Study determines stellar mass and origin of a protostellar system

Utilizing the Atacama Giant Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), astronomers have carried out molecular line observations of a protostellar system referred to as VLA 1623. Outcomes of the observational marketing campaign, published June 18 on the pre-print server arXiv, yield new data relating to stellar mass and origin of this method.

VLA 1623 is a deeply embedded protostellar system within the star-forming area Ophiuchus A, about 456 light years away. It is without doubt one of the uncommon protostellar methods with detected Keplerian rotation.

The system consists of three parts: VLA 1623A, VLA 1623B, and VLA 1623W. VLA 1623A is an in depth Class 0 binary surrounded by a circumbinary disk, with separation between the parts (A1 and A2) of about 30 AU. VLA 1623B is a Class 0 protostar positioned some 130 AU west of VLA 1623A and related to an edge-on disk. With regards to VLA 1623W, it’s a Class I protostar positioned roughly 1,300 AU west of the A binary, additionally related to an edge-on disk.

Not too long ago, a bunch of astronomers led by Sarah I. Sadavoy of the Queen’s College in Canada, has employed ALMA to watch VLA 1623 as a way to shed extra mild on its properties.

“We current new ALMA molecular line observations of the VLA 1623 system. We primarily give attention to C¹⁷O (3–2) observations, which hint the disks of the protostars and present velocity gradients in step with Keplerian rotation,” the researchers clarify.

ALMA observations allowed the crew to find out the stellar lots of VLA 1623 parts. It was discovered that VLA 1623A binary, VLA 1623B, and VLA 1623W, have lots of roughly 0.27, 1.9, and 0.64 solar masses, respectively.

The outcomes of the brand new research recommend that VLA 1623W could also be a companion supply, and it can’t be dominated out that it’s an unrelated younger stellar object alongside the road of sight. Primarily based on the brand new mass measurements and an evaluation of the right movement of the celebrities, the astronomers disfavor a state of affairs the place VLA 1623W was ejected from the central core, which was urged by earlier research.

By analyzing the collected information, the authors of the paper conclude that VLA 1623A, VLA 1623B, and VLA 1623W could have shaped initially from turbulent fragmentation. Nonetheless, VLA 1623A could have undergone disk fragmentation to provide a good binary system.

With regards to the disks within the VLA 1623 system, the observations present that those round VLA 1623B and VLA 1623W seem gravitationally steady. It was discovered that the circumbinary disk round VLA 1623A has an intermediate fraction of 20%, which can point out instability and future fragmentation.

The observations additionally discovered that VLA 1623W seems to be unbound to the opposite protostars. This means that it might disperse sooner or later.

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