S. Maret

The H2CO abundance in the inner warm regions of low mass protostellar envelopes

We present a survey of the formaldehyde emission in a sample of eight Class 0 protostars obtained with the IRAM and JCMT telescopes. The data have been analyzed with three different methods with increasing level of sophistication. We first analyze the observed emission in the LTE approximation, and derive rotational temperatures between 11 and 40 K, and column densities between 1 and 20 x 10^13 cm^-2. Second, we use a LVG code and derive larger kinetic temperatures, between 30 and 90 K, consistent with subthermally populated levels and densities from 1 to 6 x 10^5 cm^-3. The column densities from the LVG modeling are within a factor of 10 with respect to those derived in the LTE approximation. Finally, we analyze the observations based upon detailed models for the envelopes surrounding the protostars, using temperature and density profiles previously derived from continuum observations. We approximate the formaldehyde abundance across the envelope with a jump function, the jump occurring when the dust temperature reaches 100 K, the evaporation temperature of the grain mantles. The observed formaldehyde emission is well reproduced only if there is a jump, more than two orders of magnitude, in four sources. In the remaining four sources the data are consistent with a formaldehyde abundance jump, but the evidence is more marginal (~2 sigma). The inferred inner H2CO abundance varies between 1 x 10^-8 and 6 x 10^-6. We discuss the implications of these jumps for our understanding of the origin and evolution of ices in low mass star forming regions. Finally, we give predictions for the submillimeter H2CO lines, which are particularly sensitive to the abundance jumps.

Herschel observations of EXtra-Ordinary Sources (HEXOS):The present and future of spectral surveys with Herschel/HIFI

We present initial results from the Herschel GT key program: Herschel observations of EXtra-Ordinary Sources (HEXOS) and outline the promise and potential of spectral surveys with Herschel/HIFI. The HIFI instrument offers unprecedented sensitivity, as well as continuous spectral coverage across the gaps imposed by the atmosphere, opening up a largely unexplored wavelength regime to high-resolution spectroscopy. We show the spectrum of Orion KL between 480 and 560 GHz and from 1.06 to 1.115 THz. From these data, we confirm that HIFI separately measures the dust continuum and spectrally resolves emission lines in Orion KL. Based on this capability we demonstrate that the line contribution to the broad-band continuum in this molecule-rich source is ~20-40% below 1 THz and declines to a few percent at higher frequencies. We also tentatively identify multiple transitions of HD18O in the spectra. The first detection of this rare isotopologue in the interstellar medium suggests that HDO emission is optically thick in the Orion hot core with HDO/H2O ~ 0.02. We discuss the implications of this detection for the water D/H ratio in hot cores. Herschel is an ESA space observatory with science instruments provided by European-led Principal Investigator consortia and with important participation from NASA.Figure 2 (page 6) is also available in electronic form at http://www.aanda.org

Water emission in NGC 1333 IRAS 4 - The physical structure of the envelope

We report ISO-LWS far infrared observations of CO, water and oxygen lines towards the protobinary system IRAS 4 in the NGC 1333 cloud. We detected several water, OH, CO rotational lines, and two (OI) and (CII) fine structure lines. Given the relatively poor spectral and spatial resolution of these observations, assessing the origin of the observed emission is not straightforward. In this paper, we focus on the water line emission and explore the hypothesis that it originates in the envelopes that surround the two protostars, IRAS 4 A and B, thanks to an accurate model. The model reproduces quite well the observed water line fluxes, predicting a density profile, mass accretion rate, central mass, and water abundance profile in agreement with previous works. We hence conclude that the emission from the envelopes is a viable explanation for the observed water emission, although we cannot totally rule out the alternative that the observed water emission originates in the outflow. The envelopes are formed by a static envelope where the density follows the r 2 law, at r 1500 AU, and a collapsing envelope where the density follows the r 3=2 law. The density of the envelopes at 1500 AU from the center is4 10 6 cm 3 and the dust temperature is30 K, i.e. about the evaporation temperature of CO-rich ices. This may explain previous observations that claimed a factor of 10 depletion of CO in IRAS 4, as those observations probe the outer30 K region of the envelope. The water is5 10 7 less abundant than H2 in the outer and cold envelope, whereas its abundance jumps to5 10 6 in the innermost warm region, at r 80 AU where the dust temperature exceeds 100 K, the evaporation temperature of H2O-rich ices. We derive a mass of 0.5 M for each protostar, and an accretion rate of 5 10 5 M yr 1 , implying an age of about 10000 years, if the accretion rate remains constant. We finally discuss the dierence between IRAS 4 and IRAS 16293-2422, where a similar analysis has been carried out. We found that IRAS 4 is probably a younger system than IRAS 16293-2422. This fact, coupled with the larger distance of IRAS 4 from the Sun, fully explains the apparent dierence in the molecular emission of these two sources, which is much richer in IRAS 16293-2422.

First results from the CALYPSO IRAM-PdBI survey - II. Resolving the hot corino in the Class 0 protostar NGC 1333-IRAS2A

We investigate the origin of complex organic molecules (COMs) in the gas phase around the low-mass Class~0 protostar NGC1333-IRAS2A, to determine if the COM emission lines trace an embedded disk, shocks from the protostellar jet, or the warm inner parts of the protostellar envelope. In the framework of the CALYPSO (Continuum And Lines in Young ProtoStellar Objects) IRAM Plateau de Bure survey, we obtained large bandwidth spectra at sub-arcsecond resolution towards NGC 1333-IRAS2A. We identify the emission lines towards the central protostar and perform Gaussian fits to constrain the size of the emitting region for each of these lines, tracing various physical conditions and scales. The emission of numerous COMs such as methanol, ethylene glycol, and methyl formate is spatially resolved by our observations. This allows us to measure, for the first time, the size of the COM emission inside the protostellar envelope, finding that it originates from a region of radius 40-100 AU, centered on the NGC 1333-IRAS2A protostellar object. Our analysis shows no preferential elongation of the COM emission along the jet axis, and therefore does not support the hypothesis that COM emission arises from shocked envelope material at the base of the jet. Down to similar sizes, the dust continuum emission is well reproduced with a single envelope model, and therefore does not favor the hypothesis that COM emission arises from the thermal sublimation of grains embedded in a circumstellar disk. Finally, the typical scale

Herschel observations of EXtra-Ordinary Sources (HEXOS): Detection of hydrogen fluoride in absorption towards Orion KL

\sim

Detection of OH+ and H2O+ towards Orion KL

60 AU observed for COM emission is consistent with the size of the inner envelope where

Chemical study of intermediate-mass (IM) Class 0 protostars - CO depletion and N2H+ deuteration

T_{\rm{dust}} > 100

Herschel observations of EXtra-Ordinary Sources (HEXOS): Observations of H2O and its isotopologues towards Orion KL

K is expected. Our data therefore strongly suggest that the COM emission traces the hot corino in IRAS2A, i.e., the warm inner envelope material where the icy mantles of dust grains evaporate because they are passively heated by the central protostellar object.

Herschel observations of ortho- and para-oxidaniumyl (H2O+) in spiral arm clouds toward Sagittarius B2(M)

We report a detection of the fundamental rotational transition of hydrogen fluoride in absorption towards Orion KL using Herschel/HIFI. After the removal of contaminating features associated with common molecules (“weeds”), the HF spectrum shows a P-Cygni profile, with weak redshifted emission and strong blue-shifted absorption, associated with the low-velocity molecular outflow. We derive an estimate of 2.9 × 10^(13) cm^(-2) for the HF column density responsible for the broad absorption component. Using our best estimate of the H_2 column density within the low-velocity molecular outflow, we obtain a lower limit of ~1.6 × 10^(-10) for the HF abundance relative to hydrogen nuclei, corresponding to ~0.6% of the solar abundance of fluorine. This value is close to that inferred from previous ISO observations of HF J = 2–1 absorption towards Sgr B2, but is in sharp contrast to the lower limit of 6 × 10^(-9) derived by Neufeld et al. for cold, foreground clouds on the line of sight towards G10.6-0.4.

Herschel observations of EXtra-Ordinary Sources (HEXOS): The Terahertz spectrum of Orion KL seen at high spectral resolution

We report observations of the reactive molecular ions OH+, H2O+, and H3O+ towards Orion KL with Herschel/HIFI. All three N = 1-0 fine-structure transitions of OH+ at 909, 971, and 1033 GHz and both fine-structure components of the doublet ortho-H2O+ 111-000 transition at 1115 and 1139 GHz were detected; an upper limit was obtained for H3O+. OH+ and H2O+ are observed purely in absorption, showing a narrow component at the source velocity of 9 km s-1, and a broad blueshifted absorption similar to that reported recently for HF and para-H218O, and attributed to the low velocity outflow of Orion KL. We estimate column densities of OH+ and H2O+ for the 9 km s-1 component of 9 ± 3 × 1012 cm-2 and 7 ± 2 × 1012 cm-2, and those in the outflow of 1.9 ± 0.7 × 1013 cm-2 and 1.0 ± 0.3 × 1013 cm-2. Upper limits of 2.4 × 1012 cm-2 and 8.7 × 1012 cm-2 were derived for the column densities of ortho and para-H3O+ from transitions near 985 and 1657 GHz. The column densities of the three ions are up to an order of magnitude lower than those obtained from recent observations of W31C and W49N. The comparatively low column densities may be explained by a higher gas density despite the assumption of a very high ionization rate.