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Tuesday 10 Oct 2017: The JCMT Gould Belt Survey: Classifications and Lifetimes of the Protostars in the Gould Belt
Chris Mowat - University of Exeter
4th Floor Interaction Area 11:15-11:45
We present updated submillimetre fluxes for protostellar candidates in the Gould Belt, and improved classifications and lifetimes enabled by these new data. The JCMT Gould Belt Survey (GBS) has used the SCUBA-2 instrument to observe submillimetre continuum emission from many nearby star-forming regions. Many of these regions were also observed by the Spitzer Space Telescope “cores to disks” (c2d) and “Gould Belt” (GB) Legacy surveys. Among the 2966 Young Stellar Objects (YSOs) identified by these surveys, there are hundreds of candidate protostars, comprising both Class 0 and Class I YSOs. Classifications based on the mid-infrared spectral index are not able to distinguish Class 0 YSOs from Class I sources; to do so requires submillimetre data. Submillimetre data for the Spitzer YSOs was not always available (e.g., Bolocam did not observe all regions). This project takes advantage of the increased coverage and sensitivity of the SCUBA-2 GBS maps to assign fluxes to every Spitzer protostellar candidate within the SCUBA-2 maps, at both 450 and 850 microns. To do this, the FellWalker clump-finding algorithm has been used to separate individual areas of emission and match them to Spitzer YSO positions. Updated bolometric temperatures (TBOL) are used to confirm whether or not a source is protostellar, and is then used to distinguish younger Class 0 protostars from more-evolved Class I YSOs. Using the updated catalogue of protostellar candidates, lifetimes for Class 0 and Class I YSOs are then estimated.
