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TOPIC: Star Forming Region RCW 38

Blobrana

L

Posts: 131433

Date: Nov 21 15:32 2011

RCW 38	Permalink

Title: Spitzer observations of Bow Shocks and Outflows in RCW 38 Authors: E. Winston, S.J. Wolk, T.L. Bourke, S.T. Megeath, R. Gutermuth, B. Spitzbart We report Spitzer observations of five newly identified bow shocks in the massive star-forming region RCW 38. Four are visible at IRAC wavelengths, the fifth is visible only at 24 microns. Chandra X-ray emission indicates that winds from the central O5.5 binary, IRS~2, have caused an outflow to the NE and SW of the central subcluster. The southern lobe of hot ionised gas is detected in X-rays; shocked gas and heated dust from the shock-front are detected with Spitzer at 4.5 and 24 microns. The northern outflow may have initiated the present generation of star formation, based on the filamentary distribution of the protostars in the central subcluster. Further, the bow-shock driving star, YSO 129, is photo-evaporating a pillar of gas and dust. No point sources are identified within this pillar at near- to mid-IR wavelengths. We also report on IRAC 3.6 & 5.8 micron observations of the cluster DBS2003-124, NE of RCW 38, where 33 candidate YSOs are identified. One star associated with the cluster drives a parsec-scale jet. Two candidate HH objects associated with the jet are visible at IRAC and MIPS wavelengths. The jet extends over a distance of ~3 pc. Assuming a velocity of 100 km/s for the jet material gives an age of about 30,000 years, indicating that the star (and cluster) are likely to be very young, with a similar or possibly younger age than RCW 38, and that star formation is ongoing in the extended RCW 38 region. Read more (2352kb, PDF) __________________

Blobrana

L

Posts: 131433

Date: Aug 20 13:22 2009

RE: Star Forming Region RCW 38	Permalink

The violent way that stars are born Spectacular new images of a star cluster crowded with newborn stars and planets are teaching scientists about the origins of our own solar system. The stars in this image, just released by the European Southern Observatory, lie in a cloud of gas and dust called RCW 38 in the constellation of Vela, the sails. The densely packed stars, 5,500 light-year away from us, are a curious mix. As the astronomers describe it, young, titanic stars are bombarding fledgling suns and planets with powerful winds and blazing light. Read more __________________

Blobrana

L

Posts: 131433

Date: Aug 20 10:03 2009

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RCW 38 Click to Play \| View Details __________________

Blobrana

L

Posts: 131433

Date: Aug 19 14:28 2009

RCW 38	Permalink

A Look into the Hellish Cradles of Suns and Solar Systems New images released today by ESO delve into the heart of a cosmic cloud, called RCW 38, crowded with budding stars and planetary systems. There, young stars bombard fledgling suns and planets with powerful winds and blazing light, helped in their task by short-lived, massive stars that explode as supernovae. In some cases, this onslaught cooks away the matter that may eventually form new solar systems. Scientists think that our own Solar System emerged from such an environment. The dense star cluster RCW 38 glistens about 5500 light years away in the direction of the constellation Vela (the Sails). Like the Orion Nebula Cluster, RCW 38 is an "embedded cluster", in that the nascent cloud of dust and gas still envelops its stars. Astronomers have determined that most stars, including the low mass, reddish ones that outnumber all others in the Universe, originate in these matter-rich locations. Accordingly, embedded clusters provide scientists with a living laboratory in which to explore the mechanisms of star and planetary formation. Read more __________________

Blobrana

L

Posts: 131433

Date: Aug 26 19:02 2008

Star Forming Region RCW 38	Permalink

Title: The Embedded Massive Star Forming Region RCW 38 Authors: Scott J. Wolk, Tyler L. Bourke, Miquela Vigil RCW~38 is a uniquely young (< 1 Myr), embedded (A_V ~ 10) stellar cluster surrounding a pair of early O stars (~O5.5) and is one of the few regions within 2 kpc other than Orion to contain over 1000 members. X-ray and deep near-infrared observations reveal a dense cluster with over 200 X-ray sources and 400 infrared sources embedded in a diffuse hot plasma within a 1 pc diameter. The central O star has evacuated its immediate surroundings of dust, creating a wind bubble ~ 0.1 pc in radius that is confined by the surrounding molecular cloud, as traced by millimetre continuum and molecular line emission. The interface between the bubble and cloud is a region of warm dust and ionised gas, which shows evidence for ongoing star formation. Extended warm dust is found throughout a 2--3 pc region and coincides with extended X-ray plasma. This is evidence that the influence of the massive stars reaches beyond the confines of the O star bubble. RCW~38 appears similar in structure to RCW~49 and M~20 but is at an earlier evolutionary phase. RCW~38 appears to be a blister compact H{\small II} region lying just inside the edge of a giant molecular cloud. Read more (4566kb, PDF) __________________

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