Embedded clusters are ideal laboratories for understanding the early phase of the dynamical evolution of clusters as well as massive star formation. An interesting observational phenomenon is that some of the embedded clusters show mass segregation, i.e., the most massive stars are preferentially found near the cluster center. We develop a new approach to describe mass segregation. Using this approach and the Two Micron All Sky Survey Point Source Catalog （2MASS PSC）, we analyze 18 embedded clusters in the Galaxy. We find that 11 of them are mass-segregated and that the others are not mass-segregated. No inversely mass-segregated cluster is found.
We present results of 13CO（1-0）,C18O（1-0）,and HCO＋（1-0） map observations and N2H＋（1-0） single point observations directed towards a sample of nine low-luminosity 6.7-GHz masers.N2H ＋ line emission has been detected from six out of nine sources,C18O line emission has been detected from eight out of nine sources,and HCO ＋ and 13CO emission has been detected in all sources.In particular,a ＂blue profile＂ of the HCO ＋ spectrum,a signature of inflow,is found towards one source.From integrated intensity emission maps,we identified 17 cores in the sample.Among them,nine cores are closely associated with low-luminosity methanol masers.For these cores,we derive the column densities,core sizes,masses and molecular abundances.Comparison of our results with similar molecular line surveys towards the southern sky methanol masers indicates that linewidths of our sample,including only the low-luminosity masers,are smaller than the sample that includes both lowand high-luminosity masers.For the maser associated cores,their gas masses have the same order of magnitude as their virial masses,indicating that these cores are gravitationally bound systems.In addition,we have found from our observations that the low-luminosity methanol masers tend to coexist with H2O masers and outflows rather than with OH masers.
Yuan-Wei Wu,Ye Xu and Ji Yang Purple Mountain Observatory,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Nanjing 210008,China
We present a detailed comparison of two approaches, the use of a precalculated database and simulated annealing （SA）, for fitting the continuum spectral energy distribution （SED） of astrophysical objects whose appearance is dominated by surrounding dust. While pre-calculated databases are commonly used to model SED data, only a few studies to date employed SA due to its unclear accuracy and convergence time for this specific problem. From a methodological point of view, different approaches lead to different fitting quality, demand on computational resources and calculation time. We compare the fitting quality and computational costs of these two approaches for the task of SED fitting to provide a guide to the practitioner to find a compromise between desired accuracy and available resources. To reduce uncertainties inherent to real datasets, we introduce a reference model resembling a typical circumstellar system with 10 free parameters. We derive the SED of the reference model with our code MC3 D at 78 logarithmically distributed wavelengths in the range [0.3 μm, 1.3 mini and use this setup to simulate SEDs for the database and SA. Our result directly demonstrates the applicability of SA in the field of SED modeling, since the algorithm regularly finds better solutions to the optimization problem than a precalculated database. As both methods have advantages and shortcomings, a hybrid approach is preferable. While the database provides an approximate fit and overall probability distributions for all parameters deduced using Bayesian analysis, SA can be used to improve upon the results returned by the model grid.
For the first time, the OMC-2/3 region was mapped in C2H （1–0）, HC3N （10–9） and HNC （1–0） lines. In general, the emissions from all the three molecular species reveal an extended filamentary structure. The distribution of C2H cores almost follows that of the 1300μm condensations, which might suggest that C2H is a good tracer to study the core structure of molecular clouds. The core masses traced by HNC are rather ？at, ranging from 18.8 to 49.5 M , while also presenting a large span for those from C2H, ranging from 6.4 to 36.0 M . The line widths of both HNC and C2H look very similar, and both are wider than that of HC3N. The line widths of the three lines are all wider than those from dark clouds, implying that the former is more active than the latter, and has larger turbulence caused by winds and UV radiation from the surrounding massive stars.
We present a multi-line study of the massive star-forming region IRAS 22506＋5944. A new 6.7 GHz methanol maser was detected. ^12CO, 13CO, C180 and HCO＋ J = 1 - 0 transition observations reveal a star-formation complex consisting mainly of two cores. The dominant core has a mass of more than 200 Mo, while the other one is only about 35 340. Both cores are obviously at different evolutionary stages. A 12CO energetic bipolar outflow was detected with an outflow mass of about 15 Mo.
