We have performed Submillimeter Array (SMA) observations of 198.0-407.5 GHz broadband spectra of 10 Class II protoplanetary disks in the Taurus-Auriga region. The 337 GHz flux densities (F_ 337 GHz) of these objects are in the range of 8.2-34 mJy. The median and standard deviation of the 198-358 GHz spectral indices (α_198-358) of these 10 Class II disks are 1.9 and 0.3, respectively. Compared to the recent, similar SMA survey on another 47 Class II disks that are brighter at (sub)millimeter bands (F_ 337 GHz∼20-730 mJy), there is no evidence that these newly observed 10 fainter Class II disks have systematically different α_198-358 values. At >230 GHz frequencies, the optical depths of these 10 fainter Class II disks may be as high as those of the brighter sources, which may be ≳5. In addition, the low (<2.0) values of α_198-358 in some faint objects may be explained by the effect of dust self-scattering, with maximum dust grain size (a_ max) ∼ 100 μm, or by contamination by free-free emission.

We have compiled the ∼4–400 GHz broad spectra of 32 Class II protoplanetary disks (PPDs) in the Taurus-Auriga region, which represents the brightest one-third of sources detected in the submillimeter band in this region. The spectra at >20 GHz frequency can be described with a piecewise function: (1) a power law with a spectral index of ∼2 at >200 GHz, (2) a power law with a spectral index in the range of 0.3–4.2 at 20–50 GHz, and (3) a transition region in between these two power laws, which can be characterized by a sigmoid function. This suggests that the flux densities at >200 GHz and <50 GHz are dominated by distinct emission components. At >200 GHz, the emission is likely dominated by the optically thick dust thermal emission in the bulk of the disks. In some sources that were not detected at 6.8 GHz or 10 GHz, embedded high-density dust substructures may contribute to a significant fraction of the flux densities at 30–50 GHz, and the spectral indices are mostly consistent with 2.0. Although, at 30–50 GHz, free–free and/or synchrotron emission may be significant, and some sources in our sample have spectral indices <2.0. Based on these results, we hypothesize that high-density dust substructures (e.g., vortices) are often found in resolved Class II PPDs, and are a precursor to the formation of kilometer-sized planetesimals and rocky planets. They may not present high contrast at >200 GHz frequencies owing to the high optical depth. To probe these dust substructures, high angular resolution observations at <100 GHz are necessary to distinguish them from free–free and synchrotron emission sources. Otherwise, in the analyses of the spatially unresolved spectra, one needs to simultaneously constrain the flux densities of free–free, synchrotron, and dust emission with the observations at ∼5–50 GHz.

We present Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array observations of SiO, SiS, H2O, NaCl, and SO line emission at similar to 30-50 mas resolution. These images map the molecular outflow and disk of Orion Source I (SrcI) on similar to 12-20 au scales. Our observations show that the flow of material around SrcI creates a turbulent boundary layer in the outflow from SrcI, which may dissipate angular momentum in the rotating molecular outflow into the surrounding medium. Additionally, the data suggest that the proper motion of SrcI may have a significant effect on the structure and evolution of SrcI and its molecular outflow. As the motion of SrcI funnels material between the disk and the outflow, some material may be entrained into the outflow and accrete onto the disk, creating shocks that excite the NaCl close to the disk surface.

We present a new Submillimeter Array survey of 47 Class II sources in the Taurus-Auriga region. Our observations made 12 independent samples of flux densities over the 200-400 GHz frequency range. We tightly constrained the spectral indices of most sources to a narrow range of 2.0 +/- 0.2; only a handful of spatially resolved (e.g., diameter >250 au) disks present larger spectral indices. The simplest interpretation for this result is that the (sub)millimeter luminosities of all of the observed target sources are dominated by very optically thick (e.g., tau greater than or similar to 5) dust thermal emission. Some previous works that were based on the optically thin assumption thus might have underestimated optical depths by at least 1 order of magnitude. Assuming DSHARP dust opacities, this corresponds to underestimates of dust masses by a similar factor. For our specific selected sample, the lower limits of dust masses implied by the optically thick interpretation are 1-3 times higher than those previous estimates that were made based on the optically thin assumption. Moreover, some population synthesis models show that, to explain the observed, narrowly distributed spectral indices, the disks in our selected sample need to have very similar dust temperatures (T-dust). Given a specific assumption of median T-dust, the maximum grain sizes (alpha(max)) can also be constrained, which is a few times smaller than 0.1 mm for T-dust similar to 100 K and a few millimeters for T-dust similar to 24 K. The results may indicate that dust grain growth outside the water snow line is limited by the bouncing/fragmentation barriers. This is consistent with the recent laboratory experiments, which indicated that the coagulation of water-ice-coated dust is not efficient, and the water-ice-free dust is stickier and thus can coagulate more efficiently. In the Class II disks, the dust mass budget outside of the water snow line may be largely retained instead of being mostly consumed by planet formation. While Class II disks still possess sufficient dust masses to feed planet formation at a later time, it is unknown whether or not dust coagulation and planet formation can be efficient or natural outside of the water snow line.

We present images at 6 and 14 GHz of Source I in Orion-KL. At higher frequencies, from 43 to 340 GHz, images of this source are dominated by thermal emission from dust in a 100 AU diameter circumstellar disk, but at 6 and 14 GHz the emission is elongated along the minor axis of the disk, aligned with the SiO bipolar outflow from the central object. Gaussian fits to the 6, 14, 43, and 99 GHz images find a component along the disk minor axis whose flux and length vary with frequency consistent with free-free emission from an ionized outflow. The data favor a broad outflow from a disk wind, rather than a narrow ionized jet. Source I was undetected in higher resolution 5 GHz e-MERLIN observations obtained in 2021. The 5-6 GHz structure of SrcI may be resolved out by the high sidelobe structure of the e-MERLIN synthesized beam, or be time variable.

This paper analyses images from 43 to 340 GHz to trace the structure of the Source I (SrcI) disk in Orion-KL with ∼12 au resolution. The data reveal an almost edge-on disk with an outside diameter ∼100 au, which is heated from the inside. The high opacity at 220–340 GHz hides the internal structure and presents a surface temperature ∼500 K. Images at 43, 86 and 99 GHz reveal structure within the disk. At 43 GHz there is bright compact emission with brightness temperature ∼1300 K. Another feature, most prominent at 99 GHz, is a warped ridge of emission. The data can be explained by a simple model with a hot inner structure, seen through cooler material. A wide-angle outflow mapped in SiO emission ablates material from the interior of the disk, and extends in a bipolar outflow over 1000 au along the rotation axis of the disk. SiO v = 0, J = 5–4 emission appears to have a localized footprint in the warped ridge. These observations suggest that the ridge is the working surface of the disk, and heated by accretion and the outflow. The disk structure may be evolving, with multiple accretion and outflow events. We discuss two sources of variability: (1) variable accretion onto the disk as SrcI travels through the filamentary debris from the Becklin–Neugebauer Object-SrcI encounter ∼550 yr ago; and (2) episodic accretion from the disk onto the protostar, which may trigger multiple outflows. The warped inner-disk structure is direct evidence that SrcI could be a binary experiencing episodic accretion.

This work gives an update to existing reconstructions of the Galactic Faraday rotation sky by processing almost all Faraday rotation data sets available at the end of the year 2020. Observations of extra-Galactic sources in recent years have, among other regions, further illuminated the previously under-constrained southern celestial sky, as well as parts of the inner disc of the Milky Way. This has culminated in an all-sky data set of 55,190 data points, which is a significant expansion on the 41,330 used in previous works, hence making an updated separation of the Galactic component a promising venture. The increased source density allows us to present our results in a resolution of about $1.3\cdot 10^{-2}\, \mathrm{deg}^2$ ($46.8\,\mathrm{arcmin}^2$), which is a twofold increase compared to previous works. As for previous Faraday rotation sky reconstructions, this work is based on information field theory, a Bayesian inference scheme for field-like quantities which handles noisy and incomplete data. In contrast to previous reconstructions, we find a significantly thinner and pronounced Galactic disc with small-scale structures exceeding values of several thousand $\mathrm{rad}\,\mathrm{m}^{-2}$. The improvements can mainly be attributed to the new catalog of Faraday data, but are also supported by advances in correlation structure modeling within numerical information field theory. We furthermore give a detailed discussion on statistical properties of the Faraday rotation sky and investigate correlations to other data sets.

ABSTRACT Rotation curves of galaxies probe their total mass distributions, including dark matter. Dwarf galaxies are excellent systems to investigate the dark matter density distribution, as they tend to have larger fractions of dark matter compared to higher mass systems. The core-cusp problem describes the discrepancy found in the slope of the dark matter density profile in the centres of galaxies (β*) between observations of dwarf galaxies (shallower cores) and dark matter-only simulations (steeper cusps). We investigate β* in six nearby spiral dwarf galaxies for which high-resolution CO J = 1–0 data were obtained with ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array). We derive rotation curves and decompose the mass profile of the dark matter using our CO rotation curves as a tracer of the total potential and 4.5 $\mu$m photometry to define the stellar mass distribution. We find 〈β*〉 = 0.6 with a standard deviation of ±0.1 among the galaxies in this sample, in agreement with previous measurements in this mass range. The galaxies studied are on the high stellar mass end of dwarf galaxies and have cuspier profiles than lower mass dwarfs, in agreement with other observations. When the same definition of the slope is used, we observe steeper slopes than predicted by the FIRE and NIHAO simulations. This may signal that these relatively massive dwarfs underwent stronger gas inflows towards their centres than predicted by these simulations, that these simulations overpredict the frequency of accretion or feedback events, or that a combination of these or other effects are at work.

We present ALMA Band 7 polarization observations of the OMC-1 region of the Orion molecular cloud. We find that the polarization pattern observed in the region is likely to have been significantly altered by the radiation field of the >104 L⊙ high-mass protostar Orion Source I. In the protostar’s optically thick disc, polarization is likely to arise from dust self-scattering. In material to the south of Source I – previously identified as a region of ‘anomalous’ polarization emission – we observe a polarization geometry concentric around Source I. We demonstrate that Source I’s extreme luminosity may be sufficient to make the radiative precession time-scale shorter than the Larmor time-scale for moderately large grains ($\gt 0.005\!-\!0.1\, \mu$m), causing them to precess around the radiation anisotropy vector (k-RATs) rather than the magnetic field direction (B-RATs). This requires relatively unobscured emission from Source I, supporting the hypothesis that emission in this region arises from the cavity wall of the Source I outflow. This is one of the first times that evidence for k-RAT alignment has been found outside of a protostellar disc or AGB star envelope. Alternatively, the grains may remain aligned by B-RATs and trace gas infall on to the Main Ridge. Elsewhere, we largely find the magnetic field geometry to be radial around the BN/KL explosion centre, consistent with previous observations. However, in the Main Ridge, the magnetic field geometry appears to remain consistent with the larger-scale magnetic field, perhaps indicative of the ability of the dense Ridge to resist disruption by the BN/KL explosion.

The Orion Nebula Cluster (ONC) is the nearest dense star-forming region at ∼400 pc away, making it an ideal target to study the impact of high stellar density and proximity to massive stars (the Trapezium) on protoplanetary disk evolution. The OMC1 molecular cloud is a region of high extinction situated behind the Trapezium in which actively forming stars are shielded from the Trapezium’s strong radiation. In this work, we survey disks at high resolution with Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array at three wavelengths with resolutions of 0.″095 (3 mm; Band 3), 0.″048 (1.3 mm; Band 6), and 0.″030 (0.85 mm; Band 7) centered on radio Source I. We detect 127 sources, including 15 new sources that have not previously been detected at any wavelength. 72 sources are spatially resolved at 3 mm, with sizes from ∼8–100 au. We classify 76 infrared-detected sources as foreground ONC disks and the remainder as embedded OMC1 disks. The two samples have similar disk sizes, but the OMC1 sources have a dense and centrally concentrated spatial distribution, indicating they may constitute a spatially distinct subcluster. We find smaller disk sizes and a lack of large (>75 au) disks in both our samples compared to other nearby star-forming regions, indicating that environmental disk truncation processes are significant. While photoevaporation from nearby massive Trapezium stars may account for the smaller disks in the ONC, the embedded sources in OMC1 are hidden from this radiation and thus must truncated by some other mechanism, possibly dynamical truncation or accretion-driven contraction.

We imaged the continuum and molecular line emission from Orion Source I (SrcI) with up to 30 mas (12 AU) resolution at 43, 99, 223, and 340 GHz in an attempt to probe the structure and chemistry of the circumstellar disk and bipolar outflow associated with this high mass protostar. The continuum spectral index ranges from $\sim$2 along the midplane of the disk to $\sim$3 along the edges, consistent with dust that is optically thick in the midplane but becomes optically thin at the periphery. Salt (NaCl) emission is visible where the dust is optically thin; it provides a unique tracer of the velocity field within the disk. All other molecules that we have mapped - H$_2$O, AlO, SiO, SiS, SO, and SO$_2$ - appear to originate primarily in the bipolar outflow. The base of the outflow is corotating with the disk. SiS shows a filamentary structure that is most prominent along the edges of the outflow. The molecular distributions suggest that Si and Al released from dust grains in the disk react with oxygen derived from H$_2$O to form SiO and AlO, and with SO and SO$_2$ to form SiS.

We observed polarization of the SiO rotational transitions from Orion Source I (SrcI) to probe the magnetic field in bipolar outflows from this high-mass protostar. Both 43 GHz J = 1–0 and 86 GHz J = 2–1 lines were mapped with ∼20 au resolution, using the Very Large Array (VLA) and Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA), respectively. The 28SiO transitions in the ground vibrational state are a mixture of thermal and maser emission. Comparison of the polarization position angles in the J = 1–0 and J = 2–1 transitions allows us to set an upper limit on possible Faraday rotation of 104 rad m−2, which would twist the J = 2–1 position angles typically by less than 10°. The smooth, systematic polarization structure in the outflow lobes suggests a well-ordered magnetic field on scales of a few hundred au. The uniformity of the polarization suggests a field strength of ∼30 mG. It is strong enough to shape the bipolar outflow and possibly lead to sub-Keplerian rotation of gas at the base of the outflow. The strikingly high fractional linear polarizations of 80%–90% in the 28SiO v = 0 masers require anisotropic pumping. We measured circular polarizations of 60% toward the strongest maser feature in the v = 0 J = 1–0 peak. Anisotropic resonant scattering is likely to be responsible for this circular polarization. We also present maps of the 29SiO v = 0 J = 2–1 maser and several other SiO transitions at higher vibrational levels and isotopologues.

NGC 7538 IRS 1 is a very young embedded O star driving an ionized jet and accreting mass with an accretion rate >10−4 yr−1, which is quenching the hypercompact H ii region. We use SOFIA GREAT data, Herschel PACS and SPIRE archive data, SOFIA FORCAST archive data, Onsala 20 m and CARMA data, and JCMT archive data to determine the properties of the O star and its outflow. IRS 1 appears to be a single O star with a bolometric luminosity >1 × 105 , i.e., spectral type O7 or earlier. We find that IRS 1 drives a large molecular outflow with the blueshifted northern outflow lobe extending to ∼280″ or 3.6 pc from IRS 1. Near IRS 1 the outflow is well aligned with the ionized jet. The dynamical timescale of the outflow is ∼1.3 × 105 yr. The total outflow mass is ∼130 . We determine a mass outflow rate of 1.0 × 10−3 yr−1, roughly consistent with the observed mass accretion rate. We observe strong high-velocity [C ii] emission in the outflow, confirming that strong UV radiation from IRS 1 escapes into the outflow lobes and is ionizing the gas. Many O stars may form like low-mass stars, but with a higher accretion rate and in a denser environment. As long as the accretion stays high enough to quench the H ii region, the star will continue to grow. When the accretion rate drops, the H ii region will rapidly start to expand.

The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) has recently delivered the first resolved images of M87*, the supermassive black hole in the center of the M87 galaxy. These images were produced using 230 GHz observations performed in 2017 April. Additional observations are required to investigate the persistence of the primary image feature - a ring with azimuthal brightness asymmetry - and to quantify the image variability on event horizon scales. To address this need, we analyze M87* data collected with prototype EHT arrays in 2009, 2011, 2012, and 2013. While these observations do not contain enough information to produce images, they are sufficient to constrain simple geometric models. We develop a modeling approach based on the framework utilized for the 2017 EHT data analysis and validate our procedures using synthetic data. Applying the same approach to the observational data sets, we find the M87* morphology in 2009-2017 to be consistent with a persistent asymmetric ring of 40 uas diameter. The position angle of the peak intensity varies in time. In particular, we find a significant difference between the position angle measured in 2013 and 2017. These variations are in broad agreement with predictions of a subset of general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations. We show that quantifying the variability across multiple observational epochs has the potential to constrain the physical properties of the source, such as the accretion state or the black hole spin.

We report the detection of NaCl, KCl, and their Cl-37 and K-41 isotopologues toward the disk around Orion SrcI. About 60 transitions of these molecules were identified. This is the first detection of these molecules in the interstellar medium not associated with the ejecta of evolved stars. It is also the first ever detection of the vibrationally excited states of these lines in the ISM above v = 1, with firm detections up to v = 6. The salt emission traces the region just above the continuum disk, possibly forming the base of the outflow. The emission from the vibrationally excited transitions is inconsistent with a single temperature, implying the lines are not in LTE. We examine several possible explanations of the observed high excitation lines, concluding that the vibrational states are most likely to be radiatively excited via rovibrational transitions in the 25-35 mu m (NaCl) and 35-45 mu m (KCl) range. We suggest that the molecules are produced by destruction of dust particles. Because these molecules are so rare, they are potentially unique tools for identifying high-mass protostellar disks and measuring the radiation environment around accreting young stars.

Editorial Dear Colleagues, It is a pleasure to present you the 259 issue of the AGB Newsletter. In case you wondered why Adam Ginsburg posted their paper on a protostellar disc, it is because the molecular species detected in that disc have previously only been seen in AGB star atmospheres. Congratulations to Andrea Chiavassa for his Habilitation thesis! Various workshops and schools are being organised: an evolved stars session at the European Week of Astronomy and Space Science in Lyon, a school on proposal preparation, data analysis and publication in the Slovak Republic, and a Cloudy workshop in Kentucky, USA. Last month’s Food for Thought asked ”What fraction of stars evolve as single stars all the way to the PN phase?” One response was received: Between 1% and 99%, but closer to 60% since at least 25% of all stars are multiple. Reactions to the question and this response remain welcome! The next issue is planned to be distributed around the 1 of March.

Filaments are ubiquitous structures in molecular clouds and play an important role in the mass assembly of stars. We present results of dynamical stability analyses for filaments in the infrared dark cloud G14.225-0.506, where a delayed onset of massive star formation was reported in the two hubs at the convergence of multiple filaments of parsec length. Full-synthesis imaging is performed with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array to map the N2H+ (1-0) emission in two hub-filament systems with a spatial resolution of similar to 0.034 pc. Kinematics are derived from a sophisticated spectral fitting algorithm that accounts for line blending, large optical depth, and multiple velocity components. We identify five velocity coherent filaments and derive their velocity gradients with principal component analysis. The mass accretion rates along the filaments are up to 10(-4) M-circle dot yr(-1) and are significant enough to affect the hub dynamics within one freefall time (similar to 10(5) yr). The N2H+ filaments are in equilibrium with virial parameter alpha(vir) similar to 1.2. We compare avir measured in the N2H+ filaments, NH3 filaments, 870 mu m dense clumps, and 3 mm dense cores. The decreasing trend in avir with decreasing spatial scales persists, suggesting an increasingly important role of gravity at small scales. Meanwhile, avir also decreases with decreasing nonthermal motions. In combination with the absence of high-mass protostars and massive cores, our results are consistent with the global hierarchical collapse scenario.

We report the detection of NaCl, KCl, and their $^{37}$Cl and $^{41}$K isotopologues toward the disk around Orion SrcI. About 60 transitions of these molecules were identified. This is the first detection of these molecules in the interstellar medium not associated with the ejecta of evolved stars. It is also the first ever detection of the vibrationally excited states of these lines in the ISM above v = 1, with firm detections up to v = 6. The salt emission traces the region just above the continuum disk, possibly forming the base of the outflow. The emission from the vibrationally excited transitions is inconsistent with a single temperature, implying the lines are not in LTE. We examine several possible explanations of the observed high excitation lines, concluding that the vibrational states are most likely to be radiatively excited via rovibrational transitions in the 25-35 {\mu}m (NaCl) and 35-45 {\mu}m (KCl) range. We suggest that the molecules are produced by destruction of dust particles. Because these molecules are so rare, they are potentially unique tools for identifying high-mass protostellar disks and measuring the radiation environment around accreting young stars.