Pomohaci, R, Oudmaijer, RD orcid.org/0000-0001-7703-3992 and Goodwin, SP (2019) A pilot survey of the binarity of Massive Young Stellar Objects with K-band adaptive optics. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 484 (1). pp. 226-238. ISSN 0035-8711
Abstract
We present the first search for binary companions of Massive Young Stellar Objects (MYSOs) using AO-assisted K-band observations, with NaCo at the VLT. We have surveyed 32 MYSOs from the RMS catalogue, probing the widest companions, with a physical separation range of 400–46 000 au, within the predictions of models and observations for multiplicity of MYSOs. Statistical methods are employed to discern whether these companions are physical rather than visual binaries. We find 18 physical companions around 10 target objects, amounting to a multiplicity fraction of 31 ± 8 per cent and a companion fraction of 53 ± 9 per cent. For similar separation and mass ratio ranges, MYSOs seem to have more companions than T Tauri or O stars, respectively. This suggests that multiplicity increases with mass and decreases with evolutionary stage. We compute very rough estimates for the mass ratios from the K-band magnitudes, and these appear to be generally larger than 0.5. This is inconsistent with randomly sampling the IMF, as predicted by the binary capture formation theory. Finally, we find that MYSOs with binaries do not show any different characteristics to the average MYSO in terms of luminosity, distance, outflow, or disc presence.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | (c) 2019, The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. This article has been accepted for publication in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. |
Keywords: | (stars:) binaries: general; stars: formation; stars: massive; stars: pre-main-sequence |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Physics and Astronomy (Leeds) > Astrophysics (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number Science & Technology Facilities Council (STFC) ST/I001557/1 Royal Astronomical Society . Science & Technology Facilities Council (STFC) ST/L000628/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 16 Apr 2019 14:14 |
Last Modified: | 16 Apr 2019 14:14 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Oxford University Press |
Identification Number: | 10.1093/mnras/stz014 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:145114 |