Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
Jan 2011
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011aas...21740905p&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #217, #409.05; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 43, 2011
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
Scientific paper
The Chandra Carina Complex Project (CCCP) obtained a 1.2-Ms total integration covering a 1.42 square degree field of the Great Nebula in Carina. Combining the 14,368 X-ray sources from the CCCP catalog with mid-infrared (mid-IR) photometry from the Spitzer Vela--Carina Survey reveals the global properties of the intermediate- (2-8 Msun) and high-mass (>8 Msun) young stellar population in unprecedented detail. We identify 94 new candidate X-ray emitting OB stars, potentially doubling the size of the known young massive stellar population in this marquee H II region. We use mid-IR excess emission to catalog 1439 young stellar objects (YSOs) throughout the Carina Nebula, 410 of which have counterparts in the CCCP X-ray catalog. The global SFR in the Carina Nebula, averaged over the past 5 Myr, has been approximately constant. While much of the ongoing star formation has migrated to the outer regions of the nebula, perhaps driven by feedback from OB stars, the massive ionizing clusters Tr 16 and Tr 14 remain hotbeds of recent star formation, each hosting large populations of intermediate-mass YSOs. Our results indicate that intermediate-mass YSOs produce X-rays during their early pre-main sequence evolution, perhaps driven by magnetic dynamo activity during the convective atmosphere phase, but this emission dies off as the stars approach the main sequence. This finding is in stark contrast to the well-established evolution of X-ray emission observed from low-mass T Tauri stars, for which the X-ray luminosity increases as the stars evolve toward the zero-age main sequence.
M.S.P. is supported by an NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowship under award AST-0901646.
Broos Patrick S.
Majewski Steven R.
Povich Matthew S.
Smith Nathan
Townsley Leisa Kay
No associations
LandOfFree
Highlights from the Chandra Carina Complex Project: Connecting X-ray and Mid-Infrared Observations of the Great Nebula in Carina does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Highlights from the Chandra Carina Complex Project: Connecting X-ray and Mid-Infrared Observations of the Great Nebula in Carina, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Highlights from the Chandra Carina Complex Project: Connecting X-ray and Mid-Infrared Observations of the Great Nebula in Carina will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1403428