Low-Metallicity Star Formation Survey in Sh2-284 (LZ-STAR). I. Ordered massive star formation in the outer Galaxy

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Auteurs principaux: Cheng, Yu, Tan, Jonathan C., Andersen, Morten, Fedriani, Rubén, Zhang, Yichen, Robberto, Massimo, Li, Zhi-Yun, Tanaka, Kei E. I.
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2025
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author Cheng, Yu
Tan, Jonathan C.
Andersen, Morten
Fedriani, Rubén
Zhang, Yichen
Robberto, Massimo
Li, Zhi-Yun
Tanaka, Kei E. I.
author_facet Cheng, Yu
Tan, Jonathan C.
Andersen, Morten
Fedriani, Rubén
Zhang, Yichen
Robberto, Massimo
Li, Zhi-Yun
Tanaka, Kei E. I.
contents Star formation is a fundamental, yet poorly understood, process of the Universe. It is important to study how star formation occurs in different galactic environments. Thus, here, in the first of a series of papers, we introduce the Low-Metallicity Star Formation (LZ-STAR) survey of the Sh2-284 (hereafter S284) region, which, at $Z\sim 0.3-0.5Z_\odot$, is one of the lowest-metallicity star-forming regions of our Galaxy. LZ-STAR is a multi-facility survey, including observations with {\it JWST}, {\it ALMA}, {\it HST}, {\it Chandra} and {\it Gemini}. As a starting point, we report {\it JWST} and {\it ALMA} observations of one of the most massive protostars in the region, S284p1. The observations of shock-excited molecular hydrogen reveal a symmetric, bipolar outflow originating from the protostar, spanning several parsecs, and fully covered by the {\it JWST} field of view and the {\it ALMA} observations of CO(2-1) emission. This allows us to infer that the protostar has maintained a relatively stable orientation of disk accretion over its formation history. The {\it JWST} near-IR continuum observations detect a centrally illuminated bipolar outflow cavity around the protostar, as well as a surrounding cluster of low-mass young stars. We develop new radiative transfer models of massive protostars designed for the low metallicity of S284. Fitting these models to the protostar's spectral energy distribution implies a current protostellar mass of $\sim10\:M_\odot$ has formed from an initially $\sim100\:M_\odot$ core over the last $\sim3\times10^5$ years. Overall, these results indicate that massive stars can form in an ordered manner in low-metallicity, protocluster environments.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_14460
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Low-Metallicity Star Formation Survey in Sh2-284 (LZ-STAR). I. Ordered massive star formation in the outer Galaxy
Cheng, Yu
Tan, Jonathan C.
Andersen, Morten
Fedriani, Rubén
Zhang, Yichen
Robberto, Massimo
Li, Zhi-Yun
Tanaka, Kei E. I.
Astrophysics of Galaxies
Star formation is a fundamental, yet poorly understood, process of the Universe. It is important to study how star formation occurs in different galactic environments. Thus, here, in the first of a series of papers, we introduce the Low-Metallicity Star Formation (LZ-STAR) survey of the Sh2-284 (hereafter S284) region, which, at $Z\sim 0.3-0.5Z_\odot$, is one of the lowest-metallicity star-forming regions of our Galaxy. LZ-STAR is a multi-facility survey, including observations with {\it JWST}, {\it ALMA}, {\it HST}, {\it Chandra} and {\it Gemini}. As a starting point, we report {\it JWST} and {\it ALMA} observations of one of the most massive protostars in the region, S284p1. The observations of shock-excited molecular hydrogen reveal a symmetric, bipolar outflow originating from the protostar, spanning several parsecs, and fully covered by the {\it JWST} field of view and the {\it ALMA} observations of CO(2-1) emission. This allows us to infer that the protostar has maintained a relatively stable orientation of disk accretion over its formation history. The {\it JWST} near-IR continuum observations detect a centrally illuminated bipolar outflow cavity around the protostar, as well as a surrounding cluster of low-mass young stars. We develop new radiative transfer models of massive protostars designed for the low metallicity of S284. Fitting these models to the protostar's spectral energy distribution implies a current protostellar mass of $\sim10\:M_\odot$ has formed from an initially $\sim100\:M_\odot$ core over the last $\sim3\times10^5$ years. Overall, these results indicate that massive stars can form in an ordered manner in low-metallicity, protocluster environments.
title Low-Metallicity Star Formation Survey in Sh2-284 (LZ-STAR). I. Ordered massive star formation in the outer Galaxy
topic Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.14460