Jet-driving protostars identified from infrared observations of the Carina Nebula complex

Abstract

Aims: Jets are excellent signposts for very young embedded protostars, so we want to identify jet-driving protostars as a tracer of the currently forming generation of stars in the Carina Nebula, which is one of the most massive galactic star-forming regions and which is characterised by particularly high levels of massive-star feedback on the surrounding clouds.
Methods: We used archive data to construct large ( ≳ 2° × 2°) Spitzer IRAC mosaics of the Carina Nebula and performed a spatially complete search for objects with excesses in the 4.5 μm band, typical of shock-excited molecular hydrogen emission. We also identified the mid-infrared point sources that are the likely drivers of previously discovered Herbig-Haro jets and molecular hydrogen emission line objects. We combined the Spitzer photometry with our recent Herschel far-infrared data to construct the spectral energy distributions, and used the Robitaille radiative-transfer modelling tool to infer the properties of the objects.
Results: The radiative-transfer modelling suggests that the jet sources are protostars with masses between ~1 M_⊙ and ~10 M_⊙ that are surrounded by circumstellar disks and embedded in circumstellar envelopes.
Conclusions: The estimated protostar masses ≤10 M_⊙ suggest that the current star-formation activity in the Carina Nebula is restricted to low- and intermediate-mass stars. More optical than infrared jets can be observed, indicating that star formation predominantly takes place close to the surfaces of clouds.

This work is based in part on observations made with the Spitzer Space Telescope, which is operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with NASA, and on data collected by Herschel, an ESA space observatory with science instruments provided by European-led Principal Investigator consortia and with important participation from NASA.