arXiv subjects

Wen-Ping Chen

Publications and source records attributed to Wen-Ping Chen.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Uncovering the Origin of Slow Rotators among Intermediate-Mass Stars in the Star-Forming Cluster Trumpler 14

Intermediate-mass (about 1.5-8 M$_{\odot}$) stars exhibit a wide range of rotation rates and have gained attention for their roles in the extended main-sequence turnoffs (eMSTO) seen in some young and intermediate-age clusters (ages $< 2$ Gyr). Although rapid rotation is expected due to their radiative envelopes, the presence of slow rotators remains puzzling. In this study, we examine disk and X-ray signatures among the intermediate-mass members of the star-forming cluster Trumpler 14. Of the 118 intermediate-mass members, 24 are considered disk-bearing on the basis of their infrared spectral indices derived from spectral energy distributions. The majority of these reside outside the heavily irradiated cluster core and are all slow rotators ($\lessapprox 100$ km s$^{-1}$) except for three fast-rotating Class III objects. Additionally, in the same sample of 118, 37 are X-ray sources, and 22 having available $v \sin i$ data show a systematically slower rotation than X-ray quiet sources. Our findings suggest that, while young stellar disks in intermediate-mass stars contribute to early spin-down, high-energy processes traced by X-ray emission during this phase could be an additional channel for angular-momentum loss in these stars.

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arXiv2026

Hot water emission during an outburst in a classical T Tauri star

In this paper, we present observations of an eruptive young star in the Rosette Nebula, identified by the Gaia Science Alerts system using Gaia time series data. We aim to investigate the evolution of the brightness and mass accretion rate of V557 Mon throughout its outburst and subsequent decline. In addition, we trace the evolution of the inner accretion disk during the outburst by monitoring molecular emission features. We compiled multi-band photometric time series from Gaia, ZTF, and several 1 m-class ground-based telescopes and obtained optical and near-infrared spectra at multiple epochs covering the outburst and fading phases. Stellar parameters were derived from quiescent colour/spectra and spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting. We also measured the mass accretion rate and fit models to molecular emission bands. Since late 2024, V557 Mon has undergone a year-long outburst consistent with EXor variability. Based on quiescent photometry, V557 Mon has a spectral type of M1 with an extinction of AV = 1.8+_0.3 mag, consistent with a 0.4-0.5 M_sol star at an age of 2 Myr. Our multi-epoch spectra and u-band photometry indicate a peak accretion rate of 6.3x10^(-7)M_sol/yr during the outburst, roughly 70 times higher than in quiescence. We report the detection of hot water vapour emission bands, together with TiO, VO, and CO emission features. Using ExoMol models, we measured the inner-disk temperature changed from 3000 K to 2000 K during the fading phase of the outburst. We report a recent EXor outburst in a low-mass Class II YSO. Our observations reveal the transient formation of a hot molecular inner disk, traced by variable water vapour emission during the EXor event. A positive correlation is found between the molecular excitation temperature and the overall stellar brightness.

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arXiv2026

Investigating Extended Main-Sequence Turnoffs in Galactic Open Clusters

The extended main sequence (eMS) and extended main sequence turnoff (eMSTO) phenomena have been observed in some young and intermediate-age star clusters in the Milky Way and in the Magellanic Clouds. In this study, we conduct a survey of 53 galactic open clusters (OCs) to investigate the roles of stellar rotation, differential extinction, and cluster properties in the emergence of eMS and eMSTO. The projected rotational velocities are taken from the Gaia ESO spectroscopic survey and the Gaia DR3 line-broadening velocities. Stellar members of each OC are identified using the ML-MOC algorithm with Gaia DR3 astrometry. We divide clusters into four classes based on the color-rotation distribution, extinction, and MSTO morphology and report 14 clusters ($A_{\rm v} \lesssim 0.15$ mag, Class I) that exhibit split MS with fast and slow rotators populating the redder and bluer parts of MSTO. For the remaining clusters, differential extinction hampers the color-rotation distinction and also inflates MSTO width and therefore introduces a systematic offset in the MSTO-age relation. We also quantify the fraction of slow rotators among MSTO stars, finding a median value of $f_{\rm slow\, rot}^{v \sin i<100} \approx 0.41$ and the fraction reaching the spin-down limit, $f_{\rm slow\, rot}^{v \sin i<30}$, is $ \approx 0.08$. We find no statistically significant correlation between $f_{\rm slow\, rot}$ and either the binary fraction or cluster age.

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arXiv2025

Investigating Unusually Extended Main Sequence Turnoff of the Galactic Open Cluster NGC 3532

Extended main-sequence turnoffs are observed in the color-magnitude diagrams of some young and intermediate-age star clusters. Here we report the case study of NGC 3532. Among the cluster member candidates identified using the ML-MOC algorithm on Gaia DR3 sources, we found that fast rotators are significantly redder. Stars near the main-sequence turnoff exhibit a multi-modal distribution in the Gaia broadening velocity ($v_{\rm broad}$). A comparison with relevant literature suggests binaries being typically interspersed with fast rotators, often manifesting as slow to moderate rotators. Additionally, chemically peculiar stars are predominantly located in the bluer regions of the turnoff, with those in the fast-rotator region having large values of Gaia re-normalised unit weight error, indicating plausible companions. Our analysis suggests multiple channels responsible for angular momentum loss to account for the extended turnoff.

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arXiv2025

Evidence for the gravity-driven and magnetically-regularized gas flows feeding the massive protostellar cluster in Cepheus A

The hierarchical interplay among gravity, magnetic fields, and turbulence in forming massive protostellar clusters remains elusive. We present high-resolution ($\sim$14 arcsec $\simeq$ 0.05 pc) 850 $\mu$m dust polarization and C$^{18}$O line observations of Cepheus A using JCMT SCUBA-2/POL-2 and HARP. Our analysis reveals aligned gravitational (G), magnetic (B), and velocity fields (K), with an energy hierarchy of $E_{\mathrm{G}}$ > $E_{\mathrm{B}}$ > $E_{\mathrm{K}}$. Gravity, as the primary driver, induces gas flows and drags in B-field lines. Magnetic tension, as a secondary force, regulates turbulence, enabling ordered flows with an accretion rate of $\sim$ 2.1 $\pm$ 0.4 $\times$ 10$^{-4}$ M$_\odot$ yr$^{-1}$. This challenges the conventional view of B-fields resisting collapse in the clump/hub scale, instead showing cooperation with gravity. The $\sim$0.6 pc clump-scale B-field (with mean PA $\sim$ 45{\deg}) aligns coherently with fields at cloud ($\sim$5 pc), core ($\sim$0.05 pc), and disk ($\sim$2000 AU) scales, offering new insights into the role of magnetic fields in multiscale star formation dynamics.

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arXiv2024

A Novel Survey for Young Substellar Objects with the W-band Filter. VII. Water-Bearing Objects in the Core of the Rho Ophiuchi Cloud Complex

We present a study of very low-mass stars and brown dwarfs in the rich star-forming core of the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex. The selection of the sample relies on detecting the inherent water absorption characteristic in young substellar objects. Of the 22 water-bearing candidates selected, 15 have a spectral type of M6 or later. Brown dwarf candidates too faint for membership determination by Gaia have their proper motions derived by deep-infrared images spanning six years. Astrometric analysis confirms 21/22 sources as members, one identified as a contaminant. Infrared colors and the spectral energy distribution of each water-bearing candidate are used to diagnose the mass, age, and possible existence of circumstellar dust. 15 sources exhibit evidence of disks in their spectral energy distributions, as late as in M8-type objects. Spectroscopy for bright candidates has confirmed one as an M8 member and verified two sources (with disks) exhibiting signatures of magnetospheric accretion.

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arXiv2024

Testing particle acceleration in blazar jets with continuous high-cadence optical polarization observations

Variability can be the pathway to understanding the physical processes in astrophysical jets, however, the high-cadence observations required to test particle acceleration models are still missing. Here we report on the first attempt to produce continuous, >24 hour polarization light curves of blazars using telescopes distributed across the globe and the rotation of the Earth to avoid the rising Sun. Our campaign involved 16 telescopes in Asia, Europe, and North America. We observed BL Lacertae and CGRaBS J0211+1051 for a combined 685 telescope hours. We find large variations in the polarization degree and angle for both sources in sub-hour timescales as well as a ~180 degree rotation of the polarization angle in CGRaBS J0211+1051 in less than two days. We compared our high-cadence observations to Particle-In-Cell magnetic reconnection and turbulent plasma simulations. We find that although the state of the art simulation frameworks can produce a large fraction of the polarization properties, they do not account for the entirety of the observed polarization behavior in blazar jets.

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arXiv2023

Minutes-duration Optical Flares with Supernova Luminosities

In recent years, certain luminous extragalactic optical transients have been observed to last only a few days. Their short observed duration implies a different powering mechanism from the most common luminous extragalactic transients (supernovae) whose timescale is weeks. Some short-duration transients, most notably AT2018cow, display blue optical colours and bright radio and X-ray emission. Several AT2018cow-like transients have shown hints of a long-lived embedded energy source, such as X-ray variability, prolonged ultraviolet emission, a tentative X-ray quasiperiodic oscillation, and large energies coupled to fast (but subrelativistic) radio-emitting ejecta. Here we report observations of minutes-duration optical flares in the aftermath of an AT2018cow-like transient, AT2022tsd (the "Tasmanian Devil"). The flares occur over a period of months, are highly energetic, and are likely nonthermal, implying that they arise from a near-relativistic outflow or jet. Our observations confirm that in some AT2018cow-like transients the embedded energy source is a compact object, either a magnetar or an accreting black hole.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2023

Binary Star Evolution in Different Environments: Filamentary, Fractal, Halo and Tidal-tail Clusters

Using membership of 85 open clusters from previous studies (Pang et al. 2021a,b, 2022b; Li et al. 2021) based on Gaia DR3 data, we identify binary candidates in the color-magnitude diagram, for systems with mass ratio q > 0.4. The binary fraction is corrected for incompleteness at different distances due to the Gaia angular resolution limit. We find a decreasing binary fraction with increasing cluster age, with substantial scatter. For clusters with a total mass > 200$M_\odot$, the binary fraction is independent of cluster mass. The binary fraction depends strongly on stellar density. Among four types of cluster environments, the lowest-density filamentary and fractal stellar groups have the highest mean binary fraction: 23.6% and 23.2%, respectively. The mean binary fraction in tidal-tail clusters is 20.8%, and is lowest in the densest halo-type clusters: 14.8%. We find clear evidence of early disruptions of binary stars in the cluster sample. The radial binary fraction depends strongly on the cluster-centric distance across all four types of environments, with the smallest binary fraction within the half-mass radius $r_h$, and increasing towards a few $r_h$. Only hints of mass segregation is found in the target clusters. The observed amount of mass segregation is not significant to generate a global effect inside the target clusters. We evaluate the bias of unresolved binary systems (assuming a primary mass of 1$M_\odot$) in 1D tangential velocity, which is 0.1-1$\,\rm km\,s^{-1}$. Further studies are required to characterize the internal star cluster kinematics using Gaia proper motions.

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arXiv2023

A novel survey for young substellar objects with the W-band filter VI: Spectroscopic census of sub-stellar members and the IMF of $σ$ Orionis cluster

Low-mass stars and sub-stellar objects are essential in tracing the initial mass function (IMF). We study the nearby young $σ$ Orionis cluster (d$\sim$408 pc; age$\sim$1.8 Myr) using deep NIR photometric data in J, W and H-bands from WIRCam on the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope. We use the water absorption feature to photometrically select the brown dwarfs and confirm their nature spectroscopically with the IRTF-SpeX. Additionally we select candidate low-mass stars for spectroscopy and analyze their membership and that of literature sources using astrometry from Gaia DR3. We obtain the near-IR spectra for 28 very low-mass stars and brown dwarfs and estimate their spectral type between M3-M8.5 (mass ranging between 0.3-0.01 M$_{\odot}$). Apart from these, we also identify 5 new planetary mass candidates which require further spectroscopic confirmation of youth. We compile the comprehensive catalog of 170 spectroscopically confirmed members in the central region of the cluster, for a wide mass range of $\sim$19-0.004 M$_{\odot}$. We estimate the star/BD ratio to be $\sim$4, within the range reported for other nearby star forming regions. With the updated catalog of members we trace the IMF down to 4 M$_\mathrm{Jup}$ and we find that a two-segment power-law fits the sub-stellar IMF better than the log-normal distribution.

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arXiv2023

EDEN Survey: Small Transiting Planet Detection Limits and Constraints on the Occurrence Rates for Late M Dwarfs within 15 pc

Earth-sized exoplanets that transit nearby, late spectral type red dwarfs will be prime targets for atmospheric characterization in the coming decade. Such systems, however, are difficult to find via wide-field transit surveys like Kepler or TESS. Consequently, the presence of such transiting planets is unexplored and the occurrence rates of short-period Earth-sized planets around late M dwarfs remain poorly constrained. Here, we present the deepest photometric monitoring campaign of 22 nearby late M dwarf stars, using data from over 500 nights on seven 1-2 meter class telescopes. Our survey includes all known single quiescent northern late M dwarfs within 15 pc. We use transit-injection-and-recovery tests to quantify the completeness of our survey, successfully identify most ($>80\%$) transiting short-period (0.5-1 d) super-Earths ($R > 1.9 R_\oplus$), and are sensitive ($\sim50\%$) to transiting Earth-sized planets ($1.0-1.2 R_\oplus$). Our high sensitivity to transits with a near-zero false positive rate demonstrates an efficient survey strategy. Our survey does not yield a transiting planet detection, yet it provides the most sensitive upper limits on transiting planets orbiting our target stars. Finally, we explore multiple hypotheses about the occurrence rates of short-period planets (from Earth-sized planets to giant planets) around late M dwarfs. We show, for example, that giant planets at short periods ($<1$ day) are uncommon around our target stars. Our dataset provides some insight into occurrence rates of short-period planets around TRAPPIST-1-like stars, and our results can help test planetary formation and system evolution models, as well as guide future observations of nearby late M dwarfs.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2022

Time-Variable Jet Ejections from RW Aur A, RY Tau and DG Tau

We present Gemini-NIFS, VLT-SINFONI and Keck-OSIRIS observations of near-infrared [Fe II] emission associated with the well-studied jets from three active T Tauri stars; RW Aur A, RY Tau and DG Tau taken from 2012-2021. We primarily covered the redshifted jet from RW Aur A, and the blueshifted jets from RY Tau and DG Tau, to investigate long-term time variabilities potentially related to the activities of mass accretion and/or the stellar magnetic fields. All of these jets consist of several moving knots with tangential velocities of 70-240 km s-1, ejected from the star with different velocities and at irregular time intervals. Via comparison with literature, we identify significant differences in tangential velocities for the DG Tau jet between 1985-2008 and 2008-2021. The sizes of the individual knots appear to increase with time, and in turn, their peak brightnesses in the 1.644-micron emission decreased up to a factor of ~30 during the epochs of our observations. A variety of the decay timescales measured in the [Fe II] 1.644 micron emission can be attributed to different pre-shock conditions if the moving knots are unresolved shocks. However, our data do not exclude the possibility that these knots are due to non-uniform density/temperature distributions with another heating mechanism, or in some cases due to stationary shocks without proper motions. Spatially resolved observations of these knots with significantly higher angular resolutions are necessary to better understand their physical nature.

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arXiv2022

A Novel Survey for Young Substellar Objects with the W band Filter.V. IC 348 and Barnard 5 in the Perseus Cloud

We report the discovery of substellar objects in the young star cluster IC 348 and the neighboring Barnard 5 dark cloud, both at the eastern end of the Perseus star-forming complex. The substellar candidates are selected using narrowband imaging, i.e., on and off photometric technique with a filter centered around the water absorption feature at 1.45 microns, a technique proven to be efficient in detecting water-bearing substellar objects. Our spectroscopic observations confirm three brown dwarfs in IC 348. In addition, the source WBIS 03492858+3258064, reported in this work, is the first confirmed brown dwarf discovered toward Barnard 5. Together with the young stellar population selected via near- and mid-infrared colors using the Two Micron All Sky Survey and the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, we diagnose the relation between stellar versus substellar objects with the associated molecular clouds. Analyzed by Gaia EDR3 parallaxes and kinematics of the cloud members across the Perseus region, we propose the star formation scenario of the complex under influence of the nearby OB association.

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arXiv2022

Revealing the dust grain polarization properties as a function of extinction and distance towards NGC 1893

Dust polarization observations at optical wavelengths help to understand the dust grain properties and trace the plane-of-the-sky component of the magnetic field. In this study, we make use of the $I$-band polarization data acquired from AIMPOL along with the distances ($d$) and extinction ($A_{V}$) data to study the variation of polarization fraction ($P$) as a function of $A_{V}$ and $d$ towards the star-forming region, NGC 1893. We employ a broken power-law fit and Bayesian analysis on extinction ($A_{V}$) versus polarization efficiency ($P$/$A_{V}$) and distance ($d$) versus rate of polarization ($P$/$d$). We find that $P$/$A_{V}$ shows a break at an extinction of $\sim$0.9 mag, whereas $P/d$ exhibits a break at a distance of $\sim$1.5 kpc. Based on these, we categorize the dust towards NGC 1893 into two populations: (i) foreground dust confined to $A_{V}$ $<$ $\sim$1 mag and distance up to $\sim$2 kpc and (ii) Perseus spiral arm dust towards NGC 1893 characterized with $A_{V}$ $>$ $\sim$1 mag and distance beyond $\sim$2 kpc. Foreground dust exhibits higher polarization efficiency but a lower polarization rate, whereas Perseus dust shows a lower polarization efficiency but a slightly higher polarization rate. Hence, we suggest that while polarization efficiency reveals the dust grain alignment, the rate of polarization infers about the distribution of dust grains towards NGC 1893. Further, we also shed a light on the spatial variation of intrinsic polarization and magnetic field orientation, and other parameters within the intra-cluster medium of NGC 1893.

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arXiv2022

Interplay between Young Stars and Molecular Clouds in the Ophiuchus Star-forming Complex

We present spatial and kinematic correlation between the young stellar population and the cloud clumps in the Ophiuchus star-forming region. The stellar sample consists of known young objects at various evolutionary stages, taken from the literature, some of which are diagnosed with Gaia EDR3 parallax and proper-motion measurements. The molecular gas is traced by the 850 $μ$m Submillimetre Common-User Bolometer Array-2 image, reaching $\sim$2.3 mJy beam$^{-1}$, the deepest so far for the region, stacked from the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope/Transient program aiming to detect submillimeter outburst events. Our analysis indicates that the more evolved sources, namely the class II and III young stars, are located further away from clouds than class I and flat-spectrum sources that have ample circumstellar matter and are closely associated with natal clouds. Particularly the class II and III population is found to exhibit a structured spatial distribution indicative of passage of shock fronts from the nearby Sco-Cen OB association thereby compressing clouds to trigger star formation, with the latest starbirth episode occurring now in the densest cloud filaments. The young stars at all evolutionary stages share similar kinematics. This suggests that the stellar patterns trace the relics of parental cloud filaments that now have been dispersed.

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arXiv2022

Ultracool dwarfs identified using spectra in LAMOST DR7

In this work, we identify 734 ultracool dwarfs with a spectral type of M6 or later, including one L0. Of this sample, 625 were studied spectroscopically for the first time. All of these ultracool dwarfs are within 360~pc, with a \textit{Gaia} G magnitude brighter than ~19.2 mag. By studying the spectra and checking their stellar parameters (Teff, logg, and [FeH] derived with the LAMOST pipeline, we found their cool red nature and their metallicity to be consistent with the nature of Galactic thin-disk objects. Furthermore, 77 of them show lithium absorption lines at 6708A, further indicating their young ages and substellar nature. Kinematics obtained through LAMOST radial velocities, along with the proper motion and parallax data from Gaia EDR3, also suggest that the majority of our targets are thin-disk objects. Kinematic ages were estimated through the relationship between the velocity dispersion and the average age for a certain population. Moreover, we identified 35 binaries, with 6 of them reported as binaries for the first time.

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arXiv2022

Simultaneous Detection of Optical Flares of the Magnetically Active M Dwarf Wolf 359

We present detections of stellar flares of Wolf\,359, an M6.5 dwarf in the solar neighborhood (2.41~pc) known to be prone to flares due to surface magnetic activity. The observations were carried out from 2020 April 23 to 29 with a 1-m and a 0.5-m telescope separated by nearly 300~km in Xinjiang, China. In 27~hr of photometric monitoring, a total of 13 optical flares were detected, each with a total energy of $\gtrsim 5 \times 10^{29}$~erg. The measured event rate of about once every two hours is consistent with those reported previously in radio, X-ray and optical wavelengths for this star. One such flare, detected by both telescopes on 26 April, was an energetic event with a released energy of nearly $10^{33}$~erg. The two-telescope lightcurves of this major event sampled at different cadences and exposure timings enabled us to better estimate the intrinsic flare profile, which reached a peak of up to 1.6 times the stellar quiescent brightness, that otherwise would have been underestimated in the observed flare amplitudes of about $0.4$ and $0.8$, respectively, with single telescopes alone. The compromise between fast sampling so as to resolve a flare profile versus a longer integration time for higher photometric signal-to-noise provides a useful guidance in the experimental design of future flare observations.

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arXiv2021

A Novel Survey for Young Substellar Objects with the W-band filter III: Searching for very low mass brown dwarfs in Serpens South and Serpens Core

We present CFHT photometry and IRTF spectroscopy of low-mass candidate members of Serpens South and Serpens Core ($\sim$430 pc, $\sim$0.5 Myr), identified using a novel combination of photometric filters, known as the W-band method. We report SC182952+011618, SS182959-020335 and SS183032-021028 as young, low-mass Serpens candidate members, with spectral types in the range M7-M8, M5-L0 and M5-M6.5 respectively. Best-fit effective temperatures and luminosities imply masses of $<$ 0.12M$_{\odot}$ for all three candidate cluster members. We also present Hubble Space Telescope imaging data (F127M, F139M and F850LP) for six targets in Serpens South. We report the discovery of the binary system SS183044-020918AB. The binary components are separated by $\approx$45 AU, with spectral types of M7-M8 and M8-M9, and masses of 0.08-0.1 and 0.05-0.07M$_{\odot}$. We discuss the effects of high dust attenuation on the reliability of our analysis, as well as the presence of reddened background stars in our photometric sample.

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