Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Jul 1996
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1996apj...465l.133m&link_type=abstract
Astrophysical Journal Letters v.465, p.L133
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
118
Ism: Molecules, Line: Profiles, Stars: Formation
Scientific paper
A simple analytic model of radiative transfer in two parts of a contracting cloud matches a wide range of line profiles in candidate infall regions and provides a sensitive estimate of Vin, the characteristic inward speed of the gas forming the line. The model assumes two uniform regions of equal temperature and velocity dispersion sigma , whose density and velocity are attenuation-weighted means over the front and rear halves of a centrally condensed, contracting cloud. The model predicts two-peak profiles for "slow" infall, Vin << sigma , and red-shoulder profiles for "fast" infall, Vin ~ sigma . A simple formula expresses Vin solely in terms of sigma and of observable parameters of a two-peak line. We apply the model to fit profiles of high and low optical depth lines observed in a dense core with no star (L1544, Vin = 0.006 km s-1), with an isolated protostar (L1527, 0.025 km s-1), and with a small group of stars (L1251B, 0.35 km s-1). The mass infall rate obtained from Vin and the map size varies from (2--40) x 10-6 Msolar yr-1 and agrees within a factor ~2 in each core with the independently determined rate ~ sigma 3 G-1 for a gravitationally collapsing isothermal sphere. This agreement suggests that the inward motions derived from the line profiles are gravitational in origin.
Mardones Diego
Myers Phil C.
Tafalla Mario
Williams Jean-Pierre
Wilner David J.
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