Issue |
A&A
Volume 555, July 2013
|
|
---|---|---|
Article Number | A57 | |
Number of page(s) | 17 | |
Section | Interstellar and circumstellar matter | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201321547 | |
Published online | 01 July 2013 |
Mass and motion of globulettes in the Rosette Nebula⋆,⋆⋆
1
Stockholm Observatory, AlbaNova University Centre, Stockholm
University, 10691
Stockholm, Sweden
e-mail:
gahm@astro.su.se
2
Chalmers University of Technology, Department of Earth and Space
Sciences, Onsala Space Observatory, 43992
Onsala,
Sweden
3
Department of Physics, PO Box 64, 00014 University of Helsinki,
Finland
4
Finnish Centre for Astronomy with ESO (FINCA), University of
Turku, Väisäläntie
20, 21500
Piikkiö,
Finland
Received:
22
March
2013
Accepted:
30
April
2013
Context. Tiny molecular clumps are abundant in many H ii regions surrounding newborn stellar clusters. In optical images these so-called globulettes appear as dark patches against the background of bright nebulosity. The majority of the globulettes were found to be of planetary mass in a previous optical investigation, while the largest objects may contain more than half a solar mass.
Aims. We aim to clarify the physical nature of globulettes by deriving densities and masses, and to determine their velocities as a function of position over the nebula. This information will provide clues to the question of origins, evolution, and fate of globulettes. The Rosette Nebula is relatively rich in globulettes, and we selected a sample of well-confined objects of different sizes for the present investigation.
Methods. Radio observations were made of molecular line emission from 16
globulettes combined with near-infrared (NIR) broad-band
JHKs and narrow-band Paschen
β and H2 imaging. Ten objects, for which we collected
information from several transitions in and
, were modelled
using a spherically symmetric model.
Results. Practically all globulettes were detected in our CO survey. The
observed (3–2) and (2–1)
line temperatures range from 0.6 K to 6 K, the
being a third of
this. As a rule, the lines are narrow, ~1.0 km s-1. The best fit to observed
line ratios and intensities was obtained by assuming a model composed of a cool and dense
centre and warm and dense surface layer. This model provides estimates of maximum and
minimum mass; the average masses range from about 50 to 500 Jupiter masses, which is
similar to earlier estimates based on extinction measures. The selected globulettes are
dense, nH ~ 104 cm-3, with very thin
layers of fluorescent H2 emission, showing that the gas is in molecular form
just below the surface. The NIR data show that several globulettes are very opaque and
contain dense cores. No infrared-excess stars in the fields are associated with
globulettes. Internal gas motions are weak, but some larger objects show velocity-shifted
components associated with tails. However, most globulettes show no signs of tails or
pronounced bright rims in contradiction to current numerical simulations of clumps exposed
to intense stellar radiation. Because of the high density encountered already at the
surface, the rims become thin, as evidenced by our Pβ images, which also
show extended emission that most likely comes from the backside of the globulettes. We
conclude that the entire complex of shells, elephant trunks, and globulettes in the
northern part of the nebula is expanding with nearly the same velocity of ~22
km s-1, and with a very small spread in velocity among the globulettes. We
note that the velocities observed for background shells do not fit into a spherically
expanding nebular complex.
Conclusions. Some globulettes are in the process of detaching from elephant trunks and shells, while other more isolated objects must have detached long ago and are lagging behind in the general expansion of the molecular shell. Several globulettes are presently subject to heavy erosion from the intense radiation field from the central stars and eject gas streams (tails), while other quite isolated objects lack such signatures. We envision that after detachment, the objects erode to isolated and dense clumps. The suggestion that some globulettes might collapse to form planetary-mass objects or brown dwarfs is strengthened by our finding of dense cores in several objects. Such free-floating low-mass objects would move at high speed from the start and escape from the region.
Key words: HII regions / ISM: molecules / ISM: kinematics and dynamics / evolution / ISM: individual objects: Rosette Nebula
Based on observations collected at Onsala Space Observatory, Sweden, European Southern Observatory, Chile (084.C-0299(A) and 088.C-0630(A)) and Nordic Optical Telescope, La Palma, Spain, and with the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX), Llano Chajnantor, Chile (O-088.F-9318A).
Table 2 and Appendix A are available in electronic form at http://www.aanda.org
© ESO, 2013
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