EPoS
EPoS Contribution

The first systematic search for streamers toward low-mass protostars

M. Teresa Valdivia-Mena
MPE, Garching, DE
In the last few years, there has been a rise in the discovery of streamers, which are long gas structures (about 1000-10000 au) that feed the protostellar disk and/or pseudodisk region with material from both within and outside their natal core. These have emerged as a novel mechanism to supply mass to protostellar systems. However, their prevalence toward protostars remain uncertain. In this study, we aim to measure the occurrence of streamers in a clustered star formation environment for the first time. We focus on the southeastern part of the nearby NGC 1333 star-forming region, using NOEMA and IRAM-30m single dish observations. After analyzing the velocity structure of HC3N molecular gas emission and the N2H+ fiber structure using clustering algorithms, we have identified potential streamers towards 40% of the protostars within our field of view. This sheds light on the possible common presence of streamers in clustered star-forming regions. Our findings suggest that the gas in these streamers originates from outside the filaments, connecting infalling cloud material to the scales of protostellar disks.
Caption: Zoom into one of the streamers found within the NGC 1333 southeastern region. Left: integrated intensity of our new HC3N observations of NGC 1333 southeast, showcasing the highly asymmetric structures toward each protostar. Symbols represent the positions of known young stellar objects in the region. Right: zoom into one velocity component of HC3N that shows a streamer candidate falling toward IRAS 4A. From top to bottom: peak brightness temperature, central velocity and velocity with respect to the projected distance with respect to the protostar. The white and blue curves show the free-fall trajectory that best matches the HC3N velocity component.
Collaborators:
P. Caselli, MPE, DE
J. Pineda, MPE, DE
D. Segura-Cox, UT, US
A. Schmiedeke, GBO, US
S. Spezzano, MPE, DE
M. Küffmeier, NBI, DK
S. Offner, UT, US
N. Cunningham, IPAG, FR
A. Ivlev, MPE, DE
R. Neri, IRAM, FR
M. J. Maureira, MPE, DE
M. Chen, QU, CA
 Relevant topic(s):
Accretion
Low-Mass SF
Relevant Big Question:
How do protostars gain mass from their environment?