Multiplicity and clustering of young pre-main sequence stars appear as critical clues to understand and constrain the star formation process. Taurus is the archetypical example of the most quiescent star forming regions that may still retain primeval signatures of star formation. This work identifies local overdense stellar structures as a critical scale between wide pairs and loose groups in Taurus. Using the density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise (dbscan) algorithm, and setting its free parameters based on the one-point correlation function and the k-nearest neighbor statistics, we have extracted reliably overdense structures from the sky-projected spatial distribution of stars. Nearly half of the entire stellar population in Taurus is found to be concentrated in 20 very dense, tiny and prolate regions called NESTs (for Nested Elementary STructures). They are regularly spaced (~2pc) and mainly oriented along the principal gas filaments axes. Each NEST contains between four and 23 stars. Inside NESTs, the surface density of stars may be as high as 2500pc^-2^ and the mean value is 340pc^-2^. Nearly half (11) of these NESTs contain about 75% of the class 0 and I objects. The balance between Class I, II, and, III fraction within the NESTs suggests that they may be ordered as an evolutionary temporal scheme, some of them getting infertile with time, while other still giving birth to young stars. We have inferred that only 20% of stars in Taurus do not belong to any kind of stellar groups (either multiple system, ultra wide pairs or NESTs). The mass-size relation for stellar NESTs is very close to the Bonnor-Ebert expectation. The range in mass is about the same as that of dense molecular cores. The distribution in size is bimodal peaking at 12.5 and 50kAU and the distribution of the number of YSOs in NESTs as a function of size exhibits two regimes. We propose that the NESTs in their two size regimes represent the spatial imprints of stellar distribution at birth as they may have emerged within few millions years from their natal cloud either from a single core or from a chain of cores. We have identified them as the preferred sites of star formation in Taurus. These NESTs are the regions of highest stellar density and intermediate spatial scale structures between ultra-wide pairs and loose groups.
We tabulate the taxonomic classification of 18265 asteroids catalogued by MOVIS. A probabilistic method and the k-nearest neighbors (KNN k=3) algorithm are used to assign a taxonomic type for each object.
Image-tube spectra and photometric observations for 389 bariums stars have been used to determine spectral classification, barium intensity, radial velocity, luminosity, and kinematical properties. The objective of this study is to obtain a homogeneous dataset for analyzing barium characteristics in uniform fashion.
Through their delivery of water and organics, near-Earth objects (NEOs) played an important role in the emergence of life on our planet. However, they also pose a hazard to the Earth, as asteroid impacts could significantly affect our civilization. Potentially hazardous asteroids (PHAs) are those that, in principle, could possibly impact the Earth within the next century, producing major damage. About 1600 PHAs are currently known, from an estimated population of 4700+/-1450. However, a comprehensive characterization of the PHA physical properties is still missing. Here we present spectroscopic observations of 14 PHAs, which we have used to derive their taxonomy, meteorite analogs, and mineralogy. Combining our results with the literature, we investigated how PHAs are distributed as a function of their dynamical and physical properties. In general, the ''carbonaceous'' PHAs seem to be particularly threatening, because of their high porosity (limiting the effectiveness of the main deflection techniques that could be used in space) and low inclination and minimum orbit intersection distance (MOID) with the Earth (favoring more frequent close approaches). V-type PHAs also present low MOID values, which can produce frequent close approaches (as confirmed by the recent discovery of a limited space weathering on their surfaces). We also identified those specific objects that deserve particular attention because of their extreme rotational properties, internal strength, or possible cometary nature. For PHAs and NEOs in general, we identified a possible anti-correlation between the elongation and the rotational period, in the range of P_rot_~5-80hr. This would be compatible with the behavior of gravity-dominated aggregates in rotational equilibrium. For periods >~80-90hr, such a trend stops, possibly under the influence of the YORP effect and collisions. However, the statistics is very low, and further observational and theoretical work is required to characterize such slow rotators.
The near-Earth asteroid (NEA) 2015 TB145 had a very close encounter with Earth at 1.3 lunar distances on October 31, 2015. We obtained 3-band mid-infrared observations of this asteroid with the ESO VLT-VISIR instrument covering about 4 hours in total. We also monitored the visual lightcurve during the close-encounter phase. The NEA has a (most likely) rotation period of 2.939+/-0.005-hours and the visual lightcurve shows a peak-to-peak amplitude of about 0.12+/-0.02mag. A second rotation period of 4.779+/-0.012h, with an amplitude of the Fourier fit of 0.10+/-0.02mag, also seems compatible with the available lightcurve measurements. We estimate a V-R colour of 0.56+/-0.05mag from different entries in the MPC database. A reliable determination of the object's absolute magnitude was not possible. Applying different phase relations to the available R-/V-band observations produced H_R_=18.6mag (standard H-G calculations) or H_R_=19.2mag and H_V_=19.8mag (via the H-G_12_ procedure for sparse and low-quality data), with large uncertainties of about 1mag. We performed a detailed thermophysical model analysis by using spherical and partially also ellipsoidal shape models. The thermal properties are best explained by an equator-on (+/-~30{deg}) viewing geometry during our measurements with a thermal inertia in the range 250-700J/m^2^/s^0.5^/K (retrograde rotation) or above 500J/m^2^/s^0.5^/K (prograde rotation). We find that the NEA has a minimum size of about 625m, a maximum size of just below 700m, and a slightly elongated shape with a/b~1.1.
With Herschel PACS 134 low mass members of the Taurus star-forming region spanning the M4-L0 spectral type range and covering the transition from low mass stars to brown dwarfs were observed. Combining the new Herschel results with other programs, a total of 150 of the 154 M4-L0 Taurus members members have observations with Herschel. Among the 150 targets, 70um flux densities were measured for 7 of the 7 Class I objects, 48 of the 67 Class II members, and 3 of the 76 Class III targets. For the detected Class II objects, the median 70um flux density level declines with spectral type, however, the distribution of excess relative to central object flux density does not change across the stellar/substellar boundary in the M4-L0 range. Connecting the 70um TBOSS values with the results from K0-M3 Class II members results in the first comprehensive census of far-IR emission across the full mass spectrum of the stellar and substellar population of a star-forming region, and the median flux density declines with spectral type in a trend analogous to the flux density decline expected for the central objects. Based on an initial exploration of the impact of different physical parameters; inclination, scale height and flaring have the largest influence on the PACS flux densities. From the 24um to 70um spectral index of the SEDs, 5 new candidate transition disks were identified. The steep 24um to 70um slope for a subset of 8 TBOSS targets may be an indication of truncated disks in these systems. Two examples of mixed pair systems that include secondaries with disks were measured. Finally, comparing the TBOSS results with a Herschel study of Ophiuchus brown dwarfs reveals a lower fraction of disks around the Taurus substellar population.
We report 885 {mu}m ALMA continuum flux densities for 24 Taurus members spanning the stellar/substellar boundary with spectral types from M4 to M7.75. Of the 24 systems, 22 are detected at levels ranging from 1.0 to 55.7 mJy. The two nondetections are transition disks, though other transition disks in the sample are detected. Converting ALMA continuum measurements to masses using standard scaling laws and radiative transfer modeling yields dust mass estimates ranging from ~0.3 to 20 M_{Earth}_. The dust mass shows a declining trend with central object mass when combined with results from submillimeter surveys of more massive Taurus members. The substellar disks appear as part of a continuous sequence and not a distinct population. Compared to older Upper Sco members with similar masses across the substellar limit, the Taurus disks are brighter and more massive. Both Taurus and Upper Sco populations are consistent with an approximately linear relationship in M_dust_ to M_star_, although derived power-law slopes depend strongly upon choices of stellar evolutionary model and dust temperature relation. The median disk around early-M stars in Taurus contains a comparable amount of mass in small solids as the average amount of heavy elements in Kepler planetary systems on short-period orbits around M-dwarf stars, with an order of magnitude spread in disk dust mass about the median value. Assuming a gas-to-dust ratio of 100:1, only a small number of low-mass stars and brown dwarfs have a total disk mass amenable to giant planet formation, consistent with the low frequency of giant planets orbiting M dwarfs.
The discovery of technetium (Tc) in the atmospheres of red giants by Merrill (1952ApJ...116...21M) constituted convincing proof that s-process nucleosynthesis is indeed occurring in evolved stars. In principle, Tc should still be present in the atmospheres of hot post-AGB stars and (pre-) white dwarfs although, due to radioactive decay, it should be present in decreasing quantities along post-AGB evolution. The recent discovery of a large number of trans-iron group elements in hot white dwarfs with atomic numbers in the range A=30-56 (Zn to Ba) raises the prospect that Tc (A=43) may also be detected. However, this is currently not feasible because no atomic data exist for ionization stages beyond TcII. As an initial step, we calculated atomic energy levels and oscillator strengths of Tc IV-VI and used these data to compute non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (NLTE) model atmospheres to estimate at which minimum abundance level Tc could be detected. We show that Tc lines can be found in ultraviolet spectra of hot white dwarfs provided Tc is as abundant as other detected trans-Fe elements. We find that radiative levitation can keep Tc in large, easily detectable quantities in the atmosphere. A direct identification of Tc lines is still not feasible because wavelength positions cannot be computed with necessary precision. Laboratory measurements are necessary to overcome this problem. Our results suggest that such efforts are beneficial to the astrophysical community.