Star formation in the lagoon nebula & low-mass stars and brown dwarfs
Abstract
Topic I of this thesis reports on star formation in the Lagoon Nebula. We report on deep Chandra X-Ray Observatory observations of the Lagoon Nebula (NGC 6530 and the Hourglass Nebula) totaling 233 ks. We find 1482 X-ray sources, 1130 associated with catalogued near-infrared or optical stars. These X-ray sources are mainly concentrated in the young Hourglass Nebula Cluster (HNC), the older NGC 6530 cluster, and the young M8E cluster in the southern rim. The clustering of X-ray sources near 850mum emission along the central ridge of NGC 6530, M8E, the southern ridge, and coincident with the Hourglass Nebula, provides evidence of triggered star formation. Chandra point-source density contours show a ridge of increased density between NGC 6530 and the HNC, 9 Sgr and the HNC, and class III/II contours stretching from 9 Sgr to the HNC, respectively, provide support for a proposed sequence of star formation in the Lagoon Nebula. Topic II of this thesis reports on low-mass stars and brown dwarfs (BDs). We report on Chandra X-Ray Observatory observations of the TW Hydrae BD 2MASSW J1139511-315921 (2M1139). In the combined 31 ks ACIS-S exposure, 2M1139 is detected at the 3sigma confidence level. This object is similar to another TW Hydrae BD member, CD-33 7795B (TWA 5B), previously detected in X-rays an order of magnitude more luminous than 2M1139. We find the discrepancy between their X-ray luminosities is consistent with BDs of similar spectral type in the Orion Nebula Cluster. Though rotation may play a role in the X-ray activity of ultracool dwarfs like 2M1139 and TWA 5B, the discrepancy cannot be explained by rotation alone. We discover five high proper motion spectroscopically confirmed L dwarfs by comparing WISE to 2MASS. Two of these are L dwarfs at the L/T transition within 10 pc, and three are early L dwarfs within 25 pc. Of the early L dwarfs, one is a member of the class of unusually red L dwarfs whose red spectra can not be easily attributed to youth.
- Publication:
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Ph.D. Thesis
- Pub Date:
- 2013
- Bibcode:
- 2013PhDT........36C
- Keywords:
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- Physics, Astronomy and Astrophysics