > 1 may be consistent with submicron-sized dust as found in the interstellar medium. Our findings indicate that dust grain growth to millimetre-sized particles is completed within less than 1 Myr for the majority of circumstellar disks.

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arXiv2005

Star formation in Perseus

We present a complete survey of current star formation in the Perseus molecular cloud, made at 850 and 450 micron with SCUBA at the JCMT. Covering 3 deg^2, this submillimetre continuum survey for protostellar activity is second in size only to that of rho Ophiuchus (Johnstone et al. 2004). Complete above 0.4 msun (5 sigma detection in a 14'' beam), we detect a total of 91 protostars and prestellar cores. Of these, 80% lie in clusters, representative of star formation across the Galaxy. Two of the groups of cores are associated with the young stellar clusters IC348 and NGC1333, and are consistent with a steady or reduced star formation rate in the last 0.5 Myr, but not an increasing one. In Perseus, 40--60% of cores are in small clusters (< 50 msun) and isolated objects, much more than the 10% suggested from infrared studies. Complementing the dust continuum, we present a C^18O map of the whole cloud at 1' resolution. The gas and dust show filamentary structure of the dense gas on large and small scales, with the high column density filaments breaking up into clusters of cores. The filament mass per unit length is 5--11 msun per 0.1 pc. Given these filament masses, there is no requirement for substantial large scale flows along or onto the filaments in order to gather sufficient material for star formation. We find that the probability of finding a submillimetre core is a strongly increasing function of column density, as measured by C^18O integrated intensity, prob(core) proportional to I^3.0. This power law relation holds down to low column density, suggesting that there is no A_v threshold for star formation in Perseus, unless all the low-A_v submm cores can be demonstrated to be older protostars which have begun to lose their natal molecular cloud.

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arXiv2005

High-Resolution Molecular Line Observations of the Environment of the Class 0 Source B1-IRS

In this work we present VLA observations of the NH3, CCS, and H2O maser emission at 1 cm from the star forming region B1-IRS (IRAS 03301+3057) with ~ 5" (=1750 AU) of angular resolution. CCS emission is distributed in three clumps around the central source. These clumps exhibit a velocity gradient from red- to blueshifted velocities toward B1-IRS, probably due to an interaction with the outflow from an embedded protostar. The outflow and its powering source are traced by a reflection nebula and an associated infrared point source detected in a 2MASS K-band image. We find that this infrared point source is associated with water maser emission distributed in an elongated structure (~ 450 AU size) along the major axis of the reflection nebula and tracing the base of the outflow of the region. Ammonia emission is extended and spatially anticorrelated with CCS. This is the first time that this kind of anticorrelation is observed in a star forming region with such a high angular resolution, and illustrates the importance of time-dependent chemistry on small spatial scales. The relatively large abundance of CCS with respect to ammonia, compared with other star forming regions, suggests an extreme youth for the B1-IRS object (<10E+5 yr). We suggest the possibility that CCS abundance is enhanced via shock-induced chemistry.

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arXiv2004

A Search for Dense Molecular Gas in High Redshift Infrared-Luminous Galaxies

We present a search for HCN emission from four high redshift far infrared (IR) luminous galaxies. Current data and models suggest that these high $z$ IR luminous galaxies represent a major starburst phase in the formation of spheroidal galaxies, although many of the sources also host luminous active galactic nuclei (AGN), such that a contribution to the dust heating by the AGN cannot be precluded. HCN emission is a star formation indicator, tracing dense molecular hydrogen gas within star-forming molecular clouds (n(H$_2$) $\sim 10^5$ cm$^{-3}$). HCN luminosity is linearly correlated with IR luminosity for low redshift galaxies, unlike CO emission which can also trace gas at much lower density. We report a marginal detection of HCN (1-0) emission from the $z=2.5832$ QSO J1409+5628, with a velocity integrated line luminosity of $L_{\rm HCN}'=6.7\pm2.2 \times10^{9}$ K km s$^{-1}$ pc$^2$, while we obtain 3$σ$ upper limits to the HCN luminosity of the $z=3.200$ QSO J0751+2716 of $L_{\rm HCN}'=1.0\times10^{9}$ K km s$^{-1}$ pc$^2$, $L_{\rm HCN}'=1.6\times10^{9}$ K km s$^{-1}$ pc$^2$ for the $z= 2.565$ starburst galaxy J1401+0252, and $L_{\rm HCN}'=1.0\times10^{10}$ K km s$^{-1}$ pc$^2$ for the $z = 6.42$ QSO J1148+5251. We compare the HCN data on these sources, plus three other high-$z$ IR luminous galaxies, to observations of lower redshift star-forming galaxies. The values of the HCN/far-IR luminosity ratios (or limits) for all the high $z$ sources are within the scatter of the relationship between HCN and far-IR emission for low $z$ star-forming galaxies (truncated).

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arXiv2004

High-Resolution Observations in B1-IRS: ammonia, CCS and water masers

We present a study of the structure and dynamics of the star forming region B1-IRS (IRAS 03301+3057) using the properties of different molecules at high angular resolution (~4''). We have used VLA observations of NH3, CCS, and H2O masers at 1 cm. CCS emission shows three clumps around the central source, with a velocity gradient from red to blueshifted velocities towards the protostar, probably due to the interaction with outflowing material. Water maser emission is elongated in the same direction as a reflection nebula detected at 2micron by 2MASS, with the maser spots located in a structure of some hundreds of AU from the central source, possibly tracing a jet. We propose a new outflow model to explain all our observations, consisting of a molecular outflow near the plane of the sky. Ammonia emission is extended and anticorrelated with CCS. We have detected for the first time this anticorrelation at small scales (1400 AU) in a star forming region.

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