3个典型恒星形成区的气尘比

"气尘比"(Gas to Dust Ratio,GDR)是星际气体与星际尘埃的质量之比.广泛认同的银河系气尘比值是100-150.气尘比值的大小不仅取决于星际环境,也与所考虑的尘埃成分相关.恒星形成区是恒星形成的致密分子云区域,不同的分子云,其GDR也可能不同于普遍采用的数值.此工作选择3个典型的恒星形成区进行气尘比的研究,它们分别是:大质量恒星形成活跃的猎户座(Orion)分子云,小质量恒星形成区的代表金牛座(Taurus)分子云,极少或者无恒星形成活动的Polaris分子云,对这3个天区的研究有利于了解不同辐射环境恒星形成区的气尘比变化.在此对CO谱线积分强度与氢分子柱密度之间的转换系数X_(CO)取常数,以统计的方法计算了3个分子云的气尘比N(H)/A_V,其值在Orion天区、Taurus天区和Polaris天区分别为25、38和55(单位:10~(20)cm~(-2).mag~(-1)),明显高于之前人们给出的银河系平均值.根据星际尘埃模型,将N(H)/A_v转换成气体尘埃的质量比.采用被广泛接受的WD01尘埃模型(V波段的选择性消光比R_v=3.1的情况),得到3个恒星形成区的气尘比分别为:160(Orion分子云)、243(Taurus分子云)、354(Polaris分子云),显著高于普遍采用的弥漫星际介质中100-150的取值范围.恒星形成区的N(H)/A_v值高于平均值的另外一个可能的原因是,恒星形成区的尘埃由于吸积或者碰撞增长变大,降低了V波段的单位质量消光效率,而不是气尘质量比本身的增加.     

W31分子云C18O(J=1-0)的新观测

利用紫金山天文台青海站的13.7 m射电望远镜首次对W31分子云西北部区域中不同速度成份的分子云进行了C18O(J=1-0)的成图观测与研究,观测范围为16′×25′,观测波束间隔为1'.对不同视向速度的分子云分开进行处理,在成图范围内新观测到3个C18O分子云团块,发现它们均属于较年轻的稳定分子云.根据谱线辐射温度(T*R)和半宽(△V),利用LTE方法计算了每个被测团块的物理参数,讨论了该区域的团块分布、HII区、脉泽源与恒星形成的关系.     

NGC 7538—IRS1致密HⅡ区研究

本文在分析研究NGC7538-IRS1致密HⅡ区H_2CO和OH脉泽辐射VLBI观测结果的基础上,指出该HⅡ区合理的模型是:HⅡ区表面为厚的尘埃层包围,尘埃层两极已被突破,并形成双极流;HⅡ区外面有一个环形转动气体-尘埃云,存在由环向HⅡ区表面的物质下落;包括环和HⅡ区在内的整个系统视向速度为-61km/s,该系统居于视向速度为-57km/s的更大分子云中。H_2CO和OH脉泽发生在HⅡ区两极附近离HⅡ区表面小于0.2R_(HⅡ)的区域内。利用上述模型,还讨论了H_2O脉泽及其他分子吸收线和发射线的发生区域。     

对59个北天EGO天体方向上的分子云~(12)COJ=2-1和J=3-2频谱观测研究

为了研究有大质量恒星形成的分子云与其它分子云之间的差异,对北天的59个作为大质量恒星形成区的Spitzer延展绿色天体(Extended Green Objects,简称EGOs)视线方向进行了分子云~(12)CO J=2-1和J=3-2频谱观测,并与文献中对同一批天体方向观测得到的~(12)CO J=1-0频谱数据合并进行分析.对与EGO天体成协的分子云(简称EGO分子云)和其它non-EGO分子云进行了CO多跃迁谱线强度和宽度的统计比较分析.在数据统计的基础上,讨论了这两类分子云的气体温度分布、密度分布、速度场分布对观测数据统计特征的影响.分析结果表明,直接决定是否有大质量恒星形成的关键因素可能并不是巨分子云的质量是否足够大,而是巨分子云的引力塌缩程度足否充分(即分子云团块的体积填充因子是否足够大).     

巨分子云的寿命

巨分子云的碰撞造成了大质量恒星在碰撞分子云中的形成,这些大质量恒星的形成产生了膨胀的HII区域,从而使巨分于云碎裂成小质量的分子云。这是本文提出的巨分子云碎裂机制。因此巨分子云的寿命也主要由区分子云间的碰撞几率所决定。我们的分析表明,巨分子云的寿命有赖于巨分子云所在的旋涡星系中的不同位置。寿命的最大可能存在区间为8.18×10~7yr与2.45×10~8yr。利用我们提出的机制可以在分子云研究的数值计算与数值模拟中得到应用。     

电子回旋脉■和太阳微波毫秒级尖峰辐射

本文提出由非热电子(60keV)的空心束(hollow beam)分布激发回旋脉降作为太阳微波毫秒级尖峰辐射的产生机制。文中求得了非常波模二次谐波的增长率及其随时间的变化、脉泽的饱和时间、饱和波能密度及脉降辐射的方向特征。 结果得到,当磁场强度B=507G,等离子体数密度n_(?)=4×10~9cm~(-3),电子温度T_e=1.4×10~6K,非热电子数密度与热电子数密度之比(n_s/n_e)≈4×10~(-5),磁场标高时,将在2.84GHz频率上产生高亮温度(T_b≈5×10~(15)K)的毫秒级尖峰辐射。     

分子云磁场与尘埃导致的偏振

磁场对分子云及其中的恒星的形成和演化起到重要的作用.分子云磁场的探测方法主要是谱线塞曼效应、尘埃热辐射的偏振,以及谱线的线偏振观测.利用谱线的塞曼效应可以直接测量视线方向的磁场强度.尘埃热辐射偏振可以有效地示踪磁场方向在天球上的分布.分子云内部的磁场会受到不同物理过程的影响.高分辨率观测可以研究磁场扰动的细节,低分辨率观测可以得到分子云甚至银河系大尺度磁场的宏观信息.只有多波段的观测才能全面地认识分子云磁场与各种物理过程的联系.该文对分子云尘埃热辐射偏振的观测情况做了调研,总结了分子云大尺度磁场的研究现状和发展前景.     

SiO脉泽速度频谱的一种分析模型——恒星脉动对恒星包层速度结构的影响

许多观测表明,与Mira变星成协的SiO脉泽源具有与OH脉泽源不同的频谱特征,后者大多有明显的窄的双峰,用辐射压驱动的膨胀壳层模型可以解释它们,但SiO脉泽频谱却表现为较大的径向速度弥散,以及变化多样的频谱形态.本文根据扰动在可压缩流体中传播的原理,提出了恒星脉动对恒星大气速度结构影响的一种模型.计算表明,这一分析模型能较满意地解释与典型Mira变星成协的SiO脉泽频谱的平均速度范围,对SiO脉泽速度宽度与恒星光学位相的关系,本文也进行了分析,与观测现象基本符合.     

伴有OH 1720 MHz脉泽发射的混合形态超新星遗迹的X射线特征研究

在银河系中，超新星遗迹的射电巡视揭示了19个伴有OH1720MHz脉泽发射的超新星遗迹．在从超新星遗迹膨胀到分子云的激波波面的后面产生了这一类不寻常的脉泽源．这个模型的重要点是从超新星遗迹来的X射线促使产生OH分子．研究伴有OH1720MHz脉泽发射的混合形态超新星遗迹的X射线特征是很重要的．研究了这19个伴有OH1720MHz脉泽发射的混合形态超新星遗迹的X射线特征．得到了这些源的X射线物理参数之间的一些相关关系和反相关关系．X射线电离率ζ与θ、D、r、r^2等物理量均不相关，而与Lx之间存在着正相关关系．另外超新星遗迹的X射线光度与相伴的OH1720MHz脉泽的最弱的束流量密度之间存在着紧密的正相关关系．这些都说明从超新星遗迹来的X射线发射足够在激波波阵面后面分解水分子并产生OH1720MHz脉泽．     

脉泽源双峰间隔和与之成协变星周期的相关统计及变星的质量损失

本文对与长周期变星成协的OH和SiO脉泽源的两个参量周期Π和双峰间隔△V进行了相关统计,结果表明它们之间的相关系数γ>0.9,这说明脉泽源的膨胀壳层模型是正确的。采用辐射压驱动恒星风的质量损失机理,用本文统计的结果计算了长周期变星的质量损失率,得到了与观测一致的结果,利用本文所得到的物质流速的分布推算了不同Π的SiO脉泽壳层的位置,与当前人们推测位置是一致的,这一结果有待今后用高分辨率的毫米波观测检验。     

A study of the ultra-compact H-II region NGC 7538-IRS

From an analysis of VLBI observations of H₂CO and OH maser emission in the direction of the ultra-conpact HII region NGC 7538-IRS 1, the following model is proposed: The HII region is surrounded by a thick dusty shell which breaks open at the two poles and there is a bipolar outflow. Around it is a rotating gas/dust ring and matter falls from the ring onto the surface of the HII region. The whole system, HII region and the ring, moves with a sight line velocity of −61.0 km/s inside a large cloud which moves with a sight line velocity of −57 km/s. The H₂CO and OH masers occur near the poles of the HII region and within 0.2 R_HII of the surface. The positions of the H₂O maser and other line sources are discussed in term of this model.     

Strong magnetic field in W75N OH maser flare

A flare of OH maser emission was discovered in W75N in 2000. Its location was determined with the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) to be within 110 au from one of the ultracompact H  ii regions, Very Large Array 2 (VLA2). The flare consisted of several maser spots. Four of the spots were found to form Zeeman pairs, all of them with a magnetic field strength of about 40 mG. This is the highest ever magnetic field strength found in OH masers, an order of magnitude higher than in typical OH masers. Three possible sources for the enhanced magnetic field are discussed: (i) the magnetic field of the exciting star dragged out by the stellar wind; (ii) the general interstellar field in the gas compressed by the magnetohydrodynamic shock; and (iii) the magnetic field of planets which orbit the exciting star and produce maser emission in gaseous envelopes.     

恒星形成区磁场的VLBI测量

利用VLBI MKIII系统多磁道记录的优点,在1665和1667MHz两个频率上,同时观测活动恒星形成区 W3(OH)的左右圆偏振羟基分子脉泽辐射。发现了三个Zeeman对,由脉泽子源的速度分裂导得磁场约为6mG,我们估计恒星形成区的磁场和氢气体密度有关系B～n~(0.54)。     

Evidence for the effect of the interstellar far UV-radiation on circumstellar shells

The interstellar UV field at 1565 Å is calculated around nearby OH/IR sources. The front-back asymmetry observed in the 1612 MHz maser line profile is well correlated with anisotropy of the interstellar UV flux. For some sources the spatial positions of the 1612 MHz masers are confined to the position angles for which stronger UV radiation occurs. These facts strongly support the theory of the photoproduction of OH from H₂O induced by ambient interstellar UV photons penetrating the circumstellar shell. A simple model of the 1612 MHz maser with OH photoproduction suggests that the influence of the UV field on the observed maser profiles is governed by the mass loss rate and the relative abundances of OH and H₂O molecules.     

H2O maser emission in circumstellar envelopes around AGB stars: Physical conditions in gas-dust clouds

The pumping of 22.2-GHz H₂O masers in the circumstellar envelopes of asymptotic giant branch stars has been simulated numerically. The physical parameters adopted in the calculations correspond to those of the circumstellar envelope around IK Tau. The one-dimensional plane-parallel structure of the gas-dust cloud is considered. The statistical equilibrium equations for the H₂O level populations and the thermal balance equations for the gas-dust cloud are solved self-consistently. The calculations take into account 410 rotational levels belonging to the five lowest vibrational levels of H₂O. The stellar radiation field is shown to play an important role in the thermal balance of the gas-dust cloud due to the absorption of emission in rotational-vibrational H₂O lines. The dependence of the gain in the 22.2-GHz maser line on the gas density and H₂O number density in the gas-dust cloud is investigated. Gas densities close to the mean density of the stellar wind, 10⁷?10⁸ cm^?3, and a high relative H₂O abundance, more than 10^?4, have been found to be the most likely physical conditions in maser sources.     

Understanding Extragalactic Hydroxyl

Hydroxyl (OH) is one of the few molecules in space showing both maser emission and absorption. In the Milky Way, hydroxyl has been found in various environments such as stellar envelopes, star-forming regions, and HII regions, tracing the physical states of the interstellar medium. Extragalactic OH has been found to provide essential information about the dusty and obscuring material within the inner kiloparsec region of active galaxies. At angular resolution of a few tens of parsecs, OH shows a rather complicated spatial distribution and the interpretation of the circumnuclear environment is rather difficult. Based on results obtained from low- and high-resolution observations, the diagnostic tools of OH will be reviewed and the strategies to further investigate extragalactic OH will be discussed.     

Maser maps and magnetic field of OH 323.459−0.079

The maser site OH 323.459−0.079 has been studied using the Long Baseline Array of the Australia Telescope National Facility. Simultaneous observations of the 1665- and 1667-MHz hydroxyl ground-state transitions yielded a series of maps at a velocity spacing of 0.18 km s⁻¹, in both senses of circular polarization, with tenth-arcsec spatial resolution. Many small-diameter maser spots were detected within a 2-arcsec region. Pairs of spots with the same position, but with right- and left-hand circular polarization offset in frequency, reveal Zeeman splitting. Six pairs were found, and in four cases, the pairs at 1667 and 1665 MHz mutually corroborate the derived values of magnetic field and (central) kinematic velocity. Over the whole site, magnetic field estimates range from +1.47 to +4.13 mG with a median value of +2.5 mG. The excited state of OH at 6035 MHz also displays Zeeman pairs revealing a similar magnetic field, and we show that the most prominent of these pairs coincides with the most prominent pair at 1665 and 1667 MHz.
We also compared the morphology and kinematics at 1665 and 1667 MHz with those of maser emission from the excited state of OH at 6035 MHz and from methanol at 6668 MHz. All three varieties of masers appear intermingled, and associated with an ultracompact H  ii region. In many respects we find that OH 323.459−0.079 is similar to W3(OH), one of the few other maser sites yet studied in comparable detail.     

VLBI Observations of OH stars: S Persei

The masers in three stars, S Per, OH53.6-0.2 and VXSgr, were observed in the main lines of OH at λ18 cm in March 1997 with a VLBI array consisting of 6 EVN antennas and 3 in the USA. Both S Per and VX Sgr were detected on transatlantic baselines, showing that at least some of the maser spots are very compact with sizes less than around 2 mas. The observations confirm that in S Per there is main line OH emission close to star at a similar distance (≈ 100 AU) as the H₂O shell. The most blue-shifted emission comes from the centre of the object suggesting radial amplification of the maser radiation, whilst most of the remainder comes from a thick shell, some 100 AU from the star. This contrasts with the 1612 MHz OH emission that comes from an outer shell some 1000 AU from the star. Estimates of the magnetic fields in the shell from Zeeman pairs in S Per show fields of a few hundred nT.     

Full polarization structure of the OH main-line maser envelopes of W Hydrae

Simultaneous MERLIN observations of the OH 1665- and 1667-MHz maser lines in the circumstellar envelope of the semiregular star W Hya have been taken in all Stokes parameters. The 1665-MHz emission comes from two elongated clusters located 80 au from the star. The 1667-MHz emission arises in an incomplete shell of radius 130 au, with the blueshifted features located in the northern part of the envelope and the redshifted components clustered south of the centre. The circularly polarized maser components exhibit spatial separation along the north–south direction. The linearly polarized components were found from the near side of the envelope. Their polarization position angles indicate that the projected axis of the magnetic field at PA ≃ −20° is consistent with spatial segregation of circular polarization. The intensity of the magnetic field, estimated from a tentative measurement of Zeeman splitting, is about 0.6 mG at the location of the 1667-MHz emission, with the field pointing away from the observer. A small change of position angles of linear polarization observed in both maser lines is interpreted as a weak Faraday effect in the maser regions with an electron density of about 2 cm⁻³. The overall polarization structure of the envelope suggests an ellipsoidal or weak bipolar geometry. In such a configuration, the circumstellar magnetic field may exert a non-negligible influence on mass loss. The velocity field in the circumstellar envelope recovered from observations of SiO, H₂O, OH and CO lines at five radial distances reveals a logarithmic velocity gradient of 0.25 and 0.21 in the 1665- and 1667-MHz maser regions respectively. The acceleration within tens of stellar radii cannot be explained by the classical model of radiation pressure on dust.