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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 163 records · Page 9
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2014

Tentative detection of the nitrosylium ion in space

We report the tentative detection in space of the nitrosylium ion, NO{sup +}. The observations were performed toward the cold dense core Barnard 1-b. The identification of the NO{sup +} J = 2-1 line is supported by new laboratory measurements of NO{sup +} rotational lines up to the J = 8-7 transition (953207.189 MHz), which leads to an improved set of molecular constants: B {sub 0} = 59597.1379(62) MHz, D {sub 0} = 169.428(65) kHz, and eQq {sub 0}(N) = –6.72(15) MHz. The profile of the feature assigned to NO{sup +} exhibits two velocity components at 6.5 and 7.5 km s{sup –1}, with column densities of 1.5 × 10{sup 12} and 6.5 × 10{sup 11} cm{sup –2}, respectively. New observations of NO and HNO, also reported here, allow us to estimate the following abundance ratios: X(NO)/X(NO{sup +}) ≅ 511, and X(HNO)/X(NO{sup +}) ≅ 1. This latter value provides important constraints on the formation and destruction processes of HNO. The chemistry of NO{sup +} and other related nitrogen-bearing species is investigated by the means of a time-dependent gas phase model which includes an updated chemical network according to recent experimental studies. The predicted abundance for NO{sup +} and NO is found to be consistent with the observations. However, that of HNO relative to NO is too high. No satisfactory chemical paths have been found to explain the observed low abundance of HNO. HSCN and HNCS are also reported here with an abundance ratio of ≅ 1. Finally, we have searched for NNO, NO{sub 2}, HNNO{sup +}, and NNOH{sup +}, but only upper limits have been obtained for their column density, except for the latter for which we report a tentative 3σ detection.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Discovery of star formation in the extreme outer galaxy possibly induced by a high-velocity cloud impact

We report the discovery of star formation activity in perhaps the most distant molecular cloud in the extreme outer galaxy. We performed deep near-infrared imaging with the Subaru 8.2 m telescope, and found two young embedded clusters at two CO peaks of 'Digel Cloud 1' at the kinematic distance of D = 16 kpc (Galactocentric radius R {sub G} = 22 kpc). We identified 18 and 45 cluster members in the two peaks, and the estimated stellar densities are ∼5 and ∼3 pc{sup –2}, respectively. The observed K-band luminosity function suggests that the age of the clusters is less than 1 Myr and also that the distance to the clusters is consistent with the kinematic distance. On the sky, Cloud 1 is located very close to the H I peak of high-velocity cloud Complex H, and there are some H I intermediate velocity structures between the Complex H and the Galactic disk, which could indicate an interaction between them. We suggest the possibility that Complex H impacting on the Galactic disk has triggered star formation in Cloud 1 as well as the formation of the Cloud 1 molecular cloud.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Characterization of molecular outflows in the substellar domain

We report here our latest search for molecular outflows from young brown dwarfs and very low-mass stars in nearby star-forming regions. We have observed three sources in Taurus with the Submillimeter Array and the Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-wave Astronomy at 230 GHz frequency to search for CO J = 2 → 1 outflows. We obtain a tentative detection of a redshifted and extended gas lobe at about 10 arcsec from the source GM Tau, a young brown dwarf in Taurus with an estimated mass of 73 M {sub J}, which is right below the hydrogen-burning limit. No blueshifted emission around the brown dwarf position is detected. The redshifted gas lobe that is elongated in the northeast direction suggests a possible bipolar outflow from the source with a position angle of about 36°. Assuming that the redshifted emission is outflow emission from GM Tau, we then estimate a molecular outflow mass in the range from 1.9 × 10{sup –6} M {sub ☉} to 2.9 × 10{sup –5} M {sub ☉} and an outflow mass-loss rate from 2.7 × 10{sup –9} M {sub ☉} yr{sup –1} to 4.1 × 10{sup –8} M {sub ☉} yr{sup –1}. These values are comparable to those we have observed in the young brown dwarf ISO-Oph 102 of 60 M {sub J} in ρ Ophiuchi and the very low-mass star MHO 5 of 90 M {sub J} in Taurus. Our results suggest that the outflow process in very low-mass objects is episodic with a duration of a few thousand years and the outflow rate of active episodes does not significantly change for different stages of the formation process of very low-mass objects. This may provide us with important implications that clarify the formation process of brown dwarfs.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

The Ne-to-O abundance ratio of the interstellar medium from IBEX-Lo observations

In this paper we report on a two-year study to estimate the Ne/O abundance ratio in the gas phase of the local interstellar cloud (LIC). Based on the first two years of observations with the Interstellar Boundary Explorer, we determined the fluxes of interstellar neutral (ISN) O and Ne atoms at the Earth's orbit in spring 2009 and 2010. A temporal variation of the Ne/O abundance ratio at the Earth's orbit could be expected due to solar cycle-related effects such as changes of ionization. However, this study shows that there is no significant change in the Ne/O ratio at the Earths orbit from 2009 to 2010. We used time-dependent survival probabilities of the ISNs to calculate the Ne/O abundance ratio at the termination shock. Then we estimated the Ne/O abundance ratio in the gas phase of the LIC with the use of filtration factors and the ionization fractions. From our analysis, the Ne/O abundance ratio in the LIC is 0.33 ± 0.07, which is in agreement with the abundance ratio inferred from pickup-ion measurements.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

The ties that bind? Galactic magnetic fields and ram pressure stripping

One process affecting gas-rich cluster galaxies is ram pressure stripping (RPS), i.e., the removal of galactic gas through direct interaction with the intracluster medium (ICM). Galactic magnetic fields may have an important impact on the stripping rate and tail structure. We run the first magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations of RPS that include a galactic magnetic field, using 159 pc resolution throughout our entire domain in order to resolve mixing throughout the tail. We find very little difference in the total amount of gas removed from the unmagnetized and magnetized galaxies, although a magnetic field with a radial component will initially accelerate stripped gas more quickly. In general, we find that magnetic fields in the disk lead to slower velocities in the stripped gas near the disk and faster velocities farther from the disk. We also find that magnetic fields in the galactic gas lead to larger unmixed structures in the tail. Finally, we discuss whether ram pressure stripped tails can magnetize the ICM. We find that the total magnetic energy density grows as the tail lengthens, likely through turbulence. There are μG-strength fields in the tail in all of our MHD runs, which survive to at least 100 kpc from the disk (the edge of our simulated region), indicating that the area-filling factor of magnetized tails in a cluster could be large.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

A substellar-mass protostar and its outflow of IRAS 15398–3359 revealed by subarcsecond-resolution observations of H{sub 2}CO and CCH

Subarcsecond (0.''5) images of H{sub 2}CO and CCH line emission have been obtained in the 0.8 mm band toward the low-mass protostar IRAS 15398–3359 in the Lupus 1 cloud as one of the Cycle 0 projects of the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array. We have detected a compact component concentrated in the vicinity of the protostar and a well-collimated outflow cavity extending along the northeast-southwest axis. The inclination angle of the outflow is found to be about 20°, or almost edge-on, based on the kinematic structure of the outflow cavity. This is in contrast to previous suggestions of a more pole-on geometry. The centrally concentrated component is interpreted by use of a model of the infalling rotating envelope with the estimated inclination angle and the mass of the protostar is estimated to be less than 0.09 M {sub ☉}. Higher spatial resolution data are needed to infer the presence of a rotationally supported disk for this source, hinted at by a weak high-velocity H{sub 2}CO emission associated with the protostar.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

H I, CO, and Planck/IRAS dust properties in the high latitude cloud complex, MBM 53, 54, 55 and HLCG 92 – 35. Possible evidence for an optically thick H I envelope around the CO clouds

We present an analysis of the H I and CO gas in conjunction with the Planck/IRAS submillimeter/far-infrared dust properties toward the most outstanding high latitude clouds MBM 53, 54, 55 and HLCG 92 – 35 at b = –30° to – 45°. The CO emission, dust opacity at 353 GHz (τ{sub 353}), and dust temperature (T {sub d}) show generally good spatial correspondence. On the other hand, the correspondence between the H I emission and the dust properties is less clear than in CO. The integrated H I intensity W{sub H} {sub I} and τ{sub 353} show a large scatter with a correlation coefficient of ∼0.6 for a T {sub d} range from 16 K to 22 K. We find, however, that W{sub H} {sub I} and τ{sub 353} show better correlation for smaller ranges of T {sub d} every 0.5 K, generally with a correlation coefficient of 0.7-0.9. We set up a hypothesis that the H I gas associated with the highest T {sub d} ≥ 21.5 K is optically thin, whereas the H I emission is generally optically thick for T {sub d} lower than 21.5 K. We have determined a relationship for the optically thin H I gas between atomic hydrogen column density and τ{sub 353}, N{sub H} {sub I} (cm{sup −2})=(1.5×10{sup 26})⋅τ{sub 353}, under the assumption that the dust properties are uniform and we have applied this to estimate N{sub H} {sub I} from τ{sub 353} for the whole cloud. N{sub H} {sub I} was then used to solve for T {sub s} and τ{sub H} {sub I} over the region. The result shows that the H I is dominated by optically thick gas having a low spin temperature of 20-40 K and a density of 40-160 cm{sup –3}. The H I envelope has a total mass of ∼1.2 × 10{sup 4} M {sub ☉}, an order of magnitude larger than that of the CO clouds. The H I envelope properties derived by this method do not rule out a mixture of H I and H{sub 2} in the dark gas, but we present indirect evidence that most of the gas mass is in the atomic state.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Interaction between supernova remnant G22.7–0.2 and the ambient molecular clouds

We have carried out {sup 12}CO (J = 1-0 and 2-1), {sup 13}CO (J = 1-0), and C{sup 18}O (J = 1-0) observations in the direction of the supernova remnant (SNR) G22.7–0.2. A filamentary molecular gas structure, which is likely part of a larger molecular complex with V {sub LSR} ∼ 75-79 km s{sup –1}, is detected and is found to surround the southern boundary of the remnant. In particular, the high-velocity wing (77-110 km s{sup –1}) in the {sup 12}CO (J = 1-0 and J = 2-1) emission shows convincing evidence of the interaction between SNR G22.7–0.2 and the 75-79 km s{sup –1} molecular clouds (MCs). Spectra with redshifted profiles, a signature of shocked molecular gas, are seen in the southeastern boundary of the remnant. The association between the remnant and the 77 km s{sup –1} MCs places the remnant at the near distance of 4.4 ± 0.4 kpc, which agrees with a location on the Scutum-Crux arm. We suggest that SNR G22.7–0.2, SNR W41, and H II region G022.760-0.485 are at the same distance and are associated with GMC G23.0–0.4.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Dense molecular clumps associated with the Large Magellanic Cloud supergiant shells LMC 4 and LMC 5

We investigate the effects of supergiant shells (SGSs) and their interaction on dense molecular clumps by observing the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) star-forming regions N48 and N49, which are located between two SGSs, LMC 4 and LMC 5. {sup 12}CO (J = 3-2, 1-0) and {sup 13}CO(J = 1-0) observations with the ASTE and Mopra telescopes have been carried out toward these regions. A clumpy distribution of dense molecular clumps is revealed with 7 pc spatial resolution. Large velocity gradient analysis shows that the molecular hydrogen densities (n(H{sub 2})) of the clumps are distributed from low to high density (10{sup 3}-10{sup 5} cm{sup –3}) and their kinetic temperatures (T {sub kin}) are typically high (greater than 50 K). These clumps seem to be in the early stages of star formation, as also indicated from the distribution of Hα, young stellar object candidates, and IR emission. We found that the N48 region is located in the high column density H I envelope at the interface of the two SGSs and the star formation is relatively evolved, whereas the N49 region is associated with LMC 5 alone and the star formation is quiet. The clumps in the N48 region typically show high n(H{sub 2}) and T {sub kin}, which are as dense and warm as the clumps in LMC massive cluster-forming areas (30 Dor, N159). These results suggest that the large-scale structure of the SGSs, especially the interaction of two SGSs, works efficiently on the formation of dense molecular clumps and stars.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Early science with the large millimeter telescope: exploring the effect of AGN activity on the relationships between molecular gas, dust, and star formation

The molecular gas, H{sub 2}, that fuels star formation in galaxies is difficult to observe directly. As such, the ratio of L {sub IR} to L{sub CO}{sup ′} is an observational estimate of the star formation rate compared with the amount of molecular gas available to form stars, which is related to the star formation efficiency and the inverse of the gas consumption timescale. We test what effect an IR luminous active galactic nucleus (AGN) has on the ratio L{sub IR}/L{sub CO}{sup ′} in a sample of 24 intermediate redshift galaxies from the 5 mJy Unbiased Spitzer Extragalactic Survey (5MUSES). We obtain new CO(1-0) observations with the Redshift Search Receiver on the Large Millimeter Telescope. We diagnose the presence and strength of an AGN using Spitzer IRS spectroscopy. We find that removing the AGN contribution to L{sub IR}{sup tot} results in a mean L{sub IR}{sup SF}/L{sub CO}{sup ′} for our entire sample consistent with the mean L{sub IR}/L{sub CO}{sup ′} derived for a large sample of star forming galaxies from z ∼ 0-3. We also include in our comparison the relative amount of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon emission for our sample and a literature sample of local and high-redshift ultra luminous infrared galaxies and find a consistent trend between L{sub 6.2}/L{sub IR}{sup SF} and L{sub IR}{sup SF}/L{sub CO}{sup ′}, such that small dust grain emission decreases with increasing L{sub IR}{sup SF}/L{sub CO}{sup ′} for both local and high-redshift dusty galaxies.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Interaction between Cassiopeia A and nearby molecular clouds

We present spectroscopy of the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A (Cas A) observed at infrared wavelengths from 10 to 40 μm with the Spitzer Space Telescope and at millimeter wavelengths in {sup 12}CO and {sup 13}CO J =2-1 (230 and 220 GHz) with the Heinrich Hertz Submillimeter Telescope. The IR spectra demonstrate high-velocity features toward a molecular cloud coincident with a region of bright radio continuum emission along the northern shock front of Cas A. The millimeter observations indicate that CO emission is broadened by a factor of two in some clouds toward Cas A, particularly to the south and west. We believe that these features trace interactions between the Cas A shock front and nearby molecular clouds. In addition, some of the molecular clouds that exhibit broadening in CO lie 1'-2' away from the furthest extent of the supernova remnant shock front. We propose that this material may be accelerated by ejecta with velocity significantly larger than the observed free-expansion velocity of the Cas A shock front. These observations may trace cloud interactions with fast-moving outflows such as the bipolar outflow along the southwest to northeast axis of the Cas A supernova remnant, as well as fast-moving knots seen emerging in other directions.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Colliding filaments and a massive dense core in the Cygnus OB 7 molecular cloud

We report the results of molecular line observations carried out toward a massive dense core in the Cyg OB 7 molecular cloud. The core has an extraordinarily large mass (∼1.1 × 10{sup 4} M {sub ☉}) and size (∼2 × 5 pc{sup 2}), but there is no massive young star forming therein. We observed this core in various molecular lines such as C{sup 18}O(J = 1-0) using the 45 m telescope at Nobeyama Radio Observatory. We find that the core has an elongated morphology consisting of several filaments and core-like structures. The filaments are massive (10{sup 2}-10{sup 3} M {sub ☉}), and they are apparently colliding with one another. Some candidates for young stellar objects are distributed around their intersection, suggesting that the collisions of the filaments may have influenced their formation. To understand the formation and evolution of such colliding filaments, we performed numerical simulations using the adaptive mesh refinement technique, adopting the observed core parameters (the mass and size) as the initial conditions. The results indicate that the filaments are formed as seen in other earlier simulations for small cores in the literature, but we could not reproduce the collisions of the filaments simply by assuming a large initial mass and size. We find that collisions of the filaments occur only when there is a large velocity gradient in the initial core, in a sense compressing it. We suggest that the observed core was actually compressed by an external effect, e.g., shocks from nearby supernova remnants, including HB 21 which has been suggested to be interacting with the Cyg OB 7 molecular cloud.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

TURBULENCE DECAY AND CLOUD CORE RELAXATION IN MOLECULAR CLOUDS

The turbulent motion within molecular clouds is a key factor controlling star formation. Turbulence supports molecular cloud cores from evolving to gravitational collapse and hence sets a lower bound on the size of molecular cloud cores in which star formation can occur. On the other hand, without a continuous external energy source maintaining the turbulence, such as in molecular clouds, the turbulence decays with an energy dissipation time comparable to the dynamic timescale of clouds, which could change the size limits obtained from Jean's criterion by assuming constant turbulence intensities. Here we adopt scaling relations of physical variables in decaying turbulence to analyze its specific effects on the formation of stars. We find that the decay of turbulence provides an additional approach for Jeans' criterion to be achieved, after which gravitational infall governs the motion of the cloud core. This epoch of turbulence decay is defined as cloud core relaxation. The existence of cloud core relaxation provides a more complete understanding of the effect of the competition between turbulence and gravity on the dynamics of molecular cloud cores and star formation.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

A QUANTUM STUDY OF THE CHEMICAL FORMATION OF CYANO ANIONS IN INNER CORES AND DIFFUSE REGIONS OF INTERSTELLAR MOLECULAR CLOUDS

The barrierless, exothermic reactions of H {sup –} with HC{sub n}N cyanopolyynes, with n = 1 and 3, are analyzed using ab initio calculations of the interaction forces. The shape of the reactive potential energy surface suggests the most efficient approach of H {sup –} to be on a nearly collinear arrangement on the H-side of HC{sub n}N. Using simple transition state formulation of the reaction rates, which are obtained via calculation of the partition functions of each transition state configuration, provides a new non-Langevin behavior of the reaction which can help explain the unexpectedly large density of CN {sup –} formation found in observations. A similar procedure is also employed for the reaction of H {sup –} with HC {sub 3} N and the differences in the results, indicating a lower efficiency of the latter reactivity compared with that for CN {sup –}, are discussed in this paper.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

ASTROCHEMICAL CORRELATIONS IN MOLECULAR CLOUDS

We investigate the spectral correlations between different species used to observe molecular clouds. We use hydrodynamic simulations and a full chemical network to study the abundances of over 150 species in typical Milky Way molecular clouds. We perform synthetic observations in order to produce emission maps of a subset of these tracers. We study the effects of different lines of sight and spatial resolution on the emission distribution and perform a robust quantitative comparison of the species to each other. We use the Spectral Correlation Function (SCF), which quantifies the root mean squared difference between spectra separated by some length scale, to characterize the structure of the simulated cloud in position-position-velocity (PPV) space. We predict the observed SCF for a broad range of observational tracers, and thus identify homologous species. In particular, we show that the pairs C and CO, C{sup +} and CN, and NH{sub 3} and H{sub 2}CS have very similar SCFs. We measure the SCF slope variation as a function of beam size for all species and demonstrate that the beam size has a distinct effect on different species emission. However, for beams of up to 10'', placing the cloud at 1 kpc, the change is not large enough to move the SCF slopes into different regions of parameter space. The results from this study provide observational guidance for choosing the best tracer to probe various cloud length scales.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Discovery of large molecular gas reservoirs in post-starburst galaxies

Post-starburst (or 'E+A') galaxies are characterized by low Hα emission and strong Balmer absorption, suggesting a recent starburst, but little current star formation. Although many of these galaxies show evidence of recent mergers, the mechanism for ending the starburst is not yet understood. To study the fate of the molecular gas, we search for CO(1-0) and (2-1) emission with the IRAM 30 m and SMT 10 m telescopes in 32 nearby (0.01 < z < 0.12) post-starburst galaxies drawn from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We detect CO in 17 (53%). Using CO as a tracer for molecular hydrogen, and a Galactic conversion factor, we obtain molecular gas masses of M(H{sub 2}) = 10{sup 8.6}-10{sup 9.8} M {sub ☉} and molecular gas mass to stellar mass fractions of ∼10{sup –2}-10{sup –0.5}, comparable to those of star-forming galaxies. The large amounts of molecular gas rule out complete gas consumption, expulsion, or starvation as the primary mechanism that ends the starburst in these galaxies. The upper limits on M(H{sub 2}) for the 15 undetected galaxies range from 10{sup 7.7} M {sub ☉} to 10{sup 9.7} M {sub ☉}, with the median more consistent with early-type galaxies than with star-forming galaxies. Upper limits on the post-starburst star formation rates (SFRs) are lower by ∼10 × than for star-forming galaxies with the same M(H{sub 2}). We also compare the molecular gas surface densities (Σ{sub H{sub 2}}) to upper limits on the SFR surface densities (Σ{sub SFR}), finding a significant offset, with lower Σ{sub SFR} for a given Σ{sub H{sub 2}} than is typical for star-forming galaxies. This offset from the Kennicutt-Schmidt relation suggests that post-starburst galaxies have lower star formation efficiency, a low CO-to-H{sub 2} conversion factor characteristic of ultraluminous infrared galaxies, and/or a bottom-heavy initial mass function, although uncertainties in the rate and distribution of current star formation remain.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

ALMA reveals the molecular medium fueling the nearest nuclear starburst

We use ALMA observations to derive mass, length, and time scales associated with NGC 253's nuclear starburst. This region forms ∼2 M {sub ☉} yr{sup –1} of stars and resembles other starbursts in ratios of gas, dense gas, and star formation tracers, with star formation consuming the gas reservoir at a normalized rate 10 times higher than in normal galaxy disks. We present new ∼35 pc resolution observations of bulk gas tracers (CO), high critical density transitions (HCN, HCO{sup +}, and CS), and their isotopologues. The starburst is fueled by a highly inclined distribution of dense gas with vertical extent <100 pc and radius ∼250 pc. Within this region, we identify 10 starburst giant molecular clouds (GMCs) that appear as both peaks in the dense gas tracer cubes and the HCN-to-CO ratio map. These are massive (∼10{sup 7} M {sub ☉}) structures with sizes (∼30 pc) similar to GMCs in other systems, but compared to GMCs in normal galaxy disks, they have high line widths (σ ∼ 20-40 km s{sup –1}, Mach number M∼90) and high surface and volume densities (Σ{sub mol} ∼ 6000 M {sub ☉} pc{sup –2}, n {sub H2} ∼ 2000 cm{sup –3}). The self gravity from such high densities can explain the high line widths and the short free fall time τ{sub ff} ∼ 0.7 Myr in the clouds helps explain the more efficient star formation in NGC 253. Though the high inclination obscures the geometry somewhat, we show that simple models suggest a compact, clumpy region of high gas density embedded in a more extended, non-axisymmetric, bar-like distribution. Over the starburst, the surface density still exceeds that of a typical disk galaxy GMC and, as in the clouds, timescales in the disk as a whole are short compared to those in normal galaxy disks. The orbital time (∼10 Myr), disk free fall time (≲ 3 Myr), and disk crossing time (≲ 3 Myr) are each an order of magnitude shorter than in a normal galaxy disk. Finally, the CO-to-H{sub 2} conversion factor implied by our cloud calculations is approximately Galactic, contrasting with results showing a low value for the whole starburst region. The contrast provides resolved support for the idea of mixed molecular ISM phases in starburst galaxies.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Diversity of extrasolar planets and diversity of molecular cloud cores. II. Masses of gas giant planets

In Paper I, we suggested that the diversity of extrasolar planets might originate from the diversity of molecular cloud cores and specifically illustrated the relationship between semi-major axes of planets in a planetary system and the properties of its progenitor cloud core. In this paper, we investigate the dependence of the mass of a giant planet on the progenitor core properties. We give numerical results of planet masses as a function of the core properties by using the core accretion model of planet formation. Comparing with observations, our model could explain the range and the most frequent values of observed masses of gas giant planets. Our calculations could interpret the observed pileup of gas giants at >1 AU and the distinct deficit of gas giants from ∼0.05 to 1 AU. Our calculations indicate that it is difficult to form gas giant planets outside 20 AU and the intermediate mass planets might be found at ∼15–30 AU as the observing technique advances. We suggest a formation mechanism of super-Jupiters in the framework of the core accretion model of planet formation. A super-Jupiter can form under the condition that a disk is gravitationally unstable (high viscosity) when a protoplanet opens the deep gap. Our calculations infer that the upper limit of super-Jupiter masses, the range of semi-major axes, and the occurrence rate of super-Jupiters increase with the central star mass. We find that gas giant planets should commonly exist around various stellar masses.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗