THE VLA NASCENT DISK AND MULTIPLICITY SURVEY OF PERSEUS PROTOSTARS (VANDAM). II. MULTIPLICITY OF PROTOSTARS IN THE PERSEUS MOLECULAR CLOUD
- Leiden Observatory, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9513, 2300-RA Leiden (Netherlands)
- Department of Astronomy, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801 (United States)
- Department of Astronomy, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22903 (United States)
- National Radio Astronomy Observatory, P.O. Box O, Socorro, NM 87801 (United States)
- Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden St, MS 78, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)
- Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie, D-69117 Heidelberg (Germany)
- Center for Astrophysics and Space Sciences, University of California, San Diego, CA 92093 (United States)
- University of Arizona, Steward Observatory, Tucson, AZ 85721 (United States)
We present a multiplicity study of all known protostars (94) in the Perseus molecular cloud from a Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array survey at Ka-band (8 mm and 1 cm) and C-band (4 and 6.6 cm). The observed sample has a bolometric luminosity range between 0.1 L{sub ⊙} and ∼33 L{sub ⊙}, with a median of 0.7 L{sub ⊙}. This multiplicity study is based on the Ka-band data, having a best resolution of ∼0.″065 (15 au) and separations out to ∼43″ (10,000 au) can be probed. The overall multiplicity fraction (MF) is found to be 0.40 ± 0.06 and the companion star fraction (CSF) is 0.71 ± 0.06. The MF and CSF of the Class 0 protostars are 0.57 ± 0.09 and 1.2 ± 0.2, and the MF and CSF of Class I protostars are both 0.23 ± 0.08. The distribution of companion separations appears bi-modal, with a peak at ∼75 au and another peak at ∼3000 au. Turbulent fragmentation is likely the dominant mechanism on >1000 au scales and disk fragmentation is likely to be the dominant mechanism on <200 au scales. Toward three Class 0 sources we find companions separated by <30 au. These systems have the smallest separations of currently known Class 0 protostellar binary systems. Moreover, these close systems are embedded within larger (50–400 au) structures and may be candidates for ongoing disk fragmentation.
- OSTI ID:
- 22521556
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 818, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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