Keywords

Gas accretion is an important process in the evolution of galaxies, but it has limited direct observational evidences. In this paper, we report the detection of a possible ongoing gas accretion event in a blue compact dwarf (BCD) galaxy, MaNGA 8313-1901, observed by the Mapping Nearby Galaxies and Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA) program. This galaxy has a distinct off-centered blue clump to the northeast (the NE clump) that shows low metallicity and enhanced star formation. The kinematics of the gas in the NE clump also seems to be detached from the host BCD galaxy. Together with the metallicity drop of the NE clump, it suggests that the NE clump likely has an external origin, such as gas accretion or galaxy interaction, rather than an internal origin, such as an H II complex in the disk. After removing the underlying host component, we find that the spectrum of the "pure" clump can match very well with a modeled spectrum containing a stellar population of the young stars (≤7 Myr) only. This may imply that the galaxy is experiencing an accretion of cold gas, instead of a merger event involving galaxies with significant preexisting old stars. We also find signs of another clump (the SW clump) at the southwest corner of the host galaxy, and the two clumps may share the same origin of gas accretion.

I have used high-precision photometry and astrometry from the third data release of Gaia (DR3) to identify candidate members of the 32 Ori association. Spectral types and radial velocities have been measured for subsets of the candidates using new and archival spectra. For the candidates that have radial velocity measurements, I have used UVW velocities to further constrain their membership, arriving at a final catalog of 169 candidates. I estimate that the completeness of the survey is ∼90% for spectral types of ≲M7 (≳0.06 M_⊙). The histogram of spectral types for the 32 Ori candidates exhibits a maximum at M5 (∼0.15 M_⊙), resembling the distributions measured for other young clusters and associations in the solar neighborhood. The available UVW velocities indicate that the association is expanding, but they do not produce a well-defined kinematic age. Based on their sequences of low-mass stars in color–magnitude diagrams, the 32 Ori association and Upper Centaurus-Lupus/Lower Centaurus-Crux (UCL/LCC) are coeval to within ±1.2 Myr, and they are younger than the β Pic moving group by ∼3 Myr, which agrees with results from previous analysis based on the second data release of Gaia. Finally, I have used mid-IR photometry from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer to check for excess emission from circumstellar disks among the 32 Ori candidates. Disks are detected for 18 candidates, half of which are reported for the first time in this work. The fraction of candidates at ≤M6 that have full, transitional, or evolved disks is $10/149={0.07}_{-0.02}^{+0.03}$, which is consistent with the value for UCL/LCC.

Binary evolution leads to the formation of important objects that are crucial for the development of astrophysics, but the statistical properties of binary populations are still poorly understood. The LAMOST-MRS has provided a large sample of stars to study the properties of binary populations, especially for the mass-ratio distributions and binary fractions. We have devised a peak amplitude ratio (PAR) approach to derive the mass ratio of a binary system based on results obtained from its spectrum. By computing a cross-correlation function, we established a relation between the derived mass ratio and the PARs of the binary systems. By using spectral observations obtained from LAMSOT DR6 and DR7, we applied the PAR approach to form distributions of the derived mass ratio of the binary systems to the spectral types. We selected the mass ratio within the range of 0.6−1.0 to investigate the mass-ratio distribution. Through a power-law fitting, we obtained power index γ values of −0.42 ± 0.27, 0.03 ± 0.12, and 2.12 ± 0.19 for the A-, F-, and G-type stars identified in the sample, respectively. The derived γ-values display an increasing trend toward lower primary star masses, and G-type binaries tend to be twins more frequently. The close binary fractions (for P ≲ 150 days and q ≳ 0.6) in our sample for A, F, and G binaries are 7.6% ± 0.5%, 4.9% ± 0.2%, and 3.7% ± 0.1%, respectively. Note that the PAR approach can be applied to large spectroscopic surveys of stars.

During the transition phase from a prestellar to a protostellar cloud core, one or several protostars can form within a single gas core. The detailed physical processes of this transition, however, remain unclear. We present 1.3 mm dust continuum and molecular line observations with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array toward 43 protostellar cores in the Orion molecular cloud complex (λ Orionis, Orion B, and Orion A) with an angular resolution of ∼035 (∼140 au). In total, we detect 13 binary/multiple systems. We derive an overall multiplicity frequency (MF) of 28% ± 4% and a companion star fraction (CSF) of 51% ± 6%, over a separation range of 300–8900 au. The median separation of companions is about 2100 au. The occurrence of stellar multiplicity may depend on the physical characteristics of the dense cores. Notably, those containing binary/multiple systems tend to show a higher gas density and Mach number than cores forming single stars. The integral-shaped filament of the Orion A giant molecular cloud (GMC), which has the highest gas density and hosts high-mass star formation in its central region (the Orion Nebula cluster), shows the highest MF and CSF among the Orion GMCs. In contrast, the λ Orionis GMC has a lower MF and CSF than the Orion B and Orion A GMCs, indicating that feedback from H ii regions may suppress the formation of multiple systems. We also find that the protostars comprising a binary/multiple system are usually at different evolutionary stages.

High-energy emission associated with star formation has been proposed as a significant source of interstellar medium (ISM) ionization in low-metallicity starbursts and an important contributor to the heating of the intergalactic medium (IGM) in the high-redshift (z ≳ 8) universe. Using Chandra observations of a sample of 30 galaxies at D ≈ 200–450 Mpc that have high specific star formation rates of 3–9 Gyr⁻¹ and metallicities near Z ≈ 0.3Z_⊙, we provide new measurements of the average 0.5–8 keV spectral shape and normalization per unit star formation rate (SFR). We model the sample-combined X-ray spectrum as a combination of hot gas and high-mass X-ray binary (HMXB) populations and constrain their relative contributions. We derive scaling relations of $\mathrm{log}{L}_{0.5\mbox{--}8\ \mathrm{keV}}^{\mathrm{HMXB}}$/SFR = 40.19 ± 0.06 and $\mathrm{log}{L}_{0.5\mbox{--}2\ \mathrm{keV}}^{\mathrm{gas}}$/SFR $=\,{39.58}_{-0.28}^{+0.17};$ significantly elevated compared to local relations. The HMXB scaling is also somewhat higher than ${L}_{0.5\mbox{--}8\ \mathrm{keV}}^{\mathrm{HMXB}}$–SFR-Z relations presented in the literature, potentially due to our galaxies having relatively low HMXB obscuration and young and X-ray luminous stellar populations. The elevation of the hot gas scaling relation is at the level expected for diminished attenuation due to a reduction of metals; however, we cannot conclude that an ${L}_{0.5\mbox{--}2\ \mathrm{keV}}^{\mathrm{gas}}$–SFR-Z relation is driven solely by changes in ISM metal content. Finally, we present SFR-scaled spectral models (both emergent and intrinsic) that span the X-ray-to-IR band, providing new benchmarks for studies of the impact of ISM ionization and IGM heating in the early universe.

Star formation primarily occurs in filaments where magnetic fields are expected to be dynamically important. The largest and densest filaments trace the spiral structure within galaxies. Over a dozen of these dense (∼10⁴ cm⁻³) and long (>10 pc) filaments have been found within the Milky Way, and they are often referred to as "bones." Until now, none of these bones has had its magnetic field resolved and mapped in its entirety. We introduce the SOFIA legacy project FIELDMAPS which has begun mapping ∼10 of these Milky Way bones using the HAWC+ instrument at 214 μm and 182 resolution. Here we present a first result from this survey on the ∼60 pc long bone G47. Contrary to some studies of dense filaments in the Galactic plane, we find that the magnetic field is often not perpendicular to the spine (i.e., the center line of the bone). Fields tend to be perpendicular in the densest areas of active star formation and more parallel or random in other areas. The average field is neither parallel nor perpendicular to the Galactic plane or the bone. The magnetic field strengths along the spine typically vary from ∼20 to ∼100 μG. Magnetic fields tend to be strong enough to suppress collapse along much of the bone, but for areas that are most active in star formation, the fields are notably less able to resist gravitational collapse.

At least half of a protostar's mass is accreted in the Class 0 phase, when the central protostar is deeply embedded in a dense, infalling envelope. We present the first systematic search for outbursts from Class 0 protostars in the Orion clouds. Using photometry from Spitzer/IRAC spanning 2004 to 2017, we detect three outbursts from Class 0 protostars with ≥2 mag changes at 3.6 or 4.5 μm. This is comparable to the magnitude change of a known protostellar FU Ori outburst. Two are newly detected bursts from the protostars HOPS 12 and 124. The number of detections implies that Class 0 protostars burst every 438 yr, with a 95% confidence interval of 161 to 1884 yr. Combining Spitzer and WISE/NEOWISE data spanning 2004–2019, we show that the bursts persist for more than nine years with significant variability during each burst. Finally, we use 19–100 μm photometry from SOFIA, Spitzer, and Herschel to measure the amplitudes of the bursts. Based on the burst interval, a duration of 15 yr, and the range of observed amplitudes, 3%–100% of the mass accretion during the Class 0 phase occurs during bursts. In total, we show that bursts from Class 0 protostars are as frequent, or even more frequent, than those from more evolved protostars. This is consistent with bursts being driven by instabilities in disks triggered by rapid mass infall. Furthermore, we find that bursts may be a significant, if not dominant, mode of mass accretion during the Class 0 phase.

We performed a radio recombination line (RRL) survey to construct a high-mass star-forming region (HMSFR) sample in the Milky Way based on the all-sky Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer point-source catalog. The survey was observed with the Shanghai 65 m Tianma radio telescope covering 10 hydrogen RRL transitions ranging from H98α to H113α (corresponding to the rest frequencies of 4.5–6.9 GHz) simultaneously. Out of 3348 selected targets, we identified an HMSFR sample consisting of 517 sources traced by RRLs; a large fraction of this sample (486) is located near the Galactic Plane (∣b∣ < 2°). In addition to the hydrogen RRLs, we also detected helium and carbon RRLs toward 49 and 23 sources, respectively. We crossmatch the RRL detections with the 6.7 methanol maser sources built up in previous works for the same target sample. As a result, 103 HMSFR sources were found to harbor both emissions. In this paper, we present the HMSFR catalog accompanied by the measured RRL line properties and a correlation with our methanol maser sample, which is believed to trace massive stars at earlier stages. The construction of an HMSFR sample consisting of sources in various evolutionary stages indicated by different tracers is fundamental for future studies of high-mass star formation in such regions.