arXiv subjects

M. E. van den Ancker

Publications and source records attributed to M. E. van den Ancker.

59 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2000

ISO Spectroscopy of H2 in Star Forming Regions

We have studied molecular hydrogen emission in a sample of 21 YSOs using spectra obtained with the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO). H2 emission was detected in 12 sources and can be explained as arising in either a shock, caused by the interaction of an outflow from an embedded YSO with the surrounding molecular cloud, or in a PDR surrounding an exposed young early-type star. The distinction between these two mechanisms can not always be made from the pure rotational H2 lines alone. Other tracers, such as PAH emission or [S I] 25.25 micron emission, are needed to identify the H2 heating mechanism. No deviations from a 3:1 ortho/para ratio of H2 were found. Both shocks and PDRs show a warm and a hot component in H2, which we explain as thermal emission from warm molecular gas (warm component), or UV-pumped infrared fluorescence in the case of PDRs and the re-formation of H2 for shocks (hot component).

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arXiv2000

ISO Spectroscopy of Young Intermediate-Mass Stars in the BD+40 4124 Group

We present the results of ISO SWS and LWS grating scans towards the three brightest members of the BD+40 4124 group in the infrared: BD+40 4124 (B2Ve), LkHalpha 224 (A7e) and the embedded source LkHalpha 225. Emission from the pure rotational lines of H_2, from ro-vibrational transitions of CO, from PAHs, from H I recombination lines and from the infrared fine structure lines of [Fe II], [Si II], [S I], [O I], [O III] and [C II] was detected. These emission lines arise in the combination of a low-density (approx 10^2 cm^-3) H II region with a clumpy PDR in the case of BD+40 4124. The lower transitions of the infrared H I lines observed in BD+40 4124 are optically thick; most likely they arise in either a dense wind or a circumstellar disk. This same region is also responsible for the optical H I lines and the radio continuum emission. In the lines of sight towards LkHalpha 224 and LkHalpha 225, the observed emission lines arise in a non-dissociative shock produced by a slow (approx 20 km/s) outflow arising from LkHalpha 225. Toward LkHalpha 225 we also observe a dissociative shock, presumably located closer to the outflow source than the non-dissociative shock. In the line of sight towards LkHalpha 225 we observed absorption features due to solid water ice and amorphous silicates, and due to gas-phase H_2O, CO and CO_2. No solid CO_2 was detected towards LkHalpha 225, making this the first line of sight where the bulk of the CO_2 is in the gas-phase.

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arXiv1999

Transitional YSOs: Candidates from Flat-Spectrum IRAS Sources

We are searching for Young Stellar Objects (YSOs) near the boundary between protostars and pre-main sequence objects, what we have termed transitional YSOs. We have identified a sample of 125 objects as candidate transitional YSOs on the basis of IRAS colors and optical appearance on DSS images. We find that the majority of our objects are associated with star-forming regions, confirming our expectation that the bulk of these are YSOs. We present optical, near-IR and high-resolution IRAS images of 92 objects accessible from the northern and 62 from the southern hemisphere. The objects have been classified on the basis of their morphology and spectral index. Of the 125 objects, 28 have a variety of characteristics very similar to other transitional YSOs, while another 22 show some of these characteristics, suggesting that these transitional YSOs are not as rare as predicted by theory.

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arXiv1999

Shock excited far-infrared molecular emission around T Tau

The first complete far-infrared spectrum of T Tau has been obtained with the LWS spectrometer on-board the Infrared Space Observatory, which detected strong emission from high-J (J=14-25) CO, para- and ortho-H2O and OH transitions over the wavelength range from 40 to 190 micron. Most of the observed molecular emission can be explained by a single emission region at T~300-900 K and n(H_2)~10^(5-6) cm^(-3),with a diameter of about 2-3 arcsec. This corresponds to a very compact region of 300-400 AU at the distance of 140 pc. An higher temperature component seems to be needed to explain the highest excitation CO and water lines. We derive a water abundance of 1-7x10^(-5) and an OH abundance of ~3x10^(-5) with respect to molecular hydrogen, implying water and OH enhancements by more than a factor of 10 with respect to the expected ambient gas abundance. The observed cooling in the various species amounts to 0.04 L(sun),comparable to the mechanical luminosity of the outflow, indicating that the stellar winds could be responsible of the line excitation through shocks. In order to explain the observed molecular cooling in T Tau in terms of C-type shock models, we hypothesise that the strong far-ultraviolet radiation field photodissociates water in favour of OH. This would explain the large overabundance of OH observed. The estimated relatively high density and compactness of the observed emission suggest that it originates from the shocks taking place at the base of the molecular outflow emission, in the region where the action of the stellar winds from the two stars of the binary system is important.

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arXiv1999

On the nature of XTE J0421+560/CI Cam

We present the results of the analysis of RXTE, BATSE and optical/infrared data of the 1998 outburst of the X-ray transient system XTE J0421+560 (CI Cam). The X-ray outburst shows a very fast decay (initial e-folding time ~0.5 days, slowing down to ~2.3 days). The X-ray spectrum in the 2-25 keV band is complex, softening considerably during decay and with strongly variable intrinsic absorption. A strong iron emission line is observed. No fast time variability is detected (<0.5 % rms in the 1-4096 Hz band at the outburst peak). The analysis of the optical/IR data suggests that the secondary is a B[e] star surrounded by cool dust and places the system at a distance of >~ 2 kpc. At this distance the peak 2-25 keV luminosity is ~4 x 10^37 erg/s. We compare the properties of this peculiar system with those of the Be/NS LMC transient A 0538-66 and suggest that CI Cam is of similar nature. The presence of strong radio emission during outburst indicates that the compact object is likely to be a black hole or a weakly magnetized neutron star.

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