arXiv subjects

I. de Gregorio

Publications and source records attributed to I. de Gregorio.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2024

Episodicity in accretion-ejection processes associated with IRAS 15398-3359

The protostar IRAS 15398-3359 is associated with a bipolar molecular outflow ejected in an nearly northeast-southwest (NE-SW) direction which has been extensively studied. It has been suggested previous episodic accretion events by this source. Furthermore, the analysis of the morphology and kinematics of the molecular outflow revealed the presence of four $^{12}$CO(2-1) bipolar elliptical shock-like structures identified in both lobes. These structures seem to trace different ejections inclined $\sim$10°on the plane of the sky from each other. This led to the hypothesis that the outflow axis likely precesses and launches material episodically. We analyze ALMA archive observations in Band 6, revealing the presence of low-velocity ($<3.5$km s$^{-1}$) emission from the line $^{12}$CO(2-1) to the south and north of the protostar. We study the morphology and kinematics of the gas, which seems to support the hypothesis of a precessing episodic outflow. The ALMA observations reveal a north-south (N-S) outflow most likely associated with the IRAS 15398-3359 protostellar system. This outflow could be older than the well-studied NE-SW outflow. The orientation of the N-S outflow is 50°- 60°on the plane of the sky away from that of the NE-SW outflow. We also analyze the Spectral Energy Distribution of a far away young star and preliminary discard it as the driver of the SE outflow remnants. The new observations support the hypothesis of strong episodic accretion-ejection events in IRAS 15398-3359, accompanied by dramatic changes in the orientation of its ejection axis, implying that all the outflows in the region may have been driven by the same protostar.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2023

Charting Circumstellar Chemistry of Carbon-rich AGB Stars: I. ALMA 3 mm spectral surveys

AGB stars are major contributors to the chemical enrichment of the ISM through nucleosynthesis and extensive mass loss. Most of our current knowledge of AGB atmospheric and circumstellar chemistry, in particular in a C-rich environment, is based on observations of the carbon star IRC+10216. We aim to obtain a more generalised understanding of the chemistry in C-rich AGB CSEs by studying a sample of three carbon stars, IRAS15194-5115, IRAS15082-4808, and IRAS07454-7112, and test the archetypal status often attributed to IRC+10216. We performed spatially resolved, unbiased spectral surveys in ALMA Band 3. We identify a total of 132 rotational transitions from 49 molecular species. There are two main morphologies of the brightness distributions: centrally-peaked (e.g. HCN) and shell-like (e.g. C$_2$H). We estimated the sizes of the molecular emitting regions using azimuthally-averaged radial profiles of the line brightness distributions, and derived abundance estimates. Of the shell distributions, the cyanopolyynes peak at slightly smaller radii than the hydrocarbons, and CN and HNC show the most extended emission. The emitting regions for each species are the smallest for IRAS07454-7112. We find that, within the uncertainties of the analysis, the three stars present similar abundances for most species, also compared to IRC+10216. We find that SiO is more abundant in our three stars compared to IRC+10216. Our estimated isotopic ratios match well the literature values for the sources. The observed circumstellar chemistry appears very similar across our sample and compared to that of IRC+10216, both in terms of the relative location of the emitting regions and molecular abundances. This implies that, to a first approximation, the chemical models tailored to IRC+10216 are able to reproduce the observed chemistry in C-rich envelopes across roughly an order of magnitude in wind density.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2017

Observing the Sun with the Atacama Large Millimeter-submillimeter Array (ALMA): Fast-Scan Single-Dish Mapping

The Atacama Large Millimeter-submillimeter Array (ALMA) radio telescope has commenced science observations of the Sun starting in late 2016. Since the Sun is much larger than the field of view of individual ALMA dishes, the ALMA interferometer is unable to measure the background level of solar emission when observing the solar disk. The absolute temperature scale is a critical measurement for much of ALMA solar science, including the understanding of energy transfer through the solar atmosphere, the properties of prominences, and the study of shock heating in the chromosphere. In order to provide an absolute temperature scale, ALMA solar observing will take advantage of the remarkable fast-scanning capabilities of the ALMA 12m dishes to make single-dish maps of the full Sun. This article reports on the results of an extensive commissioning effort to optimize the mapping procedure, and it describes the nature of the resulting data. Amplitude calibration is discussed in detail: a path that utilizes the two loads in the ALMA calibration system as well as sky measurements is described and applied to commissioning data. Inspection of a large number of single-dish datasets shows significant variation in the resulting temperatures, and based on the temperature distributions we derive quiet-Sun values at disk center of 7300 K at lambda=3 mm and 5900 K at lambda=1.3 mm. These values have statistical uncertainties of order 100 K, but systematic uncertainties in the temperature scale that may be significantly larger. Example images are presented from two periods with very different levels of solar activity. At a resolution of order 25 arcsec, the 1.3 mm wavelength images show temperatures on the disk that vary over about a 2000 K range.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2017

Observing the Sun with Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA): High Resolution Interferometric Imaging

Observations of the Sun at millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths offer a unique probe into the structure, dynamics, and heating of the chromosphere; the structure of sunspots; the formation and eruption of prominences and filaments; and energetic phenomena such as jets and flares. High-resolution observations of the Sun at millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths are challenging due to the intense, extended, low- contrast, and dynamic nature of emission from the quiet Sun, and the extremely intense and variable nature of emissions associated with energetic phenomena. The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) was designed with solar observations in mind. The requirements for solar observations are significantly different from observations of sidereal sources and special measures are necessary to successfully carry out this type of observations. We describe the commissioning efforts that enable the use of two frequency bands, the 3 mm band (Band 3) and the 1.25 mm band (Band 6), for continuum interferometric-imaging observations of the Sun with ALMA. Examples of high-resolution synthesized images obtained using the newly commissioned modes during the solar commissioning campaign held in December 2015 are presented. Although only 30 of the eventual 66 ALMA antennas were used for the campaign, the solar images synthesized from the ALMA commissioning data reveal new features of the solar atmosphere that demonstrate the potential power of ALMA solar observations. The ongoing expansion of ALMA and solar-commissioning efforts will continue to enable new and unique solar observing capabilities.

astro-ph.SR↗