ProtostarsInNGC281

The idea is to start gathering two items:

1. Relevant figures
2. Text and references.

Abstract

• Carol.

Introduction to NGC 281

NGC 281 is an active star-forming nebulosity about 2.81± 0.24 kpc or 9200 light-years away (Sato et al. 2008) at a relatively high galactic latitude (Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://en.wikipedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \alpha} 2000=00h52m, Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://en.wikipedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \delta} 2000=+56d34m or l=123.1deg, b= -6.3deg) in the constellation Cassiopeia. It is often referred to as the "PacMan nebula."

NGC 281 contains several distinct regions:

• an HII emission region Sharpless 184 of diameter 20 arcminutes containing the young galactic cluster IC 1590 centered about the OB star trapezium system HD5005.
  
• Two quite distinct CO molecular clouds:
  • The southeastern CO region (N281A) with local standard of rest (LSR) similar to that of the HII region itself (-30.5 km/s vs. -26.5 km/s). This region contains highly recognizable “pillars of creation.” These pillars are known to contain newborn stars as a result of triggering from the nearby OB star trapezium system.
  • NGC 281 West (N281B), a molecular cloud in the southwestern region with three distinct clumps (NE, NW and S) (Megeath & Wilson 1997). The region is heavily obscured by dust and has a LSR (+44 km/s) quite different from that of its eastern neighbor and the HII region it borders.

Protostar basics

• Lynn

Two Scenarios for Star Formation

• Peggy

Spontaneous vs. Triggered Star Formation

• Most star formation begins due to spontaneous processes on a galactic scale, given sufficient time and material free fall will result in star formation.
• An outside source of energy can trigger the formation of a star before conditions become sufficient for free fall, leaving sequentially younger stars in its path while clouds broken into filaments by magnetic fields will show a filamentary pattern of protostars.

Star formation in a “controlled” environment

• small regions where the formation conditions except for the trigger are the same
• physical and geographical characteristics of protostars created can therefore be related to triggering mechanism.

NGC 281

• HII emission containing the young galactic cluster IC 1590, OB star trapezium system HD5005 with what appears to be two distinct start forming regions around it;
• Triggered East side with “pillars of creation”, newborn stars as a result of triggering from the nearby OB star trapezium system.
• Crowded West side with three distinct clumps (NE, NW and S) of star formation.

Herschel data

• Carol

Spitzer data

• Melissa

Source Identification

• Carol

Photometry Using APT

• Lynn

Final Source Selection

• Melissa
• Peggy

Analysis & Results

• TBD

Discussion & Conclusions

• TBD

List of References

• TBD

List of Authors & Affiliations

• Carol