Star formation and clustering in the Hubble Deep Field

We have derived a complete and reliable flux limited sample of15 μm selected galaxies in the ISO-HDF. These galaxies have been shown to produce a large fraction of the Cosmic Infrared Background. From their mid-infrared luminosities, we deduce their star formation rates, and compare then to the ones that can be derived from their radio emission. We find excellent agreement, except for a few objects that are known to be AGN-dominated from their X-ray properties. We show that our sample is more strongly clustered than optical samples, and discuss the constraints it puts on hierarchical models of galaxy evolution. This revised version was published online in September 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The evolution of BD+60°2522: with mass loss and overshooting

The ionizing star BD+60°2522 is known as the central star of Bubble Nebulae NGC 7635—wind-blown bubble created by the interaction of the stellar wind of BD+60°2522 (O6.5 IIIef, V=8.7 mag, mass loss rate 10^−5.76 M _⊙/year) with the ambient interstellar medium. From the evolutionary calculations for the star with mass loss and overshooting, we find that the initial mass of the star is 60M _⊙, its present age is 2.5×10⁶ years, and the present mass is 45M _⊙.     

大质量恒星形成:外向流和绿色延展天体

恒星作为宇宙的基础组成元素,其形成过程一直是天文学中的重要研究对象。人们已基本了解中小质量恒星(质量小于8M⊙)的形成和演化过程;受到数量少、嵌埋深、演化快和反馈剧烈等因素的影响,大质量恒星(质量大于8M⊙)的形成过程依然谜团重重。介绍了小质量恒星形成的基本理论,以及吸积盘、竞争吸积、并合三种主流的大质量恒星形成模型;回顾了以往使用红外或射电望远镜对大质量恒星形成区的观测和分析,以及现阶段使用多波段巡天观测手段对大质量恒星形成区的研究成果;着重介绍了目前公认的大质量恒星形成的示踪物——分子外向流的理论和观测现状,以及大质量外向流的优秀候选体——绿色延展天体的发现、理论及观测研究情况。最后,对大质量恒星形成的理论和观测研究进行了总结和展望。     

Young star clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud: NGC 1805 and 1818

We present colour–magnitude diagrams for two rich (≈10⁴ M_⊙) Large Magellanic Cloud star clusters with ages ≈10⁷ yr, constructed from optical and near-infrared data obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope . These data are part of an HST project to study LMC clusters with a range of ages. In this paper we investigate the massive star content of the young clusters, and determine the cluster ages and metallicities, paying particular attention to Be-star and blue-straggler populations and evidence of age spreads. We compare our data with detailed stellar-population simulations to investigate the turn-off structure of ≈25 Myr stellar systems, highlighting the complexity of the blue-straggler phenomenon.     

New Millimeter Heterodyne Observations of Titan: Vertical Distributions of Nitriles HCN, HC3N, CH3CN, and the Isotopic Ratio N/N in Its Atmosphere

High sensitivity observations were performed at 1.2- and 3-mm wavelengths with the IRAM 30-m telescope (Spain) between April 1996 and December 1999 to investigate the nitrile composition of Titan's stratosphere. A part of our dataset consists of high resolution spectra of HC¹⁴N taken at 88.6 GHz as well as spectra of HC¹⁵N recorded at 258.16 GHz. From a thorough analysis of both lines and with the help of appropriate radiative transfer calculations we show that the isotopic ratio ¹⁵N/¹⁴N is strongly enhanced compared to the terrestrial value. We propose that the range 3.9-4.5 should be considered as a basis for the enrichment factor. Five individual lines of HC₃N were measured at 39-kHz resolution using a frequency-switched technique. Several CH₃CN features were recorded at 78-kHz resolution in two transitions around 147.6 and 220.7 GHz. The high spectral resolution and the good signal-to-noise ratio affecting the spectra permit us to retrieve disk-averaged vertical profiles for HCN up to 450 km and for HC₃N and CH₃CN up to 500 km. Comparison of our inferred vertical profiles with relevant results of presently published photochemical models is presented. We show that the profiles of HCN and HC₃N predicted by various authors below 450-km altitude appear inconsistent with our new observations. We find that the three distributions present very different gradients of abundance below 200-km altitude down to the condensation levels around 80 km. In the upper stratosphere HC₃N and CH₃CN have approximately the same mixing ratio of about 4×10⁻⁸ at 450 km, at least one order of magnitude lower than that of HCN. In the same time, another nitrile HC₅N has been searched for by observing four transitions located between 109 and 221 GHz. As no spectral features could be detected after several hours of integration time, we propose an upper limit for the mixing ratio equal to 4×10⁻¹⁰ assuming a uniform distribution of this compound in the lower stratosphere.