Low-mass Objects Research Articles

The JWST/NIRISS Deep Spectroscopic Survey for Young Brown Dwarfs and Free-floating Planets

The discovery and characterization of free-floating planetary-mass objects (FFPMOs) is fundamental to our understanding of star and planet formation. Here we report results from an extremely deep spectroscopic survey of the young star cluster NGC1333 using Near-InfraRed Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (NIRISS) wide field slitless spectroscopy on the James Webb Space Telescope. The survey is photometrically complete to K ∼ 21, and includes useful spectra for objects as faint as K ∼ 20.5. The observations cover 19 known brown dwarfs, for most of which we confirm spectral types using NIRISS spectra. We discover six new candidates with L-dwarf spectral types that are plausible planetary-mass members of NGC1333, with estimated masses between 5 and 15 M Jup. One, at ∼5 M Jup, shows clear infrared excess emission and is a good candidate to be the lowest-mass object known to have a disk. We do not find any objects later than mid-L spectral type (M ≲ 4 M Jup). The paucity of Jupiter-mass objects, despite the survey’s unprecedented sensitivity, suggests that our observations reach the lowest-mass objects that formed like stars in NGC1333. Our findings put the fraction of FFPMOs in NGC1333 at ∼10% of the number of cluster members, significantly more than expected from the typical log-normal stellar mass function. We also search for wide binaries in our images and report a young brown dwarf with a planetary-mass companion.

The Supersonic Project: Early Star Formation with the Streaming Velocity

At high redshifts (z ≳ 12), the relative velocity between baryons and dark matter (the so-called streaming velocity) significantly affects star formation in low-mass objects. Streaming substantially reduces the abundance of low-mass gas objects while simultaneously allowing for the formation of supersonically induced gas objects (SIGOs) and their associated star clusters outside of dark matter halos. Here, we present a study of the population-level effects of streaming on star formation within both halos and SIGOs in a set of simulations with and without streaming. Notably, we find that streaming actually enhances star formation within individual halos of all masses at redshifts between z = 12 and z = 20. This is demonstrated both as an increased star formation rate per object as well as an enhancement of the Kennicutt–Schmidt relation for objects with streaming. We find that our simulations are consistent with some observations at high redshift, but on a population level, they continue to underpredict star formation relative to the majority of observations. Notably, our simulations do not include feedback and so can be taken as an upper limit on the star formation rate, exacerbating these differences. However, simulations of overdense regions (both with and without streaming) agree with observations, suggesting a strategy for extracting information about the overdensity and streaming velocity in a given survey volume in future observations.

Rotation and Abundances of the Benchmark Brown Dwarf HD 33632 Ab from Keck/KPIC High-resolution Spectroscopy

We present the projected rotational velocity and molecular abundances for HD 33632 Ab obtained via Keck Planet Imager and Characterizer (KPIC) high-resolution spectroscopy. HD 33632 Ab is a nearby benchmark brown dwarf companion at a separation of ∼20 au that straddles the L–T transition. Using a forward-modeling framework with on-axis host star spectra, which provides self-consistent substellar atmospheric and retrieval models for HD 33632 Ab, we derive a projected rotational velocity of 53 ± 3 km s−1 and carbon monoxide and water mass fractions of logCO = −2.3 ± 0.3 and logH2O = −2.7 ± 0.2, respectively. The inferred carbon-to-oxygen ratio (C/O = 0.58 ± 0.14), molecular abundances, and metallicity ([C/H] = 0.0 ± 0.2 dex) of HD 33632 Ab are consistent with its host star. Although detectable methane opacities are expected in L–T transition objects, we did not recover methane in our KPIC spectra, partly due to the high v sin i and to disequilibrium chemistry at the pressures to which we are sensitive. We parameterize the spin as the ratio of rotation to the breakup velocity, and compare HD 33632 Ab to a compilation of >200 very low-mass objects (M ≲ 0.1 M ⊙) that have spin measurements in the literature. There appears to be no clear trend for the isolated low-mass field objects versus mass, but a tentative trend is identified for low-mass companions and directly imaged exoplanets, similar to previous findings. A larger sample of close-in gas giant exoplanets and brown dwarfs will critically examine our understanding of their formation and evolution through rotation and chemical abundance measurements.

Discovery of a Hypervelocity L Subdwarf at the Star/Brown Dwarf Mass Limit

We report the discovery of a high-velocity, very low-mass star or brown dwarf whose kinematics suggest it is unbound to the Milky Way. CWISE J124909.08+362116.0 was identified by citizen scientists in the Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 program as a high-proper-motion (μ = 0.″9 yr−1) faint red source. Moderate-resolution spectroscopy with Keck/NIRES reveals it to be a metal-poor early L subdwarf with a large radial velocity (−103 ± 10 km s−1), and its estimated distance of 125 ± 8 pc yields a speed of 456 ± 27 km s−1 in the Galactic rest frame, near the local escape velocity for the Milky Way. We explore several potential scenarios for the origin of this source, including ejection from the Galactic center ≳3 Gyr in the past, survival as the mass donor companion to an exploded white dwarf, acceleration through a three-body interaction with a black hole binary in a globular cluster, and accretion from a Milky Way satellite system. CWISE J1249+3621 is the first hypervelocity very low-mass star or brown dwarf to be found and the nearest of all such systems. It may represent a broader population of very high-velocity, low-mass objects that have undergone extreme accelerations.

The accretion burst of the massive young stellar object G323.46−0.08

Context. Accretion bursts from low-mass young stellar objects (YSOs) have been known for many decades. In recent years, the first accretion bursts of massive YSOs (MYSOs) have been observed. These phases of intense protostellar growth are of particular importance for studying massive star formation. Bursts of MYSOs are accompanied by flares of Class II methanol masers (hereafter masers), which are caused by an increase in exciting mid-infrared (MIR) emission. They can lead to long-lasting thermal afterglows of the dust continuum radiation visible at infrared (IR) and (sub)millimeter (hereafter (sub)mm) wavelengths. Furthermore, they might cause a scattered light echo. The G323.46−0.08 (hereafter G323) event, which shows all these features, extends the small sample of known MYSO bursts. Aims. Maser observations of the MYSO G323 show evidence of a flare, which was presumed to be caused by an accretion burst. This should be verified with IR data. We used time-dependent radiative transfer (TDRT) to characterize the heating and cooling timescales for eruptive MYSOs and to infer the main burst parameters. Methods. Burst light curves, as well as the pre-burst spectral energy distribution (SED) were established from archival IR data. The properties of the MYSO, including its circumstellar disk and envelope, were derived by using static radiative transfer modeling of pre-burst data. For the first time, TDRT was used to predict the temporal evolution of the SED. Observations with SOFIA/HAWC+ were performed to constrain the burst energy from the strength of the thermal afterglow. Image subtraction and ratioing were applied to reveal the light echo. Results. The G323 accretion burst is confirmed. It reached its peak in late 2013/early 2014 with a Ks-band increase of ∼2.5 mag. Both Ks-band and integrated maser flux densities follow an exponential decay. TDRT indicates that the duration of the thermal afterglow in the far-infrared (FIR) can exceed the burst duration by years. The latter was proved by SOFIA observations, which indicate a flux increase of (14.2 ± 4.6)% at 70 μm and (8.5 ± 6.1)% at 160 μm in 2022 (2 yr after the burst ended). A one-sided light echo emerged that was propagating into the interstellar medium. Conclusions. The burst origin of the G323 maser flare has been verified. TDRT simulations revealed the strong influence of the burst energetics and the local dust distribution on the strength and duration of the afterglow. The G323 burst is probably the most energetic MYSO burst that has been observed so far. Within 8.4 yr, an energy of (0.9−0.8+2.5) × 1047 erg was released. The short timescale points to the accretion of a compact body, while the burst energy corresponds to an accumulated mass of at least (7−6+20) MJup and possibly even more if the protostar is bloated. In this case, the accretion event might have triggered protostellar pulsations, which give rise to the observed maser periodicity. The associated IR light echo is the second observed from a MYSO burst.

Accretion Funnel Reconfiguration during an Outburst in a Young Stellar Object: EX Lupi

EX Lupi, a low-mass young stellar object, went into an accretion-driven outburst in 2022 March. The outburst caused a sudden phase change of ∼112° ± 5° in periodically oscillating multiband lightcurves. Our high-resolution spectra obtained with the High Resolution Spectrograph (HRS) on board the Southern African Large Telescope also revealed a consistent phase change in the periodically varying radial velocities (RVs), along with an increase in the RV amplitude of various emission lines. The phase change and increase in RV amplitude morphologically translates to a change in the azimuthal and latitudinal location of the accretion hotspot over the stellar surface, which indicates a reconfiguration of the accretion funnel geometry. Our three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulations reproduce the phase change for EX Lupi. To explain the observations, we explored the possibility of forward shifting of the dipolar accretion funnel as well as the possibility of the emergence of a new accretion funnel. During the outburst, we also found evidence of the hotspot’s morphology extending azimuthally asymmetrically with a leading hot edge and cold tail along the stellar rotation. Further, our high-cadence photometry showed that the accretion flow has clumps. We also detected possible clumpy accretion events in the HRS spectra that showed episodically highly blueshifted wings in the Ca ii IR triplet and Balmer H lines.

Strange Quark Stars: The Role of Excluded Volume Effects

We study cold strange quark stars employing an enhanced version of the quark-mass density-dependent model, which incorporates excluded volume effects to address non-perturbative QCD repulsive interactions. We provide a comparative analysis of our mass formula parametrization with previous models from the literature. We identify the regions within the parameter space where three-flavor quark matter is more stable than the most tightly bound atomic nucleus (stability window). Specifically, we show that excluded volume effects do not change the Gibbs free energy per baryon at zero pressure, rendering the stability window unaffected. The curves of pressure versus energy density exhibit various shapes—convex upward, concave downward, or nearly linear—depending on the mass parametrization. This behavior results in different patterns of increase, decrease, or constancy in the speed of sound as a function of baryon number density. We analyze the mass–radius relationship of strange quark stars, revealing a significant increase in maximum gravitational mass and a shift in the curves toward larger radii as the excluded volume effect intensifies. Excluded volume effects render our models compatible with all modern astrophysical constraints, including the properties of the recently observed low-mass compact object HESSJ1731.

Lyα Emission at z = 7–13: Clear Evolution of Lyα Equivalent Width Indicating a Late Cosmic Reionization History

We present the evolution of Lyα emission derived from 53 galaxies at z = 6.6–13.2, which have been identified by multiple JWST/NIRSpec spectroscopy programs of Early Release Science, General Observer, Director's Discretionary Time, and Guaranteed Time Observations. These galaxies fall on the star formation main sequence and are typical star-forming galaxies with UV magnitudes of −22.5 ≤ M UV ≤ −17.0. We find that 15 out of 53 galaxies show Lyα emission at the >3σ level, and we obtain Lyα equivalent width (EW) measurements and stringent 3σ upper limits for the 15 and 38 galaxies, respectively. Confirming that Lyα velocity offsets and line widths of our galaxies are comparable to those of low-redshift Lyα emitters, we investigate the redshift evolution of the Lyα EW. We find that Lyα EWs statistically decrease toward high redshifts on the Lyα EW versus the M UV plane for various probability distributions of the uncertainties. We then evaluate neutral hydrogen fractions x H I with the redshift evolution of the Lyα EW and the cosmic reionization simulation results on the basis of a Bayesian inference framework, and obtain x H I < 0.79, = 0.62 − 0.36 + 0.15 ?> , and 0.93 − 0.07 + 0.04 ?> at z ∼ 7, 8, and 9–13, respectively. These moderately large x H I values are consistent with the Planck cosmic microwave background optical depth measurement and previous x H I constraints from galaxy and QSO Lyα damping wing absorption and strongly indicate a late reionization history. Such a late reionization history suggests that major sources of reionization would emerge late and be hosted by moderately massive halos compared with the widely accepted picture of abundant low-mass objects for the sources of reionization.

Mid-infrared Spectrum of the Disk around the Forming Companion GQ Lup B Revealed by JWST/MIRI

GQ Lup B is a forming brown dwarf companion (M ∼ 10–30 M J) showing evidence for an infrared excess associated with a disk surrounding the companion itself. Here we present mid-infrared (MIR) observations of GQ Lup B with the Medium Resolution Spectrometer (MRS) on JWST, spanning 4.8–11.7 μm. We remove the stellar contamination using reference differential imaging based on principal component analysis, demonstrating that the MRS can perform high-contrast science. Our observations provide a sensitive probe of the disk surrounding GQ Lup B. We find no sign of a silicate feature, similar to other disks surrounding very low-mass objects, which likely implies significant grain growth ( amin≳5 μm) and potentially dust settling. Additionally, we find that if the emission is dominated by an inner wall, the disk around the companion might have an inner cavity larger than the one set by sublimation. Conversely, if our data probe the emission from a thin flat disk, we find the disk to be very compact. More observations are required to confirm this findings and assess the vertical structure of the disk. This approach paves the path to the future study of circumplanetary disks and their physical properties. Our results demonstrate that MIR spectroscopic observations can reveal the physical characteristics of disks around forming companions, providing unique insights into the formation of giant planets, brown dwarfs, and their satellites.

Two-flavor Color Superconducting Quark Stars May Not Exist

Large uncertainties in the determinations of the equation of state of dense stellar matter allow for the intriguing possibility that the bulk quark matter in beta equilibrium might be the true ground state of the matter at zero pressure. Also, quarks will form Cooper pairs very readily since the dominant interaction between quarks is attractive in some channels. As a result, quark matter will generically exhibit color superconductivity, with the favored pairing pattern at intermediately high densities being two-flavor pairing. In the light of several possible candidates for such self-bound quark stars, including the very low-mass central compact object in supernova remnant HESS J1731-347 reported recently, we carry out a one-field theoretic model, the Nambu–Jona–Lasinio model, to investigate the stability of the beta-stable two-flavor color superconducting (2SC) phase of quark matter, but find no physically allowed parameter space for the existence of 2SC quark stars.

New Herbig–Haro objects associated with embedded sources

ABSTRACT We continue to present the results of the Byurakan Narrow Band Imaging Survey (BNBIS). The main goal of this survey is to search for Herbig–Haro (HH) objects and jets in Galactic dark clouds. In this work we present the results of the search in the vicinity of infrared sources that are bright in the WISE survey and embedded in the dark clouds. The survey is performed with the 1-m Schmidt telescope of Byurakan Observatory, lately equipped with a new CCD detector, which allows to obtain one square degree images of the sky in various filters. Narrow-band filters were used to obtain H α and [S ii] images, and a medium-width filter was used for the continuum imaging. New HH flows and knots were found near six embedded IR sources, which constitutes a significant proportion of the objects observed. At least two of the newly found HH flows (HH 1226 and HH 1227) lie in isolated dark clouds, thus pointing to active star formation in these regions. Other flows are also located in detached and dense globules or filaments. The length of the HH 1228 flow is about 1 pc; it has also a molecular hydrogen counterpart of the same extension. Coordinates, charts, detailed descriptions and distance estimates are provided. The lower limits of bolometric luminosities of the source stars are typical for low-mass young stellar objects.

MIDIS: JWST NIRCam and MIRI Unveil the Stellar Population Properties of Lyα Emitters and Lyman-break Galaxies at z ≃ 3–7

We study the stellar population properties of 182 spectroscopically confirmed (MUSE/VLT) Lyα emitters (LAEs) and 450 photometrically selected Lyman-break galaxies (LBGs) at z = 2.8–6.7 in the Hubble Extreme Deep Field. Leveraging the combined power of Hubble Space Telescope and JWST NIRCam and MIRI observations, we analyze their rest-frame UV-through-near-IR spectral energy distributions, with MIRI playing a crucial role in robustly assessing the LAEs’ stellar masses and ages. Our LAEs are low-mass objects (log10(M⋆/M⊙)≃7.5) with little or no dust extinction (E(B − V) ≃ 0.1) and a blue UV continuum slope (β ≃ −2.2). While 75% of our LAEs are young (<100 Myr), the remaining 25% have significantly older stellar populations (≥100 Myr). These old LAEs are statistically more massive, less extinct, and have lower specific star formation rate than young LAEs. Besides, they populate the plane of M ⋆ versus star formation rate along the main sequence of star-forming galaxies, while young LAEs populate the starburst region. The comparison between the LAEs’ properties and those of a stellar-mass-matched sample of LBGs shows no statistical difference between these objects, except for the LBGs’ redder UV continuum slope and marginally larger E(B − V) values. Interestingly, 48% of the LBGs have ages <10 Myr and are classified as starbursts, but lack detectable Lyα emission. This is likely due to H i resonant scattering and/or dust-selective extinction. Overall, we find that JWST observations are crucial in determining the properties of LAEs and shedding light on their comparison with LBGs.

The ATLAS jet trigger for Run 3 of the LHC

The ATLAS jet trigger is instrumental in selecting events both for Standard Model measurements and Beyond the Standard Model physics searches. Non-standard triggering strategies, such as storing only a small fraction of trigger objects for each event, avoids bandwidth limitations and increases sensitivity to low-mass and low-momentum objects. These events are used by Trigger Level Analyses, which can reach regions of parameter space that would otherwise be inaccessible. To this end, the calibration of trigger-level jets is imperative both to ensure good trigger performance across the ATLAS physics programme and to provide well-measured jets for Trigger Level Analysis. This contribution presents an introduction to the ATLAS jet trigger for Run-3 of the LHC and discusses the performance of the trigger jet calibration. These studies will allow us to commission a Run-3 trigger jet calibration that provides excellent performance across a broad jet transverse momentum range starting from 25 GeV.

LAMOST J040901.83+329355.6 – a new Galactic star with Wolf–Rayet characteristics in the transitional stage from post-asymptotic giant branch to central star of a planetary nebula

ABSTRACT The similarity in physical conditions in the winds of low-mass post-asymptotic giant branch stars and evolved massive stars leads to the appearance of an interesting phenomenon of spectral mimicry. Because of this, the discovery of every new star with a Wolf–Rayet (WR) spectrum requires a special study of its evolutionary status before it can be included in the list of Galactic WR stars. A couple of years ago, LAMOST J040901.83+323955.6 (hereafter J0409+3239) was selected as a WR star in the LAMOST spectroscopic data base by machine-learning methods. In this work, we investigate its evolutionary status. After analysing the spatial location of J0409+3239 in the Galaxy and its position in the colour–magnitude diagram, we conclude that J0409+3239 is instead a low-mass object displayng the WR phenomenon. Its luminosity is $L*=1000~\rm L_\odot$ and its effective temperature is Teff = 40 000 K. Using new and archival photometric data, we detected irregular variability on time-scales from hours to tens of days with an amplitude of up to ~0.2 mag. A comparison of the spectrum obtained in 2022 with that from 2014 also shows evidence of spectral variability. The absence of a clearly detected circumstellar nebula prevents the classification of J0409+3239 as [WR], namely as the central star of a planetary nebula (CSPN). However, the position of J0409+3239 on the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram suggests that this object is a low-mass star caught in a rare transitional phase to CSPN. Estimation of the J0409+3239 mass based on evolutionary tracks shows that it is less than $0.9~\rm M_\odot$, and thus that the age of the Galaxy is barely sufficient for the star to have evolved to its current stage.

An HST Study of the Substellar Population of NGC 2024

We performed an HST/WFC3-IR imaging survey of the young stellar cluster NGC 2024 in three filters probing the 1.4 μm H2O absorption feature, characteristic of the population of low-mass and substellar-mass objects down to a few Jupiter masses. We detect 812 point sources, 550 of them in all three filters with signal-to-noise ratio greater than 5. Using a distance-independent two-color diagram, we determine extinction values as high as A V ≃ 40. We also find that the change of effective wavelengths in our filters results in higher A V values as the reddening increases. Reconstructing a dereddened color–magnitude diagram, we derive a luminosity histogram both for the full sample of candidate cluster members and for an extinction-limited subsample containing the 50% of sources with A V ≲ 15. Assuming a standard extinction law like Cardelli et al. with a nominal R V = 3.1, we produce a luminosity function in good agreement with the one resulting from a Salpeter-like initial mass function for a 1 Myr isochrone. There is some evidence of an excess of luminous stars in the most embedded region. We posit that the correlation may be due to those sources being younger, and therefore overluminous, than the more evolved and less extincted cluster's stars. We compare our classification scheme based on the depth of the 1.4 μm photometric feature with the results from the spectroscopic survey of Levine et al., and we report a few peculiar sources and morphological features typical of the rich phenomenology commonly encountered in young star-forming regions.

Enhanced star formation and metallicity deficit in the USS 1558−003 forming protocluster at z = 2.53

ABSTRACT We use K-band multi-object near-infrared spectroscopy with Keck/MOSFIRE to search for environmental imprints on the gas properties of 27 narrow-band selected H α emitters (HAEs) across the three major clumps of the assembling USS1558−003 protocluster at z = 2.53. We target the H α and [N ii]λ6584 emission lines to obtain star formation rates (SFR) and gas-phase oxygen abundances for our sources, confirming the membership of 23 objects. HAEs belonging to this protocluster display enhanced SFRs with respect to the main sequence of star formation at the same cosmic epoch. This effect is more prominent for low-mass galaxies ($\mathrm{\log \mathit{ M}_*/M_\odot \lt 10.0}$), which may be experiencing a vigorous phase of mass assembly shortly after they were formed. We compute the individual and stacked gas-phase metallicities for our sources finding a metallicity deficit for low-mass objects when compared against the field mass–metallicity relation and the massive Spiderweb protocluster at z = 2.16. These results suggest that HAEs within USS1558−003 may be less evolved than those in the Spiderweb protocluster. Finally, we explore the gas metallicity–gas fraction relation for a small sample of five galaxies with CO(3–2) molecular gas information. Assuming our objects are in equilibrium, we obtain a relatively wide range of mass loading factors (λ = 0.5–2) matching field samples at the cosmic noon but in contrast with our previous results in the Spiderweb protocluster. We speculate that these discrepancies between protoclusters may be (partly) driven by differences in their current dynamical and mass assembly stages, hinting at the co-evolution of protoclusters and their galaxy populations at 2 &amp;lt; z &amp;lt; 3.

A global view on star formation: The GLOSTAR Galactic plane survey

As part of the GLObal view of STAR formation in the Milky Way (GLOSTAR) survey, we present the high-resolution continuum source catalog for the regions (ℓ = 2° −28°, 36° −40°, 56° −60°, and |b| &lt; 1.0°), observed with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) in its B-configuration. The continuum images were optimized to detect compact sources on angular scales up to 4″, and have a typical noise level of 1σ ~ 0.08 mJy beam−1 for an angular resolution of 1″, which makes GLOSTAR currently the highest resolution as well as the most sensitive radio survey of the northern Galactic plane at 4–8 GHz. We extracted 13354 sources above a threshold of 5σ and 5437 sources above 7σ that represent the high-reliability catalog. We determined the in-band spectral index (α) for the sources in the 7σ-threshold catalog. The mean value is α = −0.6, which indicates that the catalog is dominated by sources emitting nonthermal radio emission. We identified the most common source types detected in radio surveys: 251 H II region candidates (113 new), 282 planetary nebulae (PNe) candidates (127 new), 784 radio star candidates (581 new), and 4080 extragalactic radio source candidates (2175 new). A significant fraction of H II regions and PNe candidates have α &lt; −0.1 indicating that these candidates could contain radio jets, winds or outflows from high-mass and low-mass stellar objects. We identified 245 variable radio sources by comparing the flux densities of compact sources from the GLOSTAR survey and the Co-Ordinated Radio “N” Infrared Survey for High-mass star formation (CORNISH), and find that most of them are infrared quiet. The catalog is typically 95% complete for point sources at a flux density of 0.6 mJy (i.e., a typical 7σ level) and the systematic positional uncertainty is ≲ 0″.1.

A probable Keplerian disk feeding an optically revealed massive young star.

The canonical picture of star formation involves disk-mediated accretion, with Keplerian accretion disks and associated bipolar jets primarily observed in nearby, low-mass young stellar objects (YSOs). Recently, rotating gaseous structures and Keplerian disks have been detected around several massive (M > 8 M⊙) YSOs (MYSOs)1-4, including several disk-jet systems5-7. All the known MYSO systems are in the Milky Way, and all are embedded in their natal material. Here we report the detection of a rotating gaseous structure around an extragalactic MYSO in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The gas motion indicates that there is a radial flow of material falling from larger scales onto a central disk-like structure. The latter exhibits signs of Keplerian rotation, so that there is a rotating toroid feeding an accretion disk and thus the growth of the central star. The system is in almost all aspects comparable to Milky Way high-mass YSOs accreting gas from a Keplerian disk. The key difference between this source and its Galactic counterparts is that it is optically revealed rather than being deeply embedded in its natal material as is expected of such a massive young star. We suggest that this is the consequence of the star having formed in a low-metallicity and low-dust content environment. Thus, these results provide important constraints for models of the formation and evolution of massive stars and their circumstellar disks.

A resolved rotating disk wind from a young T Tauri star in the Bok globule CB 26

Context. The disk-outflow connection plays a key role in extracting excess angular momentum from a forming protostar. Although indications of jet rotation have been reported for a few objects, observational constraints of outflow rotation are still very scarce. We have previously reported the discovery of a small collimated molecular outflow from the edge-on T Tauri star-disk system in the Bok globule CB 26 that shows a peculiar velocity pattern, reminiscent of an outflow that corotates with the Keplerian disk. However, we could not ultimately exclude possible alternative explanations for the origin of the observed velocity field. Aims. We report new, high angular resolution millimeter-interferometric observations of CB 26 with the aim of revealing the morphology and kinematics of the outflow at the disk-outflow interface to unambiguously discriminate between the possible alternative explanations for the observed peculiar velocity pattern. Methods. The IRAM PdBI array and the 30 m telescope were used to observe HCO+(1–0) and H13CO+(1–0) at 3.3 mm and 12CO(2–1) at 1.3 mm in three configurations plus zerospacing, resulting in spectral line maps with angular resolutions of 3.″5 and 0.″5, respectively. The SMA was used to observe the HCO+(3–2) line at 1.1 mm with an angular resolution of 1.″35. Additional earlier observations of 13CO(1-0) at 2.7mm with an angular resolution of 1.″0, obtained with OVRO, are also used for the analysis. Using a physical model of the disk, which was derived from the dust continuum emission, we employed chemo-dynamical modeling combined with line radiative transfer calculations to constrain kinematic parameters of the system and to construct a model of the CO emission from the disk that allowed us to separate the emission of the disk from that of the outflow. Results. Our observations confirm the disk-wind nature of the rotating molecular outflow from CB 26 - YSO 1. The new high-resolution data reveal an X-shaped morphology of the CO emission close to the disk, and vertical streaks extending from the disk surface with a small half-opening angle of ≈7°, which can be traced out to vertical heights of ≈500 au. We interpret this emission as the combination of the disk atmosphere and a well-collimated disk wind, of which we mainly see the outer walls of the outflow cone. The decomposition of this emission into a contribution from the disk atmosphere and the disk wind allowed us to trace the disk wind down to vertical heights of ≈40 au, where it is launched from the surface of the flared disk at radii of RL ≈ 20–45 au. The disk wind is rotating with the same orientation and speed as the Keplerian disk and the velocity structure of the cone walls along the flow is consistent with angular momentum conservation. The observed CO outflow has a total gas mass of ≈ 10−3 M⊙, a dynamical age of τdyn ≈ 740 yr, and a total momentum flux of ṖCO ≈ 1.0 × 10−5 M⊙ km s−1 yr−1, which is nearly three orders of magnitude larger than the maximum thrust that can be provided by the luminosity of the central star. Conclusions. We conclude that photoevaporation cannot be the main driving mechanism for this outflow, but it must be predominantly a magnetohydrodynamic disk wind. It is thus far the best-resolved rotating disk wind observed to be launched from a circumstellar disk in Keplerian rotation around a low-mass young stellar object (YSO), albeit also the one with the largest launch radius. It confirms the observed trend that disk winds from Class I YSOs with transitional disks have much larger launch radii than jets ejected from Class 0 protostars.

An HST survey of 33 T8 to Y1 brown dwarfs: NIR photometry and multiplicity of the coldest isolated objects

ABSTRACT We present results from a Hubble Space Telescope imaging search for low-mass binary and planetary companions to 33 nearby brown dwarfs with spectral types of T8–Y1. Our survey provides new photometric information for these faint systems, from which we obtained model-derived luminosities, masses, and temperatures. Despite achieving a deep sensitivity to faint companions beyond 0.2–0.5 arcsec, down to mass ratios of 0.4–0.7 outside ∼5 au, we find no companions to our substellar primaries. From our derived survey completeness, we place an upper limit of $f \lt 4.9~{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ at the 1σ level (&amp;lt;13.0 per cent at the 2σ level) on the binary frequency of these objects over the separation range 1–1000 au and for mass ratios above q = 0.4. Our results confirm that companions are extremely rare around the lowest mass and coldest isolated brown dwarfs, continuing the marginal trend of decreasing binary fraction with primary mass observed throughout the stellar and substellar regimes. These findings support the idea that if a significant population of binaries exist around such low-mass objects, it should lie primarily below 2–3 au separations, with a true peak possibly located at even tighter orbital separations for Y dwarfs.