1. The VLA/ALMA Nascent Disk And Multiplicity (VANDAM) Survey of Orion Protostars. V. A Characterization of Protostellar Multiplicity.
- Author
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Tobin, John J., Offner, Stella S. R., Kratter, Kaitlin M., Megeath, S. Thomas, Sheehan, Patrick D., Looney, Leslie W., Diaz-Rodriguez, Ana Karla, Osorio, Mayra, Anglada, Guillem, Sadavoy, Sarah I., Furlan, Elise, Segura-Cox, Dominique, Karnath, Nicole, van ’t Hoff, Merel L. R., van Dishoeck, Ewine F., Li, Zhi-Yun, Sharma, Rajeeb, Stutz, Amelia M., and Tychoniec, Ĺukasz
- Subjects
PROTOSTARS ,DENSITY of stars ,MULTIPLICITY (Mathematics) ,MOLECULAR clouds ,MULTIPLE stars ,OPTICAL disks ,BLIND source separation - Abstract
We characterize protostellar multiplicity in
20 Current address: Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Ăster Voldgade 5â7, DK-1350, Copenhagen K, Denmark. the Orion molecular clouds using Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array 0.87 mm and Very Large Array 9 mm continuum surveys toward 328 protostars. These observations are sensitive to projected spatial separations as small as âĽ20 au, and we consider source separations up to 104 au as potential companions. The overall multiplicity fraction (MF) and companion fraction (CF) for the Orion protostars are 0.30 ± 0.03 and 0.44 ± 0.03, respectively, considering separations from 20 to 104 au. The MFs and CFs are corrected for potential contamination by unassociated young stars using a probabilistic scheme based on the surface density of young stars around each protostar. The companion separation distribution as a whole is double peaked and inconsistent with the separation distribution of solar-type field stars, while the separation distribution of Flat Spectrum protostars is consistent solar-type field stars. The multiplicity statistics and companion separation distributions of the Perseus star-forming region are consistent with those of Orion. Based on the observed peaks in the Class 0 separations at âĽ100 au and âĽ103 au, we argue that multiples with separations <500 au are likely produced by both disk fragmentation and turbulent fragmentation with migration, and those at ≳103 au result primarily from turbulent fragmentation. We also find that MFs/CFs may rise from Class 0 to Flat Spectrum protostars between 100 and 103 au in regions of high young stellar object density. This finding may be evidence for the migration of companions from >103 au to <103 au, and that some companions between 103 and 104 au must be (or become) unbound. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]- Published
- 2022
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