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

Poster 1H020

The Herschel Orion Protostar Survey: Constraining Protostellar Models with Near- to Far-Infrared Observations

Furlan, Elise (NOAO, IPAC/Caltech)
Ali, Babar (NHSC/IPAC/Caltech)
Fischer, Will (University of Toledo)
Tobin, John (NRAO)
Stutz, Amy (MPIA)
Megeath, Tom (University of Toledo)
Allen, Lori (NOAO)
HOPS team, ()

Abstract:
During the protostellar stage of star formation, a young star is surrounded by a large infalling envelope of dust and gas; the material falls onto a circumstellar disk and is eventually accreted by the central star. The dust in the disk and envelope emits prominently at mid- to far-infrared wavelengths; at 10 micron, absorption by small silicate grains typically causes a broad absorption feature. By modeling the near- to far-IR spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of protostars, properties of their disks and envelopes can be derived. As part of the Herschel Orion Protostar Survey (HOPS; PI: S. T. Megeath), we have observed a large sample of protostars in the Orion star-forming complex at 70 and 160 micron with the PACS instrument on the Herschel Space Observatory. For most objects, we also have photometry in the near-IR (2MASS), mid-IR (Spitzer/ IRAC and MIPS), at 100 micron (PACS data from the Gould Belt Survey), sub-mm (APEX/SABOCA and LABOCA), and mid-infrared spectra (Spitzer/IRS). For the interpretation of the SEDs, we have constructed a large grid of protostellar models using a Monte Carlo radiative transfer code. Here we present our SED fitting techniques to determine the best-fit model for each object. We show the importance of including IRS spectra with appropriate weights, in addition to the constraints provided by the PACS measurements, which probe the peak of the SED. The 10 micron silicate absorption feature and the mid- to far-IR SED slope provide key constraints for the inclination angle of the object and its envelope density, with a deep absorption feature and steep SED slope for the most embedded and highly inclined objects. We show a few examples that illustrate our SED fitting method and present some preliminary results from our fits.

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