3D shape of Orion A from Gaia DR2

Josefa E. Grossschedl; Joao Alves; Stefan Meingast; Christine Ackerl; Joana Ascenso; Herve Bouy; Andreas Burkert; Jan Forbrich; Verena Fuernkranz; Alyssa Goodman; Alvaro Hacar; Gabor Herbst-Kiss; Charles J. Lada; Irati Larreina; Kieran Leschinski; Marco Lombardi; Andre Moitinho; Daniel Mortimer; Eleonora Zari

doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201833901

3D shape of Orion A from Gaia DR2

Josefa E. Grossschedl, Joao Alves, Stefan Meingast, Christine Ackerl, Joana Ascenso, Herve Bouy, Andreas Burkert, Jan Forbrich, Verena Fuernkranz, Alyssa Goodman, Alvaro Hacar, Gabor Herbst-Kiss, Charles J. Lada, Irati Larreina, Kieran Leschinski, Marco Lombardi, Andre Moitinho, Daniel Mortimer, Eleonora Zari

Centre for Astrophysics Research (CAR)

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Abstract

We use the Gaia DR2 distances of about 700 mid-infrared selected young stellar objects in the benchmark giant molecular cloud Orion A to infer its 3D shape and orientation. We find that Orion A is not the fairly straight filamentary cloud that we see in (2D) projection, but instead a cometary-like cloud oriented toward the Galactic plane, with two distinct components: a denser and enhanced star-forming (bent) Head, and a lower density and star-formation quieter ~75 pc long Tail. The true extent of Orion A is not the projected ~40 pc but ~90 pc, making it by far the largest molecular cloud in the local neighborhood. Its aspect ratio (~30:1) and high column-density fraction (~45%) make it similar to large-scale Milky Way filaments ("bones"), despite its distance to the galactic mid-plane being an order of magnitude larger than typically found for these structures.

Original language	English
Article number	A106
Number of pages	9
Journal	Astronomy & Astrophysics
Volume	619
Early online date	14 Nov 2018
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201833901
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 14 Nov 2018

Keywords

Local insterstellar matter
Methods: Observational
Methods: Statistical
Parallaxes
Stars: Distances
Stars: Formation

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10.1051/0004-6361/201833901

1808.05952v1Accepted author manuscript, 7.08 MBLicence: Other

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Grossschedl, J. E., Alves, J., Meingast, S., Ackerl, C., Ascenso, J., Bouy, H., Burkert, A., Forbrich, J., Fuernkranz, V., Goodman, A., Hacar, A., Herbst-Kiss, G., Lada, C. J., Larreina, I., Leschinski, K., Lombardi, M., Moitinho, A., Mortimer, D., & Zari, E. (2018). 3D shape of Orion A from Gaia DR2. Astronomy & Astrophysics, 619, Article A106. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201833901

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abstract = "We use the Gaia DR2 distances of about 700 mid-infrared selected young stellar objects in the benchmark giant molecular cloud Orion A to infer its 3D shape and orientation. We find that Orion A is not the fairly straight filamentary cloud that we see in (2D) projection, but instead a cometary-like cloud oriented toward the Galactic plane, with two distinct components: a denser and enhanced star-forming (bent) Head, and a lower density and star-formation quieter ~75 pc long Tail. The true extent of Orion A is not the projected ~40 pc but ~90 pc, making it by far the largest molecular cloud in the local neighborhood. Its aspect ratio (~30:1) and high column-density fraction (~45%) make it similar to large-scale Milky Way filaments ({"}bones{"}), despite its distance to the galactic mid-plane being an order of magnitude larger than typically found for these structures. ",

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author = "Grossschedl, {Josefa E.} and Joao Alves and Stefan Meingast and Christine Ackerl and Joana Ascenso and Herve Bouy and Andreas Burkert and Jan Forbrich and Verena Fuernkranz and Alyssa Goodman and Alvaro Hacar and Gabor Herbst-Kiss and Lada, {Charles J.} and Irati Larreina and Kieran Leschinski and Marco Lombardi and Andre Moitinho and Daniel Mortimer and Eleonora Zari",

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T1 - 3D shape of Orion A from Gaia DR2

AU - Grossschedl, Josefa E.

AU - Alves, Joao

AU - Meingast, Stefan

AU - Ackerl, Christine

AU - Ascenso, Joana

AU - Bouy, Herve

AU - Burkert, Andreas

AU - Forbrich, Jan

AU - Fuernkranz, Verena

AU - Goodman, Alyssa

AU - Hacar, Alvaro

AU - Herbst-Kiss, Gabor

AU - Lada, Charles J.

AU - Larreina, Irati

AU - Leschinski, Kieran

AU - Lombardi, Marco

AU - Moitinho, Andre

AU - Mortimer, Daniel

AU - Zari, Eleonora

PY - 2018/11/14

Y1 - 2018/11/14

N2 - We use the Gaia DR2 distances of about 700 mid-infrared selected young stellar objects in the benchmark giant molecular cloud Orion A to infer its 3D shape and orientation. We find that Orion A is not the fairly straight filamentary cloud that we see in (2D) projection, but instead a cometary-like cloud oriented toward the Galactic plane, with two distinct components: a denser and enhanced star-forming (bent) Head, and a lower density and star-formation quieter ~75 pc long Tail. The true extent of Orion A is not the projected ~40 pc but ~90 pc, making it by far the largest molecular cloud in the local neighborhood. Its aspect ratio (~30:1) and high column-density fraction (~45%) make it similar to large-scale Milky Way filaments ("bones"), despite its distance to the galactic mid-plane being an order of magnitude larger than typically found for these structures.

AB - We use the Gaia DR2 distances of about 700 mid-infrared selected young stellar objects in the benchmark giant molecular cloud Orion A to infer its 3D shape and orientation. We find that Orion A is not the fairly straight filamentary cloud that we see in (2D) projection, but instead a cometary-like cloud oriented toward the Galactic plane, with two distinct components: a denser and enhanced star-forming (bent) Head, and a lower density and star-formation quieter ~75 pc long Tail. The true extent of Orion A is not the projected ~40 pc but ~90 pc, making it by far the largest molecular cloud in the local neighborhood. Its aspect ratio (~30:1) and high column-density fraction (~45%) make it similar to large-scale Milky Way filaments ("bones"), despite its distance to the galactic mid-plane being an order of magnitude larger than typically found for these structures.

KW - Local insterstellar matter

KW - Methods: Observational

KW - Methods: Statistical

KW - Parallaxes

KW - Stars: Distances

KW - Stars: Formation

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U2 - 10.1051/0004-6361/201833901

DO - 10.1051/0004-6361/201833901

M3 - Article

SN - 0004-6361

VL - 619

JO - Astronomy & Astrophysics

JF - Astronomy & Astrophysics

M1 - A106

ER -

3D shape of Orion A from Gaia DR2

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Keywords

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