arXiv subjects

L. Moscadelli

Publications and source records attributed to L. Moscadelli.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2016

Binary system and jet precession and expansion in G35.20-0.74N

Context. ALMA observations of the high-mass star-forming region G35.20-0.74N have revealed the presence of a Keplerian disk in core B rotating about a massive object of 18 Msun, as computed from the velocity field. The luminosity of such a massive star would be comparable to (or higher than) the luminosity of the whole star-forming region. To solve this problem it has been proposed that core B could harbor a binary system. This could also explain the possible precession of the radio jet associated with this core, which has been suggested by its S-shaped morphology. Aims. To establish the origin of the free-free emission from core B and investigate the existence of a binary system at the center of this massive core and the possible precession of the radio jet. Methods. We carried out VLA continuum observations of G35.20-0.74N at 2 cm in the B configuration and at 1.3 cm and 7 mm in the A and B configurations. The bandwidth at 7 mm covers the CH3OH maser line at 44.069 GHz. Continuum images at 6 and 3.6 cm in the A configuration were obtained from the VLA archive. We also carried out VERA observations of the H2O maser line at 22.235 GHz. Results. The observations have revealed the presence of a binary system of UC/HC HII regions at the geometrical center of the radio jet in G35.20-0.74N. This binary system, which is associated with a Keplerian rotating disk, consists of two B-type stars of 11 and 6 Msun. The S-shaped morphology of the radio jet has been successfully explained as due to precession produced by the binary system. The analysis of the precession of the radio jet has allowed us to better interpret the IR emission in the region, which would be not tracing a wide-angle cavity open by a single outflow with a position angle of ~55 deg but two different flows: a precessing one in the NE-SW direction associated with the radio jet, and a second one in an almost E--W direction ...

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arXiv2015

Velocity and magnetic fields within 1000 AU from a massive YSO

We want to study the velocity and magnetic field morphology in the vicinity (<1000 AU) of a massive young stellar object (YSO), at very high spatial resolution (10-100 AU). We performed milli-arcsecond polarimetric observations of the strong CH3OH maser emission observed in the vicinity of an O-type YSO, in G023.01-00.41. We have combined this information with the velocity field of the CH3OH masing gas previously measured at the same angular resolution. We analyse the velocity and magnetic fields in the reference system defined by the direction of the molecular outflow and the equatorial plane of the hot molecular core at its base, as recently observed on sub-arcsecond scales. We provide a first detailed picture of the gas dynamics and magnetic field configuration within a radius of 2000 AU from a massive YSO. We have been able to reproduce the magnetic field lines for the outer regions (>600 AU) of the molecular envelope, where the magnetic field orientation shows a smooth change with the maser cloudlets position (0.2 degree/AU). Overall, the velocity field vectors well accommodate with the local, magnetic field direction, but still show an average misalignment of 30 degrees. We interpret this finding as the contribution of a turbulent velocity field of about 3.5 km/s, responsible for braking up the alignment between the velocity and magnetic field vectors. We do resolve different gas flows which develop both along the outflow axis and across the disk plane, with an average speed of 7 km/s. In the direction of the outflow axis, we establish a collimation of the gas flow, at a distance of about 1000 AU from the disk plane. In the disk region, gas appears to stream outward along the disk plane for radii greater than 500-600 AU, and inward for shorter radii.

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arXiv2015

Italian Science Case for ALMA Band 2+3

The Premiale Project "Science and Technology in Italy for the upgraded ALMA Observatory - iALMA" has the goal of strengthening the scientific, technological and industrial Italian contribution to the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), the largest ground based international infrastructure for the study of the Universe in the microwave. One of the main objectives of the Science Working Group (SWG) inside iALMA, the Work Package 1, is to develop the Italian contribution to the Science Case for the ALMA Band 2 or Band 2+3 receiver. ALMA Band 2 receiver spans from ~67 GHz (bounded by an opaque line complex of ozone lines) up to 90 GHz which overlaps with the lower frequency end of ALMA Band 3. Receiver technology has advanced since the original definition of the ALMA frequency bands. It is now feasible to produce a single receiver which could cover the whole frequency range from 67 GHz to 116 GHz, encompassing Band 2 and Band 3 in a single receiver cartridge, a so called Band 2+3 system. In addition, upgrades of the ALMA system are now foreseen that should double the bandwidth to 16 GHz. The science drivers discussed below therefore also discuss the advantages of these two enhancements over the originally foreseen Band 2 system.

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arXiv2015

The environment of the strongest galactic methanol maser

The high-mass star-forming site G009.62+00.20E hosts the 6.7 GHz methanol maser source with the greatest flux density in the Galaxy which has been flaring periodically over the last ten years. We performed high-resolution astrometric measurements of the CH3OH, H2O, and OH maser emission and 7 mm continuum in the region. The radio continuum emission was resolved in two sources separated by 1300 AU. The CH3OH maser cloudlets are distributed along two north-south ridges of emission to the east and west of the strongest radio continuum component. This component likely pinpoints a massive young stellar object which heats up its dusty envelope, providing a constant IR pumping for the Class II CH3OH maser transitions. We suggest that the periodic maser activity may be accounted for by an independent, pulsating, IR radiation field provided by a bloated protostar in the vicinity of the brightest masers. We also report about the discovery of an elliptical distribution of CH3OH maser emission in the region of periodic variability.

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arXiv2014

A necklace of dense cores in the high-mass star forming region G35.20-0.74N: ALMA observations

The present study aims at characterizing the massive star forming region G35.20N, which is found associated with at least one massive outflow and contains multiple dense cores, one of them recently found associated with a Keplerian rotating disk. We used ALMA to observe the G35.20N region in the continuum and line emission at 350 GHz. The observed frequency range covers tracers of dense gas (e.g. H13CO+, C17O), molecular outflows (e.g. SiO), and hot cores (e.g. CH3CN, CH3OH). The ALMA 870 um continuum emission map reveals an elongated dust structure (0.15 pc long and 0.013 pc wide) perpendicular to the large-scale molecular outflow detected in the region, and fragmented into a number of cores with masses 1-10 Msun and sizes 1600 AU. The cores appear regularly spaced with a separation of 0.023 pc. The emission of dense gas tracers such as H13CO+ or C17O is extended and coincident with the dust elongated structure. The three strongest dust cores show emission of complex organic molecules characteristic of hot cores, with temperatures around 200 K, and relative abundances 0.2-2x10^(-8) for CH3CN and 0.6-5x10^(-6) for CH3OH. The two cores with highest mass (cores A and B) show coherent velocity fields, with gradients almost aligned with the dust elongated structure. Those velocity gradients are consistent with Keplerian disks rotating about central masses of 4-18 Msun. Perpendicular to the velocity gradients we have identified a large-scale precessing jet/outflow associated with core B, and hints of an east-west jet/outflow associated with core A. The elongated dust structure in G35.20N is fragmented into a number of dense cores that may form massive stars. Based on the velocity field of the dense gas, the orientation of the magnetic field, and the regularly spaced fragmentation, we interpret this elongated structure as the densest part of a 1D filament fragmenting and forming massive stars.

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arXiv2014

Trigonometric parallaxes of star forming regions in the Sagittarius spiral arm

We report measurements of parallaxes and proper motions of ten high-mass star-forming regions in the Sagittarius spiral arm of the Milky Way as part of the BeSSeL Survey with the VLBA. Combining these results with eight others from the literature, we investigated the structure and kinematics of the arm between Galactocentric azimuth around -2 and 65 deg. We found that the spiral pitch angle is 7.3 +- 1.5 deg; the arm's half-width, defined as the rms deviation from the fitted spiral, is around 0.2 kpc; and the nearest portion of the Sagittarius arm is 1.4 +- 0.2 kpc from the Sun. Unlike for adjacent spiral arms, we found no evidence for significant peculiar motions of sources in the Sagittarius arm opposite to Galactic rotation.

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arXiv2014

A sub-arcsecond study of the hot molecular core in G023.01-00.41

(Abridged) METHODS: We performed SMA observations at 1.3 mm with both the most extended and compact array configurations, providing sub-arcsecond and high sensitivity maps of various molecular lines, including both hot-core and outflow tracers. We also reconstruct the spectral energy distribution of the region from millimeter to near infrared wavelengths, using the Herschel/Hi-GAL maps, as well as archival data. RESULTS: From the spectral energy distribution, we derive a bolometric luminosity of about 4x10^4 Lsun. Our interferometric observations reveal that the distribution of dense gas and dust in the HMC is significantly flattened and extends up to a radius of 8000 AU from the center of radio continuum and maser emission in the region. The equatorial plane of this HMC is strictly perpendicular to the elongation of the collimated bipolar outflow, as imaged on scales of about 0.1-0.5 pc in the main CO isotopomers as well as in the SiO(5-4) line. In the innermost HMC regions (ca. 1000 AU), the velocity field traced by the CH3CN(12_K-11_K) line emission shows that molecular gas is both expanding along the outflow direction following a Hubble-law, and rotating about the outflow axis, in agreement with the (3-D) velocity field traced by methanol masers. The velocity field associated with rotation indicates a dynamical mass of 19 Msun at the center of the core. The latter is likely to be concentrated in a single O9.5 ZAMS star, consistent with the estimated bolometric luminosity of G023.01-00.41. The physical properties of the CO(2-1) outflow emission, such as its momentum rate 6x10^-3 Msun km/s /yr and its outflow rate 2x10^-4 Msun/yr, support our estimates of the luminosity (and mass) of the embedded young stellar object.

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arXiv2014

The magnetic field at milliarcsecond resolution around IRAS20126+4104

IRAS20126+4104 is a well studied B0.5 protostar that is surrounded by a ~1000 au Keplerian disk and is where a large-scale outflow originates. Both 6.7-GHz CH3OH masers and 22-GHz H2O masers have been detected toward this young stellar object. The CH3OH masers trace the Keplerian disk, while the H2O masers are associated with the surface of the conical jet. Recently, observations of dust polarized emission (350 um) at an angular resolution of 9 arcseconds (~15000 au) have revealed an S-shaped morphology of the magnetic field around IRAS20126+4104. The observations of polarized maser emissions at milliarcsecond resolution (~20 au) can make a crucial contribution to understanding the orientation of the magnetic field close to IRAS20126+4104. This will allow us to determine whether the magnetic field morphology changes from arcsecond resolution to milliarcsecond resolution. The European VLBI Network was used to measure the linear polarization and the Zeeman splitting of the 6.7-GHz CH3OH masers toward IRAS20126+4104. The NRAO Very Long Baseline Array was used to measure the linear polarization and the Zeeman splitting of the 22-GHz H2O masers toward the same region. We detected 26 CH3OH masers and 5 H2O masers at high angular resolution. Linear polarization emission was observed toward three CH3OH masers and toward one H2O maser. Significant Zeeman splitting was measured in one CH3OH maser (ΔV_{Z}=-9.2 +/- 1.4 m/s). No significant (5 sigma) magnetic field strength was measured using the H2O masers. We found that in IRAS20126+4104 the rotational energy is less than the magnetic energy.

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arXiv2014

Trigonometric Parallaxes of High Mass Star Forming Regions: the Structure and Kinematics of the Milky Way

Over 100 trigonometric parallaxes and proper motions for masers associated with young, high-mass stars have been measured with the BeSSeL Survey, a VLBA key science project, the EVN, and the Japanese VERA project. These measurements provide strong evidence for the existence of spiral arms in the Milky Way, accurately locating many arm segments and yielding spiral pitch angles ranging from 7 to 20 degrees. The widths of spiral arms increase with distance from the Galactic center. Fitting axially symmetric models of the Milky Way with the 3-D position and velocity information and conservative priors for the solar and average source peculiar motions, we estimate the distance to the Galactic center, Ro, to be 8.34 +/- 0.16 kpc, a circular rotation speed at the Sun, To, to be 240 +/- 8 km/s, and a rotation curve that is nearly flat (a slope of -0.2 +/- 0.4 km/s/kpc) between Galactocentric radii of 5 and 16 kpc. Assuming a "universal" spiral galaxy form for the rotation curve, we estimate the thin disk scale length to be 2.44 +/- 0.16 kpc. The parameters Ro and To are not highly correlated and are relatively insensitive to different forms of the rotation curve. Adopting a theoretically motivated prior that high-mass star forming regions are in nearly circular Galactic orbits, we estimate a global solar motion component in the direction of Galactic rotation, Vsun = 14.6 +/- 5.0 km/s. While To and Vsun are significantly correlated, the sum of these parameters is well constrained, To + Vsun = 255.2 +/- 5.1 km/s, as is the angular speed of the Sun in its orbit about the Galactic center, (To + Vsun)/Ro = 30.57 +/- 0.43 km/s/kpc. These parameters improve the accuracy of estimates of the accelerations of the Sun and the Hulse-Taylor binary pulsar in their Galactic orbits, significantly reducing the uncertainty in tests of gravitational radiation predicted by general relativity.

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arXiv2013

The Parallax of W43: a Massive Star Forming Complex near the Galactic Bar

We report trigonometric parallax measurements of masers in the massive star forming complex W43 from VLBA observations as part of the BeSSeL Survey. Based on measurements of three 12 GHz methanol maser sources (G029.86-00.04, G029.95-00.01 and G031.28+00.06) and one 22 GHz water maser source (G031.58+00.07) toward W43, we derived a distance of $5.49^{+0.39}_{-0.34}$ kpc to W43. By associating the masers with CO molecular clouds, and associating the clouds kinematically with CO longitude-velocity spiral features, we assign W43 to the Scutum spiral arm, close to the near end of the Galactic bar. The peculiar motion of W43 is about 20 km/s toward the Galactic Center and is very likely induced by the gravitational attraction of the bar.

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arXiv2013

Trigonometric parallaxes to star-forming regions within 4 kpc of the galactic center

We report four trigonometric parallaxes for high-mass star-forming regions within 4 kpc of the Galactic center. These measurements were made with the VLBA as part of the BeSSeL Survey. By associating these sources kinematically with large-scale features in CO and HI longitude-velocity diagrams, we begin to outline some major features of the inner Milky Way: the Connecting arm, the near and far 3 kpc arms, and the Norma arm. The Connecting arm in the first Galactic quadrant lies closer to the Galactic center than the far 3 kpc arm and is offset by the long-bar's major axis near its leading edge, supporting the presence of an inner Lindblad resonance. Assuming the 3 kpc arms are a continuous physical structure, the relative Galactocentric distance of its near and far sides suggests highly elliptical streamlines of gas around the bar(s) and a bar corotation radius, r_CR > 3.6 kpc. At a Galactic longitude near 10° and a heliocentric distance of about 5 kpc, the near 3 kpc arm and the Norma arm intersect on a face-on view of our Galaxy, while passing at different Galactic latitudes. We provide an accurate distance measurement to the W31 star-forming complex of 4.95 (+0.5;-0.43) kpc from the Sun, which associates it with a bright CO feature belonging to the near 3 kpc arm.

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arXiv2013

A study on subarcsecond scales of the ammonia and continuum emission toward the G16.59-0.05 high-mass star-forming region

We wish to investigate the structure, velocity field, and stellar content of the G16.59-0.05 high-mass star-forming region, where previous studies have established the presence of two almost perpendicular (NE-SW and SE-NW), massive outflows, and a rotating disk traced by methanol maser emission. We performed Very Large Array observations of the radio continuum and ammonia line emission, complemented by COMICS/Subaru and Hi-GAL/Herschel images in the mid- and far-infrared (IR). Our centimeter continuum maps reveal a collimated radio jet that is oriented E-W and centered on the methanol maser disk, placed at the SE border of a compact molecular core. The spectral index of the jet is negative, indicating non-thermal emission over most of the jet, except the peak close to the maser disk, where thermal free-free emission is observed. We find that the ammonia emission presents a bipolar structure consistent (on a smaller scale) in direction and velocity with that of the NE-SW bipolar outflow detected in previous CO observations. After analyzing our previous N2H+(1-0) observations again, we conclude that two scenarios are possible. In one case both the radio jet and the ammonia emission would trace the root of the large-scale CO bipolar outflow. The different orientation of the jet and the ammonia flow could be explained by precession and/or a non-isotropic density distribution around the star. In the other case, the N2H+(1-0) and ammonia bipolarity is interpreted as two overlapping clumps moving with different velocities along the line of sight. The ammonia gas also seems to undergo rotation consistent with the maser disk. Our IR images complemented by archival data allow us to derive a bolometric luminosity of about 10^4 L_sun and to conclude that most of the luminosity is due to the young stellar object associated with the maser disk.

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arXiv2013

Discovery of weak 6.7-GHz CH3OH masers in a sample of high-mass Hi-GAL sources

Maser lines from different molecular species, including water, hydroxyl, and methanol, are common observational phenomena associated with massive star forming regions. In particular, the methanol maser appears as an ideal tool to study the early phases of massive star formation. However, it is difficult to establish the exact start of the methanol maser phase, and it would then be interesting to detect and study low-flux density methanol masers (i.e., < 0.1 Jy or even << 0.1 Jy), in order to determine if they can effectively be used to mark a specific evolutionary phase in high-mass star formation. Past surveys have been unable to systematically detect many low-flux density methanol masers, and thus we do not yet know how many such masers exist in the Galaxy and what is their physical nature. Out of a sample of 107 observed Hi-GAL sources we detected a total of 32 methanol masers, with 22 sources being new and weak (median peak flux density 0.07 Jy) detections, in the Galactic longitude range [32.0, 59.8]deg. We also detected 12 6.035-GHz OH maser, with 9 objects being new detections. Our survey covers a similar range of source distances as the "Arecibo Methanol Maser Galactic Plane Survey", but the methanol masers detected by us are clearly shifted towards lower integrated flux densities. The newly detected methanol masers are mostly of low-luminosity and, except for some sources, their weakness is not due to distance effects or positional offsets. No specific correlation is found with the physical parameters of the Hi-GAL clumps, except for sources with both CH3OH and OH masers which tend to have higher mass and luminosity. The intensity of the methanol masers correlates well with the velocity range of the maser emission, which suggests that the low brightness of these masers is related to the number of maser spots in the emitting region and their evolution with time.

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arXiv2013

ON the Nature of the Local Spiral Arm of the Milky Way

Trigonometric parallax measurements of nine water masers associated with the Local arm of the Milky Way were carried out as part of the BeSSeL Survey using the VLBA. When combined with 21 other parallax measurements from the literature, the data allow us to study the distribution and 3-dimensional motions of star forming regions in the spiral arm over the entire northern sky. Our results suggest that the Local arm does not have the large pitch angle characteristic of a short spur. Instead its active star formation, overall length (>5 kpc), and shallow pitch angle (~10 degrees) suggest that it is more like the adjacent Perseus and Sagittarius arms; perhaps it is a branch of one of these arms. Contrary to previous results, we find the Local arm to be closer to the Perseus than to the Sagittarius arm, suggesting that a branching from the former may be more likely. An average peculiar motion of near-zero toward both the Galactic center and north Galactic pole, and counter rotation of ~ 5 km/s were observed, indicating that the Local arm has similar kinematic properties as found for other major spiral arms.

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arXiv2013

A candidate circumbinary Keplerian disk in G35.20-0.74 N: A study with ALMA

We report on ALMA observations of continuum and molecular line emission with 0.4" resolution towards the high-mass star forming region G35.20-0.74 N. Two dense cores are detected in typical hot-core tracers, such as CH3CN, which reveal velocity gradients. In one of these cores, the velocity field can be fitted with an almost edge-on Keplerian disk rotating about a central mass of 18 Msun. This finding is consistent with the results of a recent study of the CO first overtone bandhead emission at 2.3mum towards G35.20-0.74 N. The disk radius and mass are >2500 au and 3 Msun. To reconcile the observed bolometric luminosity (3x10^4 Lsun) with the estimated stellar mass of 18 Msun, we propose that the latter is the total mass of a binary system.

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arXiv2012

SiO collimated outflows driven by high-mass YSOs in G24.78+0.08

We imaged the molecular outflows towards the cluster of high-mass young stellar objects G24.78+0.08 at high-angular resolution using SiO emission, which is considered the classical tracer of protostellar jets. We performed SiO observations with the VLA interferometer in the J = 1-0 v=0 transition and with the SMA array in the 5-4 transition. A complementary IRAM 30-m single-dish survey in the (2-1), (3-2), (5-4), and (6-5) SiO lines was also carried out. Two collimated SiO high-velocity outflows driven by the A2 and C millimeter continuum massive cores have been imaged. On the other hand, we detected no SiO outflow driven by the young stellar objects in more evolved evolutionary phases that are associated with ultracompact (B) or hypercompact (A1) HII regions. The LVG analysis reveals high-density gas (10^3-10^4 cm-3), with well constrained SiO column densities (0.5-1 10^15 cm-2). The driving source of the A2 outflow is associated with typical hot core tracers such as methyl formate, vinyl cyanide, cyanoacetilene, and acetone. The driving source of the main SiO outflow in G24 has an estimated luminosity of a few 10^4 Lsun (typical of a late O-type star) and is embedded in the 1.3 mm continuum core A2, which in turn is located at the centre of a hot core that rotates on a plane perpendicular to the outflow main axis. The present SiO images support a scenario similar to the low-mass case for massive star formation, where jets that are clearly traced by SiO emission, create outflows of swept-up ambient gas usually traced by CO.

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arXiv2012

Massive star-formation toward G28.87+0.07 (IRAS 18411-0338) investigated by means of maser kinematics and radio to infrared, continuum observations

We used the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) and the European VLBI Network (EVN) to perform phase-referenced VLBI observations of the three most powerful maser transitions associated with the high-mass star-forming region G28.87+0.07: the 22.2 GHz H$_{2}$O, 6.7 GHz CH$_{3}$OH, and 1.665 GHz OH lines. We also performed VLA observations of the radio continuum emission at 1.3 and 3.6 cm and Subaru observations of the continuum emission at 24.5 $μ$m. Two centimeter continuum sources are detected and one of them (named "HMC") is compact and placed at the center of the observed distribution of H$_{2}$O, CH$_{3}$OH and OH masers. The bipolar distribution of line-of-sight (l.o.s) velocities and the pattern of the proper motions suggest that the water masers are driven by a (proto)stellar jet interacting with the dense circumstellar gas. The same jet could both excite the centimeter continuum source named "HMC" (interpreted as free-free emission from shocked gas) and power the molecular outflow observed at larger scales -- although one cannot exclude that the free-free continuum is rather originating from a hypercompact \ion{H}{2} region. At 24.5 $μ$m, we identify two objects separated along the north-south direction, whose absolute positions agree with those of the two VLA continuum sources. We establish that $\sim$90% of the luminosity of the region ($\sim$\times10^{5} L_\sun$) is coming from the radio source "HMC", which confirms the existence of an embedded massive young stellar object (MYSO) exciting the masers and possibly still undergoing heavy accretion from the surrounding envelope.

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arXiv2011

Clustered star formation and outflows in AFGL 2591

We report on a detailed study of the water maser kinematics and radio continuum emission toward the most massive and young object in the star-forming region AFGL 2591. Our analysis shows at least two spatial scales of multiple star formation, one projected across 0.1 pc on the sky and another one at about 2000 AU from a ZAMS star of about 38 Solar masses. This young stellar object drives a powerful jet- and wind-driven outflow system with the water masers associated to the outflow walls, previously detected as a limb-brightened cavity in the NIR band. At about 1300 AU to the north of this object a younger protostar drives two bow shocks, outlined by arc-like water maser emission, at 200 AU either side of the source. We have traced the velocity profile of the gas that expands along these arc-like maser structures and compared it with the jet-driven outflow model. This analysis suggests that the ambient medium around the northern protostar is swept up by a jet-driven shock (>66 km/s) and perhaps a lower-velocity (~10 km/s) wind with an opening angle of about 20 degrees from the jet axis.

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