Charles A. Poteet

THE HERSCHEL ORION PROTOSTAR SURVEY: SPECTRAL ENERGY DISTRIBUTIONS AND FITS USING A GRID OF PROTOSTELLAR MODELS

We present key results from the Herschel Orion Protostar Survey (HOPS): spectral energy distributions (SEDs) and model fits of 330 young stellar objects, predominantly protostars, in the Orion molecular clouds. This is the largest sample of protostars studied in a single, nearby star-formation complex. With near-infrared photometry from 2MASS, mid- and far-infrared data from Spitzer and Herschel, and sub-millimeter photometry from APEX, our SEDs cover 1.2-870

The Evolution of Protostars: Insights from Ten Years of Infrared Surveys with Spitzer and Herschel

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THE COMPOSITION OF INTERSTELLAR GRAINS TOWARD ζ OPHIUCHI: CONSTRAINING THE ELEMENTAL BUDGET NEAR THE DIFFUSE-DENSE CLOUD TRANSITION

m and sample the peak of the protostellar envelope emission at ~100

Highly resolved infrared spectra of pure CO2ice (15-75 K)

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On the importance of scattering at 8 μm: Brighter than you think

m. Using mid-IR spectral indices and bolometric temperatures, we classify our sample into 92 Class 0 protostars, 125 Class I protostars, 102 flat-spectrum sources, and 11 Class II pre-main-sequence stars. We implement a simple protostellar model (including a disk in an infalling envelope with outflow cavities) to generate a grid of 30400 model SEDs and use it to determine the best-fit model parameters for each protostar. We argue that far-IR data are essential for accurate constraints on protostellar envelope properties. We find that most protostars, and in particular the flat-spectrum sources, are well-fit. The median envelope density and median inclination angle decrease from Class 0 to Class I to flat-spectrum protostars, despite the broad range in best-fit parameters in each of the three categories. We also discuss degeneracies in our model parameters. Our results confirm that the different protostellar classes generally correspond to an evolutionary sequence with a decreasing envelope infall rate, but the inclination angle also plays a role in the appearance, and thus interpretation, of the SEDs.

HOPS 136: AN EDGE-ON ORION PROTOSTAR NEAR THE END OF ENVELOPE INFALL

Stars form from the gravitational collapse of dense molecular cloud cores. In the protostellar phase, mass accretes from the core onto a protostar, likely through an accretion disk, and it is during this phase that the initial masses of stars and the initial conditions for planet formation are set. Over the past decade, new observational capabilities provided by the Spitzer Space Telescope and Herschel Space Observatory have enabled wide-field surveys of entire star-forming clouds with unprecedented sensitivity, resolution, and infrared wavelength coverage. We review resulting advances in the field, focusing both on the observations themselves and the constraints they place on theoretical models of star formation and protostellar evolution. We also emphasize open questions and outline new directions needed to further advance the field.

Space-based Coronagraphic Imaging Polarimetry of the TW Hydrae Disk: Shedding New Light on Self-shadowing Effects

We investigate the composition of interstellar grains along the line of sight toward ? Ophiuchi, a well-studied environment near the diffuse-dense cloud transition. A spectral decomposition analysis of the solid-state absorbers is performed using archival spectroscopic observations from the Spitzer Space Telescope and Infrared Space Observatory. We find strong evidence for the presence of sub-micron-sized amorphous silicate grains, principally comprised of olivine-like composition, with no convincing evidence of H2O ice mantles. However, tentative evidence for thick H2O ice mantles on large (a 2.8 ?m) grains is presented. Solid-state abundances of elemental Mg, Si, Fe, and O are inferred from our analysis and compared to standard reference abundances. We find that nearly all of the Mg and Si atoms along the line of sight reside in amorphous silicate grains, while a substantial fraction of the elemental Fe resides in compounds other than silicates. Moreover, we find that the total abundance of elemental O is largely inconsistent with the adopted reference abundances, indicating that as much as ~156 ppm of interstellar O is missing along the line of sight. After taking into account additional limits on the abundance of elemental O in other O-bearing solids, we conclude that any missing reservoir of elemental O must reside on large grains that are nearly opaque to infrared radiation.

ICE AND DUST IN THE PRESTELLAR DARK CLOUD LYNDS 183: PREPLANETARY MATTER AT THE LOWEST TEMPERATURES

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ANOMALOUS CO2 ICE TOWARD HOPS-68: A TRACER OF PROTOSTELLAR FEEDBACK

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AN HST SURVEY FOR 100–1000 au COMPANIONS AROUND YOUNG STELLAR OBJECTS IN THE ORION MOLECULAR CLOUDS: EVIDENCE FOR ENVIRONMENTALLY DEPENDENT MULTIPLICITY

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