A possible trail of dust from a young, highly-extincted brown dwarf in the outskirts of the Trapezium Cluster
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arXiv
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| Auteurs principaux: | , , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
| Publié: |
2025
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| _version_ | 1866910819899408384 |
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| author | Haworth, Thomas J. McCaughrean, Mark J. Pearson, Samuel G. Booth, Richard A. |
| author_facet | Haworth, Thomas J. McCaughrean, Mark J. Pearson, Samuel G. Booth, Richard A. |
| contents | We present the JWST discovery of a highly-extincted ($A_V\sim52$) candidate brown dwarf ($\sim0.018$M$_\odot$) in the outskirts of the Trapezium Cluster that appears to be coincident with the end of a $\sim 1700\,$au long, remarkably uniformly wide, dark trail that broadens only slightly at the end opposite the point source. We examine whether a dusty trail associated with a highly-extincted brown dwarf could plausibly be detected with JWST and explore possible origins. We show that a dusty trail associated with the brown dwarf could be observable if dust within it is larger than that in the ambient molecular cloud. For example, if the ambient cloud has a standard $\sim0.25$$μ$m maximum grain size and the trail contains micron-sized grains, then the trail will have a scattering opacity over an order of magnitude larger compared to the surroundings in NIRCam short-wavelength filters. We use a simple model to show that a change in maximum grain size can reproduce the high $A_V$ and the multi-filter NIRCam contrast seen between the trail and its surroundings. We propose and explore two possible mechanisms that could be responsible for the trail: i) a weak FUV radiation-driven wind from the circum-brown dwarf disc due to the O stars in the region and ii) a Bondi-Hoyle-Lyttleton accretion wake. The former would be the most distant known case of the Trapezium stars' radiation driving winds from a disc, and the latter would be the first known example of ``late'' infall from the interstellar medium onto a low mass object in a high-mass star-forming region. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2502_04447 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | A possible trail of dust from a young, highly-extincted brown dwarf in the outskirts of the Trapezium Cluster Haworth, Thomas J. McCaughrean, Mark J. Pearson, Samuel G. Booth, Richard A. Solar and Stellar Astrophysics Earth and Planetary Astrophysics We present the JWST discovery of a highly-extincted ($A_V\sim52$) candidate brown dwarf ($\sim0.018$M$_\odot$) in the outskirts of the Trapezium Cluster that appears to be coincident with the end of a $\sim 1700\,$au long, remarkably uniformly wide, dark trail that broadens only slightly at the end opposite the point source. We examine whether a dusty trail associated with a highly-extincted brown dwarf could plausibly be detected with JWST and explore possible origins. We show that a dusty trail associated with the brown dwarf could be observable if dust within it is larger than that in the ambient molecular cloud. For example, if the ambient cloud has a standard $\sim0.25$$μ$m maximum grain size and the trail contains micron-sized grains, then the trail will have a scattering opacity over an order of magnitude larger compared to the surroundings in NIRCam short-wavelength filters. We use a simple model to show that a change in maximum grain size can reproduce the high $A_V$ and the multi-filter NIRCam contrast seen between the trail and its surroundings. We propose and explore two possible mechanisms that could be responsible for the trail: i) a weak FUV radiation-driven wind from the circum-brown dwarf disc due to the O stars in the region and ii) a Bondi-Hoyle-Lyttleton accretion wake. The former would be the most distant known case of the Trapezium stars' radiation driving winds from a disc, and the latter would be the first known example of ``late'' infall from the interstellar medium onto a low mass object in a high-mass star-forming region. |
| title | A possible trail of dust from a young, highly-extincted brown dwarf in the outskirts of the Trapezium Cluster |
| topic | Solar and Stellar Astrophysics Earth and Planetary Astrophysics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.04447 |