Herschel Orion Protostar Survey Research Articles

Extension of HOPS out to 500 pc (eHOPS). I. Identification and Modeling of Protostars in the Aquila Molecular Clouds* * HOPS: Herschel Orion Protostar Survey.

We present a Spitzer/Herschel focused survey of the Aquila molecular clouds (d ∼ 436 pc) as part of the eHOPS (extension of the Herschel orion protostar survey, or HOPS, Out to 500 ParSecs) census of nearby protostars. For every source detected in the Herschel/PACS bands, the eHOPS-Aquila catalog contains 1–850 μm SEDs assembled from the Two Micron All Sky Survey, Spitzer, Herschel, the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, and James Clerk Maxwell Telescope/SCUBA-2 data. Using a newly developed set of criteria, we classify objects by their SEDs as protostars, pre-main-sequence stars with disks, and galaxies. A total of 172 protostars are found in Aquila, tightly concentrated in the molecular filaments that thread the clouds. Of these, 71 (42%) are Class 0 protostars, 54 (31%) are Class I protostars, 43 (25%) are flat-spectrum protostars, and four (2%) are Class II sources. Ten of the Class 0 protostars are young PACS bright red sources similar to those discovered in Orion. We compare the SEDs to a grid of radiative transfer models to constrain the luminosities, envelope densities, and envelope masses of the protostars. A comparison of the eHOPS-Aquila to the HOPS protostars in Orion finds that the protostellar luminosity functions in the two star-forming regions are statistically indistinguishable, the bolometric temperatures/envelope masses of eHOPS-Aquila protostars are shifted to cooler temperatures/higher masses, and the eHOPS-Aquila protostars do not show the decline in luminosity with evolution found in Orion. We briefly discuss whether these differences are due to biases between the samples, diverging star formation histories, or the influence of environment on protostellar evolution.

300: An ACA 870 μm Continuum Survey of Orion Protostars and Their Evolution

We present an 870 μm continuum survey of 300 protostars from the Herschel Orion Protostar Survey using the Atacama Compact Array (ACA). These data measure protostellar flux densities on envelope scales ≤8000 au (20″) and resolve the structure of envelopes with 1600 au (4″) resolution, a factor of 3–5 improvement in angular resolution over existing single-dish 870 μm observations. We compare the ACA observations to Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array 12 m array observations at 870 μm with ∼0.″1 (40 au) resolution. Using the 12 m data to measure the fluxes from disks and the ACA data within 2500 au to measure the combined disk plus envelope fluxes, we calculate the 12 m/ACA 870 μm flux ratios. Our sample shows a clear evolution in this ratio. Class 0 protostars are mostly envelope-dominated with ratios <0.5. In contrast, Flat Spectrum protostars are primarily disk-dominated with ratios near 1, although with a number of face-on protostars dominated by their envelopes. Class I protostars span the range from envelope to disk-dominated. The increase in ratio is accompanied by a decrease in the envelope fluxes and estimated mass infall rates. We estimate that 80% of the mass is accreted during the envelope-dominated phase. We find that the 12 m/ACA flux ratio is an evolutionary indicator that largely avoids the inclination and foreground extinction dependence of spectral energy distribution-based indicators.

An HST Survey of Protostellar Outflow Cavities: Does Feedback Clear Envelopes?

Abstract We study protostellar envelope and outflow evolution using Hubble Space Telescope NICMOS or WFC3 images of 304 protostars in the Orion molecular clouds. These near-IR images resolve structures in the envelopes delineated by the scattered light of the central protostars with 80 au resolution, and they complement the 1.2 μm to 870 μm spectral energy distributions (SEDs) obtained with the Herschel Orion Protostar Survey program. Based on their 1.60 μm morphologies, we classify the protostars into five categories: nondetections, point sources without nebulosity, bipolar cavity sources, unipolar cavity sources, and irregulars. We find point sources without associated nebulosity are the most numerous, and show through monochromatic Monte Carlo radiative transfer modeling that this morphology occurs when protostars are observed at low inclinations or have low envelope densities. We also find that the morphology is correlated with the SED-determined evolutionary class, with Class 0 protostars more likely to be nondetections, Class I protostars to show cavities, and flat-spectrum protostars to be point sources. Using an edge detection algorithm to trace the projected edges of the cavities, we fit power laws to the resulting cavity shapes, thereby measuring the cavity half-opening angles and power-law exponents. We find no evidence for the growth of outflow cavities as protostars evolve through the Class I protostar phase, in contradiction with previous studies of smaller samples. We conclude that the decline of mass infall with time cannot be explained by the progressive clearing of envelopes by growing outflow cavities. Furthermore, the low star formation efficiency inferred for molecular cores cannot be explained by envelope clearing alone.

The Herschel Orion Protostar Survey: Far-infrared Photometry and Colors of Protostars and Their Variations across Orion A and B*

Abstract The degree to which the properties of protostars are affected by environment remains an open question. To investigate this, we look at the Orion A and B molecular clouds, home to most of the protostars within 500 pc. At ∼400 pc, Orion is close enough to distinguish individual protostars across a range of environments in terms of both the stellar and gas projected densities. As part of the Herschel Orion Protostar Survey (HOPS), we used the Photodetector Array Camera and Spectrometer to map 108 partially overlapping square fields with edge lengths of 5′ or 8′ and measure the 70 and 160 μm flux densities of 338 protostars within them. In this paper we examine how these flux densities and their ratio depend on evolutionary state and environment within the Orion complex. We show that Class 0 protostars occupy a region of the 70 μm flux density versus 160 μm/70 μm flux density ratio diagram that is distinct from their more evolved counterparts. We then present evidence that the Integral-Shaped Filament (ISF) and Orion B contain protostars with more massive inner envelopes than those in the more sparsely populated LDN 1641 region. This can be interpreted as evidence for increasing star formation rates in the ISF and Orion B or as a tendency for more massive inner envelopes to be inherited from denser birth environments. We also provide technical details about the mapmaking and photometric procedures used in the HOPS program.

ALMA Survey of Orion Planck Galactic Cold Clumps (ALMASOP). I. Detection of New Hot Corinos with the ACA

Abstract We report the detection of four new hot corino sources, G211.47–19.27S, G208.68–19.20N1, G210.49–19.79W, and G192.12–11.10, from a survey study of Planck Galactic Cold Clumps in the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex with the Atacama Compact Array. Three sources had been identified as low-mass Class 0 protostars in the Herschel Orion Protostar Survey. One source in the λ Orionis region is first reported as a protostellar core. We have observed abundant complex organic molecules (COMs), primarily methanol but also other oxygen-bearing COMs (in G211.47–19.27S and G208.68–19.20N1) and the molecule of prebiotic interest NH2CHO (in G211.47–19.27S), signifying the presence of hot corinos. While our spatial resolution is not sufficient to resolve most of the molecular emission structure, the large line width and high rotational temperature of COMs suggest that they likely reside in the hotter and innermost region immediately surrounding the protostar. In G211.47–19.27S, the D/H ratio of methanol ([CH2DOH]/[CH3OH]) and the 12C/13C ratio of methanol ([CH3OH]/[13CH3OH]) are comparable to those of other hot corinos. Hydrocarbons and long-carbon-chain molecules such as c-C3H2 and HCCCN are also detected in the four sources, likely tracing the outer and cooler molecular envelopes.

Herschel Observations of Protoplanetary Disks in Lynds 1641*

Abstract We analyze Herschel Space Observatory observations of 104 young stellar objects with protoplanetary disks in the ∼1.5 Myr star-forming region Lynds 1641 (L1641) within the Orion A Molecular Cloud. We present spectral energy distributions from the optical to the far-infrared including new photometry from the Herschel Photodetector Array Camera and Spectrometer at 70 μm. Our sample, taken as part of the Herschel Orion Protostar Survey, contains 24 transitional disks, 8 of which we identify for the first time in this work. We analyze the full disks (FDs) with irradiated accretion disk models to infer dust settling properties. Using forward modeling to reproduce the observed n K S − [ 70 ] index for the FD sample, we find the observed disk indices are consistent with models that have depletion of dust in the upper layers of the disk relative to the midplane, indicating significant dust settling. We perform the same analysis on FDs in Taurus with Herschel data and find that Taurus is slightly more evolved, although both samples show signs of dust settling. These results add to the growing literature that significant dust evolution can occur in disks by ∼1.5 Myr.

The Herschel Orion Protostar Survey: Luminosity and Envelope Evolution

Abstract The Herschel Orion Protostar Survey obtained well-sampled 1.2–870 μm spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of over 300 protostars in the Orion molecular clouds, home to most of the young stellar objects (YSOs) in the nearest 500 pc. We plot the bolometric luminosities and temperatures for 330 Orion YSOs, 315 of which have bolometric temperatures characteristic of protostars. The histogram of the bolometric temperature is roughly flat; 29% of the protostars are in Class 0. The median luminosity decreases by a factor of four with increasing bolometric temperature; consequently, the Class 0 protostars are systematically brighter than the Class I protostars, with a median luminosity of 2.3 as opposed to 0.87 . At a given bolometric temperature, the scatter in luminosities is three orders of magnitude. Using fits to the SEDs, we analyze how the luminosities corrected for inclination and foreground reddening relate to the mass in the inner 2500 au of the best-fit model envelopes. The histogram of the envelope mass is roughly flat, while the median-corrected luminosity peaks at 15 for young envelopes and falls to 1.7 for late-stage protostars with remnant envelopes. The spread in luminosity at each envelope mass is three orders of magnitude. Envelope masses that decline exponentially with time explain the flat mass histogram and the decrease in luminosity, while the formation of a range of stellar masses explains the dispersion in luminosity.

THE HERSCHEL ORION PROTOSTAR SURVEY: SPECTRAL ENERGY DISTRIBUTIONS AND FITS USING A GRID OF PROTOSTELLAR MODELS

ABSTRACT We present key results from the Herschel Orion Protostar Survey: spectral energy distributions (SEDs) and model fits of 330 young stellar objects, predominantly protostars, in the Orion molecular clouds. This is the largest sample of protostars studied in a single, nearby star formation complex. With near-infrared photometry from 2MASS, mid- and far-infrared data from Spitzer and Herschel, and submillimeter photometry from APEX, our SEDs cover 1.2–870 μm and sample the peak of the protostellar envelope emission at ∼100 μm. Using mid-IR spectral indices and bolometric temperatures, we classify our sample into 92 Class 0 protostars, 125 Class I protostars, 102 flat-spectrum sources, and 11 Class II pre-main-sequence stars. We implement a simple protostellar model (including a disk in an infalling envelope with outflow cavities) to generate a grid of 30,400 model SEDs and use it to determine the best-fit model parameters for each protostar. We argue that far-IR data are essential for accurate constraints on protostellar envelope properties. We find that most protostars, and in particular the flat-spectrum sources, are well fit. The median envelope density and median inclination angle decrease from Class 0 to Class I to flat-spectrum protostars, despite the broad range in best-fit parameters in each of the three categories. We also discuss degeneracies in our model parameters. Our results confirm that the different protostellar classes generally correspond to an evolutionary sequence with a decreasing envelope infall rate, but the inclination angle also plays a role in the appearance, and thus interpretation, of the SEDs.

Evolution of column density distributions within Orion A

We compare the structure of star-forming molecular clouds in different regions of Orion A to determine how the column density probability distribution function (N-PDF) varies with environmental conditions such as the fraction of young protostars. A correlation between the N-PDF slope and Class 0 protostar fraction has been previously observed in a low-mass star-formation region (Perseus) by Sadavoy; here we test if a similar correlation is observed in a high-mass star-forming region. We use Herschel data to derive a column density map of Orion A. We use the Herschel Orion Protostar Survey catalog for accurate identification and classification of the Orion A young stellar object (YSO) content, including the short-lived Class 0 protostars (with a $\sim$ 0.14 Myr lifetime). We divide Orion A into eight independent 13.5 pc$^2$ regions; in each region we fit the N-PDF distribution with a power-law, and we measure the fraction of Class 0 protostars. We use a maximum likelihood method to measure the N-PDF power-law index without binning. We find that the Class 0 fraction is higher in regions with flatter column density distributions. We test the effects of incompleteness, YSO misclassification, resolution, and pixel-scale. We show that these effects cannot account for the observed trend. Our observations demonstrate an association between the slope of the power-law N-PDF and the Class 0 fractions within Orion A. Various interpretations are discussed including timescales based on the Class 0 protostar fraction assuming a constant star-formation rate. The observed relation suggests that the N-PDF can be related to an "evolutionary state" of the gas. If universal, such a relation permits an evaluation of the evolutionary state from the N-PDF power-law index at much greater distances than those accesible with protostar counts. (abridged)

AHERSCHELAND APEX CENSUS OF THE REDDEST SOURCES IN ORION: SEARCHING FOR THE YOUNGEST PROTOSTARS

We perform a census of the reddest, and potentially youngest, protostars in the Orion molecular clouds using data obtained with the PACS instrument on board the Herschel Space Observatory and the LABOCA and SABOCA instruments on APEX as part of the Herschel Orion Protostar Survey (HOPS). A total of 55 new protostar candidates are detected at 70 μm and 160 μm that are either too faint (m24 > 7 mag) to be reliably classified as protostars or undetected in the Spitzer/MIPS 24 μm band. We find that the 11 reddest protostar candidates with log λFλ70/λFλ24 > 1.65 are free of contamination and can thus be reliably explained as protostars. The remaining 44 sources have less extreme 70/24 colors, fainter 70 μm fluxes, and higher levels of contamination. Taking the previously known sample of Spitzer protostars and the new sample together, we find 18 sources that have log λFλ70/λFλ24 > 1.65; we name these sources "PACS Bright Red sources," or PBRs. Our analysis reveals that the PBR sample is composed of Class 0 like sources characterized by very red spectral energy distributions (SEDs; Tbol < 45 K) and large values of sub-millimeter fluxes (Lsmm/Lbol > 0.6%). Modified blackbody fits to the SEDs provide lower limits to the envelope masses of 0.2–2 M☉ and luminosities of 0.7–10 L☉. Based on these properties, and a comparison of the SEDs with radiative transfer models of protostars, we conclude that the PBRs are most likely extreme Class 0 objects distinguished by higher than typical envelope densities and hence, high mass infall rates.

Results from HOPS: A multiwavelength census of Orion protostars

AbstractSurveys with the Spitzer and Herschel space observatories are now enabling the discovery and characterization of large samples of protostars in nearby molecular clouds, providing the observational basis for a detailed understanding of star formation in diverse environments. We are pursuing this goal with the Herschel Orion Protostar Survey (HOPS), which targets 328 Spitzer ‐identified protostars in the Orion molecular clouds, the largest star‐forming region in the nearest 500 pc. The sample encompasses all phases of protostellar evolution and a wide range of formation environments, from dense clusters to relative isolation. With a grid of radiative transfer models, we fit the 1–870 µm spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of the protostars to estimate their envelope densities, cavity opening angles, inclinations, and total luminosities. After correcting the bolometric luminosities and temperatures of the sources for foreground extinction and inclination, we find a spread of several orders of magnitude in luminosity at all evolutionary states, a constant median luminosity over the more evolved stages, and a possible deficit of high‐inclination, rapidly infalling envelopes among the Spitzer ‐identified sample. We have detected over 100 new sources in the Herschel images; some of them may fill this deficit. We also report results from modeling the pre‐ and post‐outburst 1–870 µm SEDs of V2775 Ori (HOPS 223), a known FU Orionis outburster in the sample. It is the least luminous FU Ori star with a protostellar envelope. (© 2013 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH &amp; Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

HERSCHEL/PACS SPECTROSCOPIC SURVEY OF PROTOSTARS IN ORION: THE ORIGIN OF FAR-INFRARED CO EMISSION

We present far-IR (57-196 mu) spectra of 21 protostars in the Orion molecular clouds, obtained with the Photodetector Array Camera and Spectrometer (PACS) onboard the Herschel Space observatory, as part of the Herschel Orion Protostar Survey (HOPS) program. We analyzed the CO emission lines (J_up = 14-46) in the PACS spectra, extracted within a projected distance of <= 2000 AU centered on the protostar. The total luminosity of the CO lines observed with PACS (L(CO)) is found to increase with increasing L_bol. The CO rotational temperature implied by the line ratios increases with J, and at least 3-4 rotational temperature components are required to fit the observed rotational diagram. The rotational temperature components are remarkably invariant between protostars and show no dependence on L_bol, T_bol or envelope density, implying that if the emitting gas is in LTE, the CO emission must arise in multiple temperature components that remain independent of L_bol over two orders of magnitudes. The observed CO emission can also be modeled as arising from a single temperature gas component or from a medium with a power-law temperature distribution; both of these require sub-thermally excited molecular gas at low densities (n(H_2) <= 10^6 cm^-3) and high temperatures (T >= 2000 K). Our results suggest that the contribution from PDRs along the envelope cavity walls is unlikely to be the dominant component of the CO emission observed with PACS. Instead, the "universality" of the rotational temperatures and the observed correlation between L(CO) and L_bol can most easily be explained if the observed CO emission originates in shock-heated, hot (T >= 2000 K), sub-thermally excited (n(H_2) <= 10^6 cm^-3) molecular gas. Post-shock gas at these densities is more likely to be found within the outflow cavities along the molecular outflow or along the cavity walls at radii >= several 100-1000 AU.