Protostars and Planets VI, Heidelberg, July 15-20, 2013

Poster 1H016

Searching for Class I multiple protostellar systems in the MIR in OMC-2 and OMC-3

Weber, Cornelia (University of Vienna)
Teixeira, Paula (University of Vienna)
Petr-Gotzens, Monika (ESO, Garching, Germany)
Takahashi, Satoko (JAO, Chile and NAOJ, Japan)

Abstract:
The Orion molecular cloud is a rich and well known star forming region where all the different evolutionary stages of the star formation process can be found. It is thus an ideal region to study physical characteristics of protostellar binaries (protobinaries). Observational studies of protobinaries are important tools to get better constraints on star formation models. Yet there are few such studies. We present preliminary results of a protobinary survey in the Orion Molecular Cloud-2 (OMC-2) and OMC-3. Our data consists of mid-infrared images obtained using the Europen Southern Observatory VLT/VISIR, and our sample has 24 Class I protostars, previously identified via Spitzer 24 micron observations. We present at first the frequencies of protostellar multiple systems in these molecular clouds. The survey will show how many protobinary or multiple systems form in these clouds, and if these frequencies are comparable to that of other similarly observed star forming regions. Another aim of the survey is to measure the separations of the protostars in these binary or multiple systems. We also derive the mass ratios of the protostars. Comparison of these results to other similar surveys might reveal some major initial conditions necessary for the formation of binary systems. The observed parameters will help constrain star formation models, and they will shed some light on how the stellar initial mass function may be assembled from a molecular cloud core mass function.

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