DIVERSE PROTOSTELLAR EVOLUTIONARY STATES IN THE YOUNG CLUSTER AFGL961
- Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822 (United States)
- Cornell University, Department of Radiophysics Space Research, Ithaca, NY 14853 (United States)
- Harvard-Smithsonian, CfA, 60 Garden St., MS 65, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)
- Keck Observatory, 65-1120 Mamalahoa Hwy, Kamuela, HI 96743 (United States)
- Department of Astronomy, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611 (United States)
We present arcsecond resolution mid-infrared and millimeter observations of the center of the young stellar cluster AFGL961 in the Rosette molecular cloud. Within 0.2 pc of each other, we find an early B star embedded in a dense core, a neighboring star of similar luminosity with no millimeter counterpart, a protostar that has cleared out a cavity in the circumcluster envelope, and two massive, dense cores with no infrared counterparts. An outflow emanates from one of these cores, indicating a deeply embedded protostar, but the other is starless, bound, and appears to be collapsing. The diversity of states implies either that protostellar evolution is faster in clusters than in isolation or that clusters form via quasi-static rather than dynamic collapse. The existence of a pre-stellar core at the cluster center shows that some star formation continues after and in close proximity to massive, ionizing stars.
- OSTI ID:
- 21333758
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 699, Issue 2; Other Information: DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/699/2/1300; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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