Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Dec 2007
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007aas...21115404s&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #211, #154.04; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 39, p.1006
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
In September 2007 we conducted a large-scale, narrow-band, optical imaging survey of the massive star forming complex W5 using the NOAO-KPNO Mayall 4m with the MOSAIC wide-field camera. The survey, conducted in narrow-band Hα and [S II] filters, covered several square degrees. Several highly collimated stellar micro-jets were discovered. Optical spectra obtained with the ARC APO 3.5m telescope indicate jet velocities around 200 km/s. The survey fields also contain several young stellar objects that were shown to exhibit cometary dust tails pointing directly away from nearby massive stars in Spitzer 24 μm and 8 μm MIPS and IRAC images (e.g., Balog et al 2006 ApJ 650, L83). Our deep optical images failed to detect any Hα emission from these objects, leading us to conclude that the W5 tails consist of pure dust with little or no hydrogen gas. The gas-to-dust ratio is estimated to be more than 100,000 times lower than the interstellar medium value. Thus, formation of these dust-tails cannot involve gas-drag processes. While several theories can be advanced to explain the origin of these gas-free dust-tails, we favor a scenario where proto-planetesimal collisions in the circumstellar environment of the central low-mass star creates small grains which are driven to larger radii by radiation pressure of the central star. Subsequently, as the star orbits in the cluster potential, irradiation pressure of a nearby massive O-star strips these grains from this circumstellar environment resulting in the dust tail. These could be common, though short lived events, thereby explaining the rarity of such objects.
Support for this work has been provided by NASA, and involves observations conducted with NOAO-KPNO, APO, and the Spitzer Space Telescope.
Allen Lew
Bally John
Stringfellow Guy S.
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