The Red MSX Source survey: The bolometric fluxes and luminosity distributions of young massive stars

Mottram, Joseph C., Hoare, Melvin G., Urquhart, J.S., Lumsden, Stuart L., Oudmaijer, Rene D., Robitaille, T.P., Moore, Toby J.T., Davies, Ben, Stead, Joseph J. (2011) The Red MSX Source survey: The bolometric fluxes and luminosity distributions of young massive stars. Astronomy and Astrophysics, 525 (9). p. 14479. ISSN 0004-6361. (doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201014479) (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:52227)

 The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided. Official URLhttp://www.dx.doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201014479

Abstract

Context. The Red MSX Source (RMS) survey is returning a large sample of massive young stellar objects (MYSOs) and ultra-compact (UC) H?ii regions using follow-up observations of colour-selected candidates from the MSX point source catalogue.

Aims. We obtain the bolometric fluxes and, using kinematic distance information, the luminosities for young RMS sources with far-infrared fluxes.

Methods. We use a model spectral energy distribution (SED) fitter to obtain the bolometric flux for our sources, given flux data from our work and the literature. The inputs to the model fitter were optimised by a series of investigations designed to reveal the effect varying these inputs had on the resulting bolometric flux. Kinematic distances derived from molecular line observations were then used to calculate the luminosity of each source.

Results. Bolometric fluxes are obtained for 1173 young RMS sources, of which 1069 have uniquely constrained kinematic distances and good SED fits. A comparison of the bolometric fluxes obtained using SED fitting with trapezium rule integration and two component greybody fits was also undertaken, and showed that both produce considerable scatter compared to the method used here.

Conclusions. The bolometric flux results allowed us to obtain the luminosity distributions of YSOs and UCH?ii regions in the RMS sample, which we find to be different. We also find that there are few MYSOs with L ? 105 L?, despite finding many MYSOs with 104 L? ? L ? 105 L?.

Item Type: Article 10.1051/0004-6361/201014479 stars: formation / stars: massive / stars: pre-main sequence / Hii regions / surveys Q Science > QB Astronomy > QB460 Astrophysics Divisions > Division of Natural Sciences > Physics and Astronomy James Urquhart 30 Nov 2015 16:06 UTC 16 Nov 2021 10:21 UTC https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/52227 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes) https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1605-8050