The Herschel view of the on-going star formation in the Vela-C molecular cloud

Giannini, T., Elia, D., Lorenzetti, D., Molinari, S., Motte, F., Schisano, E., Pezzuto, S., Pestalozzi, M., Di Giorgio, A. M., André, P., Hill, T., Benedettini, M., Bontemps, S., Di Francesco, J., Fallscheer, C., Hennemann, M., Kirk, Jason M., Minier, V., Nguyn Lu'o'ng, Q., Polychroni, D., Rygl, K. L. J., Saraceno, P., Schneider, N., Spinoglio, L., Testi, L., Ward-Thompson, Derek ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1140-2761 and White, G. J. 2012. The Herschel view of the on-going star formation in the Vela-C molecular cloud. Astronomy and Astrophysics 539 , A156. 10.1051/0004-6361/201117811

Preview

PDF - Published Version Download (600kB) | Preview

Abstract

Aims. As part of the Herschel guaranteed time key programme “HOBYS”, we present the PACS and SPIRE photometric survey of the star-forming region Vela-C, one of the nearest sites of low-to-high-mass star formation in the Galactic plane. Our main objectives are to take a census of the cold sources and to derive their mass distribution down to a few solar masses. Methods. Vela-C was observed with PACS and SPIRE in parallel mode at five wavelengths between 70 μm and 500 μm over an area of about 3 square degrees. A photometric catalogue was extracted from the detections in each of the five bands, using a threshold of 5σ over the local background. Out of this catalogue we selected a robust sub-sample of 268 sources, of which ~75% are cloud clumps (diameter between 0.05 pc and 0.13 pc) and 25% are cores (diameter between 0.025 pc and 0.05 pc). Their spectral energy distributions (SEDs) were fitted with a modified black body function. We classify 48 sources as protostellar, based on their detection at 70 μm or at shorther wavelengths, and 218 as starless, because of non-detections at 70 μm. For two other sources, we do not provide a secure classification, but suggest they are Class 0 protostars. Results. From the SED fitting we derived key physical parameters (i.e. mass, temperature, bolometric luminosity). Protostellar sources are in general warmer (⟨T⟩ = 12.8 K) and more compact (⟨diameter⟩ = 0.040 pc) than starless sources (⟨T⟩ = 10.3  K, ⟨ diameter ⟩ = 0.067 pc). Both these findings can be ascribed to the presence of an internal source(s) of moderate heating, which also causes a temperature gradient and hence a more peaked intensity distribution. Moreover, the reduced dimensions of protostellar sources may indicate that they will not fragment further. A virial analysis of the starless sources gives an upper limit of 90% probability for the sources to be gravitationally bound and therefore prestellar in nature. A luminosity vs. mass diagram of the two populations shows that protostellar sources are in the early accretion phase, while prestellar sources populate a region of the diagram where mass accretion has not started yet. We fitted a power law N(log M) ∝ M − 1.1 ± 0.2 to the linear portion of the mass distribution of prestellar sources. This is in between that typical of CO clumps and those of cores in nearby star-forming regions. We interpret this as a result of the inhomogeneity of our sample, which is composed of comparable fractions of clumps and cores.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Physics and Astronomy
Subjects:	Q Science > QB Astronomy
Uncontrolled Keywords:	ISM: individual objects: Vela-C / ISM: clouds / stars: formation / submillimeter: ISM / circumstellar matter
Additional Information:	9 pp. Pdf uploaded in accordance with publisher's policy at http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo/issn/0004-6361/ (accessed 16/04/2014)
Publisher:	EDP Sciences
ISSN:	0004-6361
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	30 March 2016
Last Modified:	26 May 2023 15:57
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/24783

Citation Data

Cited 53 times in Scopus. View in Scopus. Powered By Scopus® Data

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item