THE BALLOON-BORNE LARGE APERTURE SUBMILLIMETER TELESCOPE (BLAST) 2005: A 10 deg{sup 2} SURVEY OF STAR FORMATION IN CYGNUS X
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Toronto, 50 St. George Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3H4 (Canada)
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Cardiff University, 5 The Parade, Cardiff, CF24 3AA (United Kingdom)
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA 91109-8099 (United States)
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, 6224 Agricultural Road, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1 (Canada)
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, 209 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (United States)
- Center for Astrophysics and Space Astronomy, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 8030 (United States)
- Department of Physics, University of Miami, 1320 Campo Sano Drive, Carol Gables, FL 33146 (United States)
- Instituto Nacional de Astrofisica Optica y Electronica (INAOE), Aptdo. Postal 51 y 72000 Puebla (Mexico)
- Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Toronto, 60 St. George Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3H8 (Canada)
- Physics Department, University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus, Box 23343, UPR Station, San Juan, PR (United States)
- Spitzer Science Center, California Institute of Technology, Mail Code 314-6, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States)
We present Cygnus X in a new multi-wavelength perspective based on an unbiased BLAST survey at 250, 350, and 500 {mu}m, combined with rich data sets for this well-studied region. Our primary goal is to investigate the early stages of high-mass star formation. We have detected 184 compact sources in various stages of evolution across all three BLAST bands. From their well-constrained spectral energy distributions, we obtain the physical properties mass, surface density, bolometric luminosity, and dust temperature. Some of the bright sources reaching 40 K contain well-known compact H II regions. We relate these to other sources at earlier stages of evolution via the energetics as deduced from their position in the luminosity-mass (L-M) diagram. The BLAST spectral coverage, near the peak of the spectral energy distribution of the dust, reveals fainter sources too cool ({approx}10 K) to be seen by earlier shorter-wavelength surveys like IRAS. We detect thermal emission from infrared dark clouds and investigate the phenomenon of cold 'starless cores' more generally. Spitzer images of these cold sources often show stellar nurseries, but these potential sites for massive star formation are 'starless' in the sense that to date there is no massive protostar in a vigorous accretion phase. We discuss evolution in the context of the L-M diagram. Theory raises some interesting possibilities: some cold massive compact sources might never form a cluster containing massive stars, and clusters with massive stars might not have an identifiable compact cold massive precursor.
- OSTI ID:
- 21567535
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 727, Issue 2; Other Information: DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/727/2/114; ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
BLAST: THE MASS FUNCTION, LIFETIMES, AND PROPERTIES OF INTERMEDIATE MASS CORES FROM A 50 deg{sup 2} SUBMILLIMETER GALACTIC SURVEY IN VELA (l approx 265{sup 0})
THE FIRST Hi-GAL OBSERVATIONS OF THE OUTER GALAXY: A LOOK AT STAR FORMATION IN THE THIRD GALACTIC QUADRANT IN THE LONGITUDE RANGE 216. Degree-Sign 5 {approx}< l {approx}< 225. Degree-Sign 5