Circumstellar envelopes and disks of pre-main sequence stars

The current state of knowledge about circumstellar matter of young stellar objects is briefly reviewed. It appears that some very young stars yet to accrete substantial amounts of mass may be seen through their dusty infalling envelopes even at optical wavelengths, because of the presence of holes or large departures from spherical symmetry in the envelopes. The evidence for this picture is summarized in the context of one wellstudied young star, HL Tau, indicating that much of the large-scale structure originally identified as a rotating disk is probably a flattened infalling envelope. Departures from spherical symmetry in protostellar clouds are likely to lead to quite flattened structures once collapse gets under way, further suggesting that infall in large-scale toroids may be a general feature of low-mass star formation. The best kinematic evidence for Keplerian disk rotation comes from optical and near-infrared high-resolution spectroscopy of the innermost regions of circumstellar disks. Disk masses are uncertain but are likely to be at least the order of minimum mass solar nebula models, if not much larger.     

On the formation of protostellar disks

An analysis is presented of the hydrodynamic aspects of the growth of protostellar disks from the accretion (or collapse) of a rotating gas cloud. The size, mass, and radiative properties of protostellar disks are determined by the distribution of mass and angular momentum in the clouds from which they are formed, as well as from the dissipative processes within the disks themselves. The angular momentum of the infalling cloud is redistributed by the action of turbulent viscosity on a shear layer near the surface of the disk (downstream of the accretion shock) and on the radial shear across cylindrical surfaces parallel to the rotation axis. The fraction of gas that is fed into a central core (protostar) during accretion depends on the ratio of the rate of viscous diffusion of angular momentum to the accretion rate; rapid viscous diffusion (or a low accretion rate) promotes a large core-to-disk mass ratio. The continuum radiation spectrum of a highly viscous disk is similar to that of a steady-state accretion disk without mass addition. It is possible to construct models of the primitive solar nebula as an accretion disk, formed by the collapse of a slowly rotating protostellar cloud, and containing the minimum mass required to account for the planets. Other models with more massive disks are also possible.     

Three-dimensional calculations of the formation of the presolar nebula from a slowly rotating cloud

The presolar nebula may have formed from the collapse of a very slowly rotating interstellar cloud. The first three-dimensional, hydrodynamical calculations of the collapse of such clouds are presented. The models include radiative transfer in the Eddington approximation, as well as detailed equations of state appropriate for the nonisothermal regime of protostellar evolution. Very slowly rotating clouds, i.e., those with initial ratios of rotational energy to gravitational energy of 10^?3 or less, avoid fragmentation and instead collapse to form single central objects, containing quasistatic cores with densities of about 10^?10 g cm^?3. These cores are, however, surrounded by significantly nonaxisymmetric regions, such that the presolar nebula would have been bar-like over the scale of the present solar system. This nonaxisymmetry, coupled with differential rotation, results in gravitational torques that produce rapid outward transfer of angular momentum. The center of the presolar nebula should then be able to contract and collapse to pre-main-sequence densities without suffering fission or fragmentation.     

Protoplanetary dust clouds in disks of Herbig Ae/Be stars

The very large brightness decrease of late-type Herbig Ae/Be stars is believed to be caused by obscuring dust clouds orbiting in the outer parts of their circumstellar disks. The distances of the dust clouds to the central stars have been estimated using the wavelength at maximum flux of the excess near-IR radiation, Wien's displacement law, and a formula derived by Rowan-Robinson (1980). The critical masses of these clouds were calculated employing Chandrasekhar's (1943) formula. The minimum size of the dust grains in the obscuring clouds was estimated using Aumannet al.'s (1984) formula they had applied to the star Lyr. However, it can be about ten times smaller if the dust grains are situated at the back of the cloud. The average size of these grains has been determined by assuming a size distribution similar to that in the asteroidal belt (Dohnanyi, 1969) and in the interstellar medium (Mathiset al., 1977). Their number density was determined by means of the extinction power of the dust cloud at theV pass-band. The results of our calculations show that above parameters are similar to those in our solar system. Therefore, we believe that most probably (a) the formation of planetesimals in the circumstellar disks of Herbig Ae/Be stars is on-going; and (b) the obscuring clouds will, in the long run, become planet-like objects.Paper presented at the Conference onPlanetary Systems: Formation, Evolution, and Detection held 7–10 December, 1992 at CalTech, Pasadena, California, U.S.A.     

Circumstellar clouds derived from ultraviolet stellar spectra

It is shown that the observed variety in macrostructures of continuous spectra in the ultraviolet (2000–3000 Å) of hot stars is a result of the presence of circumstellar clouds around such stars. A method for calculations of synthetic spectra, originating as a result of passage of central star photospheric radiation through its own circumstellar cloud, is developed. It introduces a new idea of spectral class for circumstellar cloud, and a recommended method for its determination depending from the spectral class of central star and cloud's parameters (Figure 2). The results of calculations of synthetic spectra for the four combinations of system star+cloud are presented (Figures 7-10). The strongest influence of circumstellar cloud in ultraviolet is discovered on A-class stars (Figure 13). Graphic relations are introduced for determination of cloud power by observed parameters of synthetic spectra (Figures 14 and 15).It establishes an important fact for an understanding of the nature of circumstellar clouds and processes occurring in them, according to which the selective absorption in such clouds stimulatesresonance lines only, the largest number of which lies in the ultraviolet in the region of 2100–2600 Å (Figure 1). An absence of visible signs of the effect of circumstellar clouds on continuous spectra of stars in visual region can be explained by a very small number of resonance lines in this region.Lastly, the possibility of determination of physical and geometric parameters of circumstellar clouds from stellar continuous spectra in the ultraviolet is analysed.     

原行星盘的研究进展

原行星盘是环绕在年轻星天体(如T Tauri型星,HAe/Be星)周围的气体尘埃盘,是具有初始角动量的分子云核在塌缩形成恒星过程中的自然结果,是行星系统的起源地。原行星盘研究不仅是恒星形成理论的重要组成部分,而且是行星形成理论的基础。首先介绍了盘的形成与演化规律;然后介绍了年轻星天体的能谱分布,盘的模型和参数(质量吸积率、质量、尺度、温度、寿命);随后讨论了尘埃颗粒在盘中生长的观测证据以及行星在盘中形成的大致过程;最后对原行星盘研究的现状和未来做了总结与展望。     

The Environment of YSO Jets

It is commonly accepted that stars form in molecular clouds by the gravitational collapse of dense gas. However, it is precisely not the infalling but the outflowing material that is primarily observed. Outflow motions prevail around both low and high mass young stellar objects. We present here results from a family of self-similar models that could possibly help to understand this paradox. The models take into account the heating of the central protostar for the deflection and acceleration of the gas. The models make room for all the ingredients observed around the central objects, i.e. molecular outflows, fast jets, accretion disks and infalling envelopes. We suggest that radiative heating and magnetic field may ultimately be the main energy sources driving outflows for both low and high mass stars. The models show that the ambient medium surrounding the jet is unhomogeneous in density, velocity, magnetic field. Consequently, we suggest that jets and outflows have a prehistory that is inprinted in their environment, and that this should have direct consequences on the setting of jet numerical simulations.     

The first generation of stars in the Λ cold dark matter cosmology

We have performed a large set of high-resolution cosmological simulations using smoothed particle hydrodynamics to study the formation of the first luminous objects in the Lambda cold dark matter cosmology. We follow the collapse of primordial gas clouds in eight early structures and document the scatter in the properties of the first star-forming clouds. Our first objects span formation redshifts from   z ∼ 10  to ∼50 and cover an order of magnitude in halo mass. We find that the physical properties of the central star-forming clouds are very similar in all of the simulated objects despite significant differences in formation redshift and environment. This suggests that the formation path of the first stars is largely independent of the collapse redshift; the physical properties of the clouds have little correlation with spin, mass or assembly history of the host halo. The collapse of protostellar objects at higher redshifts progresses much more rapidly due to the higher densities, which accelerates the formation of molecular hydrogen, enhances initial cooling and shortens the dynamical time-scales. The mass of the star-forming clouds cover a broad range, from a few hundred to a few thousand solar masses, and exhibit various morphologies: some have disc-like structures which are nearly rotational supported; others form flattened spheroids; still others form bars. All of them develop a single protostellar 'seed' which does not fragment into multiple objects up to the moment that the central gas becomes optically thick to H₂ cooling lines. At this time, the instantaneous mass accretion rate on to the centre varies significantly from object to object, with disc-like structures having the smallest mass accretion rates. The formation epoch and properties of the star-forming clouds are sensitive to the values of cosmological parameters.     

Trapped Protostellar Winds and the Breakout Time

I examine the question of purely accreting protostars, and set limits to the breakout time of a protostellar wind within the accretion flow forming the new star. Hypothesizing a wind launched from the protostellar surface, three temporal phases are derived: a crushed wind, a trapped wind, and an escaping wind. In the current model, evolution from one phase to the next is a consequence of the growing anisotropy of the infalling flow, a natural outcome of the collapse of a rotating cloud core. During the crushed wind phase, infall overcomes the wind at all solid angles, and the accretion directly strikes the protostellar surface. The trapped phase consists of a wind sufficiently strong to push material back from the stellar surface, but too weak to carry the heavy, shocked and swept-up infall out of the star's gravitational potential. Unless the wind turns on impulsively, a significant fraction of the pre-breakout life of the protostar may be spent in this trapped wind phase in which gas is launched from the protostar but is pulled back, crashing onto the protostellar and disk surfaces. It may be that some `starless cores' contain as-yet undetected, very young accreting protostars, and that episodic luminosity fluctuations associated with this trapped wind could be observed.     

Small dense molecular clouds which envelope groups of T-Tauri stars

Dense molecular clouds within the Taurus and NGC 2264 regions have undergone gravitational collapse and fragmentation to form groups of low mass (1M ) T-Tauri stars which are still embedded within the clouds and which are kinematically associated with them. Molecular column densities on the order of 10¹⁴ cm^–2 are inferred from the emission lines of OH and NH₃. Emission line widths are 2 km s^–1 and the antenna beamwidths include linear extents of order 0.1 pc. The OH emission appears to be in a condition of local thermodynamic equilibrium, and it cannot arise from circumstellar sheils similar to those surrounding the masing infrared stars. The OH and NH₃ emission occurs in clouds of 1 pc in extent with optical depths of 0.1 to 1.0 and excitation temperatures of the order of 10 K. The molecular clouds have radii of 0.5 pc, molecular hydrogen densities of 4000 cm^–3, masses of 100 solar masses, and kinetic temperatures of 20 K. The observed data are not inconsistent with the molecular clouds being in a state of hydrostatic equilibrium.Paper presented at the Conference on Protostars and Planets, held at the Planetary Science Institute, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, between January 3 and 7, 1978.     

Observations of the bright-rimmed molecular clouds near the Cepheus OB2 association

Massive stars have significant influence on the evolution of the interstellar medium. Bright rims, cometary morphology of clouds, as well as their motion are some examples of the influence of massive stars on nearby molecular clouds. The cometary clouds in the Gum-Vela region are very good examples. In an attempt to understand the kinematics of the clouds in such regions we have carried out CO line observations towards bright-rimmed clouds near the OB Association Cep OB2. The radial velocities of the clouds are consistent with an expansion of the system at ≈ 4kms^?1 away from the dominant O6.5V star in the association, HD206267. We find the rocket mechanism to be the most likely cause for expansion as found for both the Gum-Vela and the Rosette globules. We conclude that such expanding motions are quite common in regions near massive stars and make a brief comparison of the Cepheus system with the Gum-Vela system.     

Formation of stars and planets: the role of magnetic fields

Star formation is thought to be triggered by gravitational collapse of the dense cores of molecular clouds. Angular momentum conservation during the collapse results in the progressive increase of the centrifugal force, which eventually halts the inflow of material and leads to the development of a central mass surrounded by a disc. In the presence of an angular momentum transport mechanism, mass accretion onto the central object proceeds through this disc, and it is believed that this is how stars typically gain most of their mass. However, the mechanisms responsible for this transport of angular momentum are not well understood. Although the gravitational field of a companion star or even gravitational instabilities (particularly in massive discs) may play a role, the most general mechanisms are turbulence viscosity driven by the magnetorotational instability (MRI), and outflows accelerated centrifugally from the surfaces of the disc. Both processes are powered by the action of magnetic fields and are, in turn, likely to strongly affect the structure, dynamics, evolutionary path and planet-forming capabilities of their host discs. The weak ionisation of protostellar discs, however, may prevent the magnetic field from effectively coupling to the gas and shear and driving these processes. Here I examine the viability and properties of these magnetically-driven processes in protostellar discs. The results indicate that, despite the weak ionisation, the magnetic field is able to couple to the gas and shear for fluid conditions thought to be satisfied over a wide range of radii in these discs.     

The dynamics of dust in a collapsing protostellar cloud and its possible role in planet formation

First results are presented of a calculation describing the collapse of a rotating dusty protostellar cloud. The dust and gas components are calculated separately, although their interaction (e.g., radiation transport, friction, etc.) is taken into account. In the early stages of the collapse the dust is dynamically unimportant. The evolution of the dust cloud is strongly influenced by dust-dust collisions: rapid sedimentation into an equatorial dust disc is found to take place as a result of accumulative dust-dust collisions and the corresponding grain growth. Treating the dust separately from the gas allows us to compare our results with solar-system cosmochemical measurements, with celestial mechanics information and to draw conclusions about the time and place of planet formation in the collapsing cloud.Paper presented at the Conference on Protostars and Planets, held at the Planetary Science Institute, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, between January 3 and 7, 1978.     

Jets from young stars

Most stars produce spectacular jets during their formation. There are thousands of young stars within 500 pc of the Sun and many power jets. Thus protostellar jets may be the most common type of collimated astrophysical outflow. Shocks powered by outflows excite many emission lines, exhibit a rich variety of structure, and motions with velocities ranging from 50 to over 500 km s⁻¹. Due to their relative proximity, proper motions and structural changes can be observed in less than a year. I review the general properties of protostellar jets, summarize some results from recent narrow-band imaging surveys of entire clouds, discuss irradiated jets, and end with some comments concerning outflows from high-mass young stellar objects. Protostellar outflows are ideal laboratories for the exploration of the jet physics.     

Chemical composition of the He-w stars HD 37058, 212454, and 224926

Our spectrophotometric analysis of the atmospheres of HD 37058, HD 212454, and HD 224926 shows these objects to be typical He-w stars with close-to-zero microturbulence velocities, very different magnetic fields, and wide scatter of chemical anomalies. However, one of the main manifestations of separation is that helium moves from the outer layers of the atmosphere into the star’s interior.Our analysis of the stars HD 212454 and 224926 with Be<100 G shows that despite their weak magnetic fields they have the same degree of chemical anomaly as highly magnetized stars. Chemical composition varies over a wide range for stars with the same magnitude of magnetic field. We find the conditions in the temperature interval 13000–16000 K to be the most favorable for the formation of He-w type stars. Helium underabundance is the strongest near the maximum of the distribution and it is observed in stars with weak as well as strong fields. Because of the scatter mentioned above the degree of chemical anomalies is not strictly related to the magnitude of the magnetic field, although the field has an appreciable effect on the formation of chemical inhomogeneities at the star’s surface. Its influence is minimal in stars with very weak magnetic fields and the presence of strong chemical anomalies indicates that microturbulence in these stars is sufficiently weak even without the effect of the magnetic field. It is plausible to assume that the anomalies arise due to slow rotation.The temperature dependences of rotation velocity vsini for stars with weak magnetic fields show no apparent trends associated with the magnitude of magnetic field. The rotation velocities vsini of almost all stars are lower than those of normal stars, except for HD 131120, 142096, 142990, and 143669, which rotate with the same velocity or even faster than normal stars. These objects do not obey the general rule and their example shows that stable atmospheres can also be found among fast rotators and that magnetic field takes no part in the spin-down of CP stars. We believe that CP stars inherited their slow rotation from protostellar clouds.     

Magnetic field model for slowly rotating CP-stars. γEqu= HD201601

A magnetic field model is constructed for the extremely slow rotator γEqu based on measurements of its magnetic field over many years and using the “magnetic charge” method. An analysis of γEqu and of all the data accumulated up to the present on the magnetic field parameters of chemically peculiar stars leads to some interesting conclusions, of which the main ones are: the fact that the axis of rotation and the dipole axis are not parallel in γEqu and the other slowly rotating magnetic stars which we have studied previously is one of the signs that the braking of CP stars does not involve the participation of the magnetic field as they evolve “to the main sequence.” The axes of the magnetic field dipole in slow rotators are oriented arbitrarily with respect to their axes of rotation. The substantial photometric activity of these CP stars also argues against these axes being close. The well-known absence of sufficiently strong magnetic fields in the Ae/Be Herbig stars also presents difficulties for the hypothesis of “magnetic braking” in the “pre-main sequence” stages of evolution. The inverse relation between the average surface magnetic field Bs and the rotation period P is yet another fact in conflict with the idea that the magnetic field is involved in the braking of CP stars. We believe that angular momentum loss involving the magnetic field can hardly have taken place during evolution immediately prior “to the main sequence,” rather the slow rotation of CP stars most likely originates from protostellar clouds with low angular momentum. Some of the slowly rotating stars have a central dipole magnetic field configuration, while others have a displaced dipole configuration, where the displacement can be toward the positive or the negative magnetic pole. __________ Translated from Astrofizika, Vol. 49, No. 2, pp. 251–262 (May 2006).     

Cooling flows in clusters of galaxies

Summary X-ray images and spectra of clusters of galaxies show strong evidence for cooling flows. In many clusters, the hot gas in the core is cooling at rates of 100Myr^–1 and greater. Few traces of the cooled gas have been observed, but it probably forms into low-mass stars (perhaps brown dwarf or even Jupiter-mass objects). X-ray surface-brightness profiles show that the cooling gas is highly inhomogeneous. Overdense gas cools rapidly to form cooled clumps distributed throughout the flow, with little of the gas ever reaching the cluster centre. Cooled and cooling clumps are disrupted because of their motion relative to the remainder of the gas, tending to produce small cooled fragments and, ultimately, low-mass stars. Large molecular clouds, which are the sites of massive star formation in our galaxy, do not occur in the outer parts of cooling flows. There is evidence of larger gas clumps and the formation of more massive stars in the central few kpc of some cooling flows. It is argued that cooling flows efficiently form dark matter. This has wider implications for the formation of dark matter in massive galaxies.     

The galactic evolution of lithium

Measurements of lithium in stars of different galactic populations such as young open clusters ( Per, Pleiades, Praesepe, Coma, Hyades), very young stellar associations (Taurus-Auriga, Chamaeleon, Ophiuchus clouds), intermediate and old open clusters (NGC 752, M 67, NGC 188), old disc stars and halo stars give us the observational framework from which the galactic evolution of lithium has to be inferred. This element is produced mainly via three mechanisms: primordial nucleosynthesis, spallation reactions in the interstellar medium and thermonuclear reactions in some particular stellar evolutionary stages (novae, red giants). The complicated nucleosynthesis and the fact that astration of lithium in stars is not well understood, makes a direct interpretation of the lithium evolutionary abundance curve difficult. The constraints set by recent lithium measurements in very old open clusters and metal-deficient stars on galactic lithium production mechanisms are discussed. Current problems in the determination of the primordial lithium abundance are briefly reviewed.     

The relation between molecular clouds and stellar kinematics

The relation between molecular clouds, star clusters, and the stellar component of the galactic disk is investigated. According to Elmegreen (1985) bound stellar systems, e.g., open star clusters, can be formed from molecular cloud of mass 10⁴ M . A close encounter with a giant molecular cloud or massive black hole disrupts such stellar systems and forms superclusters. This explains why some open star clusters are so mass-deficient. Unbound stellar systems, e.g., expanding OB associations, are formed from molecular clouds of mass 10⁵ M . When disruptive O-type stars appear the star formation is halted and the cloud is destroyed. An example of the relict of GMC disruption in the solar vicinity is Gould's belt. The velocity dispersion-versus-age relation is also investigated and explained as a consequence of gravitational scattering of stars on GMC, or massive black holes, or as due to recurrent transient spirals.Paper presented at a Workshop on The Role of Dust in Dense Regions of Interstellar Matter, held at Georgenthal, G.D.R., in March 1986.     

Hydrodynamic and turbulent motions in the galactic disk,II

From a comparative study between stellar and gas data it is seen that turbulent and hydrodynamic motions in the Galaxy are common to both types of materials:

1. Galactic clusters have sizes and intrinsic dispersions compatible with the modified form of the Kolmogorov law seen in molecular clouds: undimensional velocities σ(km s^?1)=0.54d ^0.38 (pc). This indicates that ‘typic’ clusters were born from ‘typic’ dark clouds as these of the Lynds's catalogue (diametersd<10 pc, dispersions σ<1.5 km s^?1 hydrogen densitiesn _H>200 atom cm^?3). These clouds have mass enough to form galactic clusters (1000–3000M _⊙).
2. The cluster formation is related to the supersonic range of the Kolmogorov relationship σ(d>1 pc) while the AFGKM stars are related to the subsonic range of the same relationship σ(d<0.3 pc), the intermediate transition zone is probably related to OB stars and/or trapezia.
3. The effects of the magnetic fields in the clouds are also discussed. It seems to be that in the clouds the magnetic energy does not exceed the kinetic energy (proportional toσ ²(d)) and that this determinates the freezing criteria. The hypotheses introduced here can be checked with 21 cm Zeeman splitting.
4. Low-density globular clusters are also coherent with the Kolmogorov relationship. Some hypotheses about their origin and the type of clouds where they were born are discussed. This last part of the study lets open the possibility of further studies about evolution of globular clusters.