The SOFIA Massive (SOMA) Star Formation Survey. V. Clustered Protostars
We present ∼8–40 μ m SOFIA-FORCAST images of seven regions of “clustered” star formation as part of the SOFIA Massive Star Formation Survey. We identify a total of 34 protostar candidates and build their spectral energy distributions (SEDs). We fit these SEDs with a grid of radiative transfer models...
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2025-01-01
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| Series: | The Astrophysical Journal |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adcd79 |
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| author | Zoie Telkamp Rubén Fedriani Jonathan C. Tan Chi-Yan Law Yichen Zhang Adele Plunkett Samuel Crowe Yao-Lun Yang James M. De Buizer Maria T. Beltran Mélisse Bonfand Ryan Boyden Giuliana Cosentino Prasanta Gorai Mengyao Liu Viviana Rosero Kotomi Taniguchi Kei E. I. Tanaka Tatiana M. Rodríguez |
| author_facet | Zoie Telkamp Rubén Fedriani Jonathan C. Tan Chi-Yan Law Yichen Zhang Adele Plunkett Samuel Crowe Yao-Lun Yang James M. De Buizer Maria T. Beltran Mélisse Bonfand Ryan Boyden Giuliana Cosentino Prasanta Gorai Mengyao Liu Viviana Rosero Kotomi Taniguchi Kei E. I. Tanaka Tatiana M. Rodríguez |
| author_sort | Zoie Telkamp |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | We present ∼8–40 μ m SOFIA-FORCAST images of seven regions of “clustered” star formation as part of the SOFIA Massive Star Formation Survey. We identify a total of 34 protostar candidates and build their spectral energy distributions (SEDs). We fit these SEDs with a grid of radiative transfer models based on the turbulent core accretion (TCA) theory to derive key protostellar properties, including initial core mass, M _c , clump environment mass surface density, Σ _cl , and current protostellar mass, m _* . We also carry out empirical graybody (GB) estimation of Σ _cl , which allows a case of restricted SED fitting within the TCA model grid. We also release version 2.0 of the open-source Python package sedcreator , which is designed to automate the aperture photometry and SED building and fitting process for sources in clustered environments, where flux contamination from close neighbors typically complicates the process. Using these updated methods, SED fitting yields values of M _c ∼ 30–200 M _⊙ , Σ _cl,SED ∼ 0.1–3 g cm ^−2 , and m _* ∼ 4–50 M _⊙ . The GB fitting yields smaller values of Σ _cl,GB ≲ 1 g cm ^−2 . From these results, we do not find evidence for a critical Σ _cl needed to form massive (≳8 M _⊙ ) stars. However, we do find tentative evidence for a dearth of the most massive ( m _* ≳ 30 M _⊙ ) protostars in the clustered regions, suggesting a potential impact of environment on the stellar initial mass function. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e4472a5e4e774fde9166e5c6474046fe |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1538-4357 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
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| series | The Astrophysical Journal |
| spelling | doaj-art-e4472a5e4e774fde9166e5c6474046fe2025-08-20T02:24:25ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal1538-43572025-01-0198611510.3847/1538-4357/adcd79The SOFIA Massive (SOMA) Star Formation Survey. V. Clustered ProtostarsZoie Telkamp0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6465-9590Rubén Fedriani1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4040-4934Jonathan C. Tan2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3389-9142Chi-Yan Law3https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1964-970XYichen Zhang4https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7511-0034Adele Plunkett5https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9912-5705Samuel Crowe6https://orcid.org/0009-0005-0394-3754Yao-Lun Yang7https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8227-2816James M. De Buizer8https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7378-4430Maria T. Beltran9https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3315-5626Mélisse Bonfand10https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6551-6444Ryan Boyden11https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9857-1853Giuliana Cosentino12https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5551-9502Prasanta Gorai13https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1602-6849Mengyao Liu14https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6159-2394Viviana Rosero15https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8596-1756Kotomi Taniguchi16https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4402-6475Kei E. I. Tanaka17https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6907-0926Tatiana M. Rodríguez18https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0090-9137Department of Astronomy, University of Virginia , Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA ; zrt7qc@virginia.eduInstituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía , CSIC, Glorieta de la Astronomía s/n, E-18008 Granada, Spain ; fedriani@iaa.esDepartment of Astronomy, University of Virginia , Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA ; zrt7qc@virginia.edu; Department of Space, Earth & Environment, Chalmers University of Technology , 412 93 Gothenburg, SwedenOsservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri , Largo Enrico Fermi, 5, 50125 Firenze FI, ItalyDepartment of Astronomy, Shanghai Jiao Tong University , 800 Dongchuan Road, Minhang, Shanghai 200240, People’s Republic of ChinaNational Radio Astronomy Observatory , 520 Edgemont Road, Charlottesville, VA 22903, USADepartment of Astronomy, University of Virginia , Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA ; zrt7qc@virginia.eduStar and Planet Formation Laboratory , RIKEN Cluster for Pioneering Research, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, JapanCarl Sagan Center for Research , SETI Institute, Mountain View, CA, USAINAF-Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri , Largo Enrico Fermi 5, 50125 Firenze, ItalyDepartment of Astronomy, University of Virginia , Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA ; zrt7qc@virginia.eduDepartment of Astronomy, University of Virginia , Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA ; zrt7qc@virginia.eduEuropean Southern Observatory , Karl-Schwarzschild-Strasse 2, D-85748 Garching, GermanyRosseland Centre for Solar Physics , Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics, Sem Salands vei 13, 0371 Oslo, NorwayDepartment of Astronomy, University of Virginia , Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA ; zrt7qc@virginia.eduDivision of Physics, Mathematics, and Astronomy, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, CA 91125, USANational Astronomical Observatory of Japan, National Institutes of Natural Sciences , 2-21-1 Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588, JapanDepartment of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Institute of Science Tokyo , Meguro, Tokyo, 152-8551, JapanI. Physikalisches Institut, Universität zu Köln , 50937 Köln, GermanyWe present ∼8–40 μ m SOFIA-FORCAST images of seven regions of “clustered” star formation as part of the SOFIA Massive Star Formation Survey. We identify a total of 34 protostar candidates and build their spectral energy distributions (SEDs). We fit these SEDs with a grid of radiative transfer models based on the turbulent core accretion (TCA) theory to derive key protostellar properties, including initial core mass, M _c , clump environment mass surface density, Σ _cl , and current protostellar mass, m _* . We also carry out empirical graybody (GB) estimation of Σ _cl , which allows a case of restricted SED fitting within the TCA model grid. We also release version 2.0 of the open-source Python package sedcreator , which is designed to automate the aperture photometry and SED building and fitting process for sources in clustered environments, where flux contamination from close neighbors typically complicates the process. Using these updated methods, SED fitting yields values of M _c ∼ 30–200 M _⊙ , Σ _cl,SED ∼ 0.1–3 g cm ^−2 , and m _* ∼ 4–50 M _⊙ . The GB fitting yields smaller values of Σ _cl,GB ≲ 1 g cm ^−2 . From these results, we do not find evidence for a critical Σ _cl needed to form massive (≳8 M _⊙ ) stars. However, we do find tentative evidence for a dearth of the most massive ( m _* ≳ 30 M _⊙ ) protostars in the clustered regions, suggesting a potential impact of environment on the stellar initial mass function.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adcd79Massive starsStar formationInterstellar mediumInfrared sourcesProtostarsSpectral energy distribution |
| spellingShingle | Zoie Telkamp Rubén Fedriani Jonathan C. Tan Chi-Yan Law Yichen Zhang Adele Plunkett Samuel Crowe Yao-Lun Yang James M. De Buizer Maria T. Beltran Mélisse Bonfand Ryan Boyden Giuliana Cosentino Prasanta Gorai Mengyao Liu Viviana Rosero Kotomi Taniguchi Kei E. I. Tanaka Tatiana M. Rodríguez The SOFIA Massive (SOMA) Star Formation Survey. V. Clustered Protostars The Astrophysical Journal Massive stars Star formation Interstellar medium Infrared sources Protostars Spectral energy distribution |
| title | The SOFIA Massive (SOMA) Star Formation Survey. V. Clustered Protostars |
| title_full | The SOFIA Massive (SOMA) Star Formation Survey. V. Clustered Protostars |
| title_fullStr | The SOFIA Massive (SOMA) Star Formation Survey. V. Clustered Protostars |
| title_full_unstemmed | The SOFIA Massive (SOMA) Star Formation Survey. V. Clustered Protostars |
| title_short | The SOFIA Massive (SOMA) Star Formation Survey. V. Clustered Protostars |
| title_sort | sofia massive soma star formation survey v clustered protostars |
| topic | Massive stars Star formation Interstellar medium Infrared sources Protostars Spectral energy distribution |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adcd79 |
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