arXiv subjects

J. -F. Robitaille

Publications and source records attributed to J. -F. Robitaille.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2023

ALMA-IMF VI -- Investigating the origin of stellar masses: Core mass function evolution in the W43-MM2&MM3 mini-starburst

Among the most central open questions regarding the initial mass function (IMF) of stars is the impact of environment on the shape of the core mass function (CMF) and thus potentially on the IMF. The ALMA-IMF Large Program aims to investigate the variations in the core distributions with cloud characteristics, as diagnostic observables of the formation process and evolution of clouds. The present study focuses on the W43-MM2&MM3 mini-starburst, whose CMF has recently been found to be top-heavy with respect to the Salpeter slope. W43-MM2&MM3 harbors a rich cluster that contains a statistically significant number of cores, which was previously characterized in Paper III. We applied a multi-scale decomposition technique to the ALMA 1.3 mm and 3 mm continuum images to define six subregions. For each subregion we characterized the high column density probability distribution function, n-PDF, and the shape of the cloud gas using the 1.3 mm image. Using the core catalog, we investigate correlations between the CMF and cloud and core properties. We classify the subregions into different stages of evolution, from quiescent to burst to post-burst, based on the surface number density of cores, number of outflows, and UCHii presence. The high-mass end of the subregion CMFs varies from being close to the Salpeter slope (quiescent) to top-heavy (burst and post-burst). Moreover, the second tail of the n-PDF varies from steep, to flat like observed for the high mass star-forming clouds. We found that subregions with flat second n-PDF tails display top-heavy CMFs. The CMF may evolve from Salpeter to top-heavy throughout the star formation process from the quiescent to the burst phase. This scenario raises the question of if the CMF might revert again to Salpeter as the cloud approaches the end of its star formation stage, a hypothesis that remains to be tested.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2022

ALMA-IMF III -- Investigating the origin of stellar masses: Top-heavy core mass function in the W43-MM2&MM3 mini-starburst

The ALMA-IMF Large Program observed the W43-MM2-MM3 ridge, whose 1.3mm and 3mm ALMA 12m array continuum images reach a 2500au spatial resolution. We used both the best-sensitivity and the line-free ALMA-IMF images, reduced the noise with the multi-resolution segmentation technique MnGSeg, and derived the most complete and most robust core catalog possible. Using two different extraction software packages, getsf and GExt2D, we identified 200 compact sources, whose 100 common sources have on average fluxes consistent to within 30%. We filtered sources with non-negligible free-free contamination and corrected fluxes from line contamination, resulting in a W43-MM2-MM3 catalog of 205 getsf cores. With a median deconvolved FWHM size of 3400au, core masses range from 0.1Msun to 70Msun and the getsf catalog is 90% complete down to 0.8Msun. The high-mass end of the core mass function (CMF) of W43-MM2-MM3 is top-heavy compared to the canonical IMF. Fitting the cumulative CMF with a single power law of the form N(>logM)\propto M^a, we measured a=-0.95\pm0.04, compared to the canonical a=-1.35 Salpeter IMF slope. The slope of the CMF is robust with respect to map processing, extraction software package, and reasonable variations in the assumptions taken to estimate core masses. We explore several assumptions on how cores transfer their mass to stars and sub-fragment to predict the IMF resulting from the W43-MM2-MM3 CMF. In stark contrast to the commonly accepted paradigm, our result argues against the universality of the CMF shape. More robust functions of the star-formation efficiency and core sub-fragmentation are required to better predict the resulting IMF, here suggested to remain top-heavy at the end of the star-formation phase. If confirmed, the IMFs emerging from starburst events could inherit their top-heavy shape from their parental CMFs, challenging the IMF universality.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2021

ALMA-IMF I -- Investigating the origin of stellar masses: Introduction to the Large Program and first results

The ALMA-IMF Large Program imaged a total noncontiguous area of 53pc2, covering 15 extreme, nearby protoclusters of the Milky Way. They were selected to span relevant early protocluster evolutionary stages. Our 1.3mm and 3mm observations provide continuum images that are homogeneously sensitive to point-like cores with masses of 0.2 and 0.6Msun, respectively, with a matched spatial resolution of 2000au. We also detect lines that probe the protocluster structure, kinematics, chemistry, and feedback over scales from clouds to filaments to cores. We classify ALMA-IMF protoclusters as Young, Intermediate, or Evolved based on the amount of dense gas in the cloud that has potentially been impacted by HII regions. The ALMA-IMF catalog contains 700 cores that span a mass range of 0.15-250Msun at a typical size of 2100au. We show that this core sample has no significant distance bias and can be used to build core mass functions at similar physical scales. Significant gas motions, which we highlight here in the G353.41 region, are traced down to core scales and can be used to look for inflowing gas streamers and to quantify the impact of the possible associated core mass growth on the shape of the CMF with time. Our first analysis does not reveal any significant evolution of the matter concentration from clouds to cores or from the youngest to more evolved protoclusters, indicating that cloud dynamical evolution and stellar feedback have for the moment only had a slight effect on the structure of high-density gas in our sample. Furthermore, the first-look analysis of the line richness toward bright cores indicates that the survey encompasses several tens of hot cores, of which we highlight the most massive in the G351.77 cloud. Their homogeneous characterization can be used to constrain the emerging molecular complexity in protostars of high to intermediate masses.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2020

Mass segregation and sequential star formation in NGC 2264 revealed by Herschel

The mass segregation of stellar clusters could be primordial rather than dynamical. Despite the abundance of studies of mass segregation for stellar clusters, those for stellar progenitors are still scarce, so the question on the origin and evolution of mass segregation is still open. Our goal is to characterize the structure of the NGC 2264 molecular cloud and compare the populations of clumps and young stellar objects (YSOs) in this region whose rich YSO population has shown evidence of sequential star formation. We separated the Herschel column density map of NGC 2264 in three subregions and compared their cloud power spectra using a multiscale segmentation technique. We identified in the whole NGC 2264 cloud a population of 256 clumps with typical sizes of ~0.1 pc and masses ranging from 0.08 Msun to 53 Msun. Although clumps have been detected all over the cloud, the central subregion of NGC 2264 concentrates most of the massive, bound clumps. The local surface density and the mass segregation ratio indeed indicate a strong degree of mass segregation for the 15 most massive clumps, with a median $Σ_6$ three time that of the whole clumps population and $Λ_{MSR}$ about 8. We showed that this cluster of massive clumps is forming within a high-density cloud ridge, itself formed and probably still fed by the high concentration of gas observed on larger scales in the central subregion. The time sequence obtained from the combined study of the clump and YSO populations in NGC 2264 suggests that the star formation started in the northern subregion, that it is now actively developing at the center and will soon start in the southern subregion. Taken together, the cloud structure and the clump and YSO populations in NGC 2264 argue for a dynamical scenario of star formation.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2020

Episodic accretion constrained by a rich cluster of outflows

The accretion history of protostars remains widely mysterious even though it represents one of the best ways to understand the protostellar collapse that leads to the formation of stars. Molecular outflows are here used to characterize the protostellar accretion phase in W43-MM1. The W43-MM1 protocluster host a sufficient number of protostars to statistically investigate molecular outflows in a single, homogeneous region. We used the CO(2-1) and SiO(5-4) line datacubes, taken as part of an ALMA mosaic with a 2000 AU resolution, to search for protostellar outflows, evaluate the influence that the environment has on these outflows' characteristics and put constraints on outflow variability in W43-MM1. We discovered a rich cluster of 46 outflow lobes, driven by 27 protostars with masses of 1-100 Msun. The complex environment inside which these outflow lobes develop has a definite influence on their length, limiting the validity of using outflows' dynamical timescales as a proxy of the ejection timescale in clouds with high dynamics and varying conditions. We performed a detailed study of Position-Velocity (PV) diagrams of outflows that revealed clear events of episodic ejection. The time variability of W43-MM1 outflows is a general trend and is more generally observed than in nearby, low- to intermediate-mass star-forming regions. The typical timescale found between two ejecta, about 500 yr, is consistent with that found in nearby protostars. If ejection episodicity reflects variability in the accretion process, either protostellar accretion is more variable or episodicity is easier to detect in high-mass star-forming regions than in nearby clouds. The timescale found between accretion events could be resulting from disk instabilities, associated with bursts of inflowing gas arising from the dynamical environment of high-mass star-forming cores.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2019

Exposing the plural nature of molecular clouds : Extracting filaments and the CIB against the true scale-free interstellar medium

We present the Multiscale non-Gaussian Segmentation (MnGSeg) analysis technique. This wavelet based method combines the analysis of the probability distribution function (PDF) of map fluctuations as a function of spatial scales and the power spectrum analysis of a map. This technique allows us to extract the non-Gaussianities identified in the multiscaled PDFs usually associated with turbulence intermittency and to spatially reconstruct the Gaussian and the non-Gaussian component of the map. This new technique can be applied on any data set. Here, it is applied on a Herschel column density map of the Polaris flare cloud. The first component has by construction a self-similar fractal geometry as the one produced by fractional Brownian motion simulations. The second component is called the coherent component, by opposition to fractal, and includes a network of filamentary structures which demonstrates a spatial hierarchical scaling, i.e. filaments inside filaments. The power spectrum analysis of both components proves that the Fourier power spectrum of the initial map is dominated by the power of the coherent filamentary structures across almost all spatial scales. The coherent structures contribute progressively, more and more from large to smaller scales, without producing any break in the inertial range. We suggest that this behaviour is induced, at least partly, by inertial-range intermittency, a well known phenomenon for turbulent flows. We also demonstrate that the MnGSeg technique is a very sensitive signal analysis technique, which allows the extraction of the cosmic infrared background (CIB) signal present in the Polaris flare submillimeter observations and the detection of a characteristic scale for 0.1 < l < 0.3 pc whose origin could partly be the transition of regimes dominated by incompressible turbulence versus compressible modes and other physical processes, such as gravity.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2018

Interstellar magnetic cannon targeting the Galactic halo : A young bubble at the origin of the Ophiuchus and Lupus molecular complexes

We report the detection of a new Galactic bubble at the interface between the halo and the Galactic disc. We suggest that the nearby Lupus complex and parts of the Ophiuchus complex constitute the denser parts of the structure. This young bubble, < 3 Myr old, could be the remnant of a supernova and expands inside a larger HI loop that has been created by the outflows of the Upper Scorpius OB association. An HI cavity filled with hot X-ray gas is associated with the structure, which is consistent with the Galactic chimney scenario. The X-ray emission extends beyond the west and north-west edges of the bubble, suggesting that hot gas outflows are breaching the cavity, possibly through the fragmented Lupus complex. Analyses of the polarised radio synchrotron and of the polarised dust emission of the region suggest the connection of the Galactic centre spur with the young Galactic bubble. A distribution of HI clumps that spatially corresponds well to the cavity boundaries was found at V_LSR ~ -100 km/s. Some of these HI clumps are forming jets, which may arise from the fragmented part of the bubble. We suggest that these clumps might be `dripping' cold clouds from the shell walls inside the cavity that is filled with hot ionised gas. It is possible that some of these clumps are magnetised and were then accelerated by the compressed magnetic field at the edge of the cavity. Such a mechanism would challenge the Galactic accretion and fountain model, where high-velocity clouds are considered to be formed at high Galactic latitude from hot gas flows from the Galactic plane.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2018

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 $μ$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 $λ$= 1.6$\pm$1.1, which suggests that the Oph-B2 clump is slightly magnetically supercritical.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2017

A new perspective on turbulent Galactic magnetic fields through comparison of linear polarisation decomposition techniques

We compare two rotationally invariant decomposition techniques on linear polarisation data: the spin-2 spherical harmonic decomposition in two opposite parities, the $E$- and $B$-mode, and the multiscale analysis of the gradient of linear polarisation, $|\nabla \mathbf{P}|$. We demonstrate that both decompositions have similar properties in the image domain and the spatial frequency domain. They can be used as complementary tools for turbulence analysis of interstellar magnetic fields in order to develop a better understanding of the origin of energy sources for the turbulence, the origin of peculiar magnetic field structures and their underlying physics. We also introduce a new quantity $|\nabla EB|$ based on the $E$- and $B$-modes and we show that in the intermediate and small scales limit $|\nabla EB| \simeq |\nabla \mathbf{P}|$. Analysis of the 2.3 GHz S-band Polarization All Sky Survey (S -PASS) shows many extended coherent filament-like features appearing as 'double-jumps' in the $|\nabla \mathbf{P}|$ map that are correlated with negative and positive filaments of $B$-type polarisation. These local asymmetries between the two polarisation types, $E$ and $B$, of the non-thermal Galactic synchrotron emission have an influence on the $E$- and $B$-mode power spectra analyses. The wavelet-based formalism of the polarisation gradient analysis allows us to locate the position of $E$- or $B$-mode features responsible for the local asymmetries between the two polarisation types. In analysed subregions, the perturbations of the magnetic field are trigged by star clusters associated with HII regions, the Orion-Eridanus superbubble and the North Polar Spur at low Galactic latitude.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2015

Multiscale Analysis of the Gradient of Linear Polarisation

We propose a new multiscale method to calculate the amplitude of the gradient of the linear polarisation vector using a wavelet-based formalism. We demonstrate this method using a field of the Canadian Galactic Plane Survey (CGPS) and show that the filamentary structure typically seen in gradients of linear polarisation maps depends strongly on the instrumental resolution. Our analysis reveals that different networks of filaments are present on different angular scales. The wavelet formalism allows us to calculate the power spectrum of the fluctuations seen in gradients of linear polarisation maps and to determine the scaling behaviour of this quantity. The power spectrum is found to follow a power law with gamma ~ 2.1. We identify a small drop in power between scales of 80 < l < 300 arcmin, which corresponds well to the overlap in the u-v plane between the Effelsberg 100-m telescope and the DRAO 26-m telescope data. We suggest that this drop is due to undersampling present in the 26-m telescope data. In addition, the wavelet coefficient distributions show higher skewness on smaller scales than at larger scales. The spatial distribution of the outliers in the tails of these distributions creates a coherent subset of filaments correlated across multiple scales, which trace the sharpest changes in the polarisation vector P within the field. We suggest that these structures may be associated with highly compressive shocks in the medium. The power spectrum of the field excluding these outliers shows a steeper power law with gamma ~ 2.5.

astro-ph.GA↗