The SOFIA Massive (SOMA) Star Formation Survey. V. Clustered Protostars
Abstract We present ∼8–40 μ m SOFIA-FORCAST images of seven regions of “clustered” star formation as part of the SOFIA Massive Star Formation Survey. We identify a total of 34 protostar candidates and build their spectral energy distributions (SEDs). We fit these SEDs with a grid of radiative transfer models based on the turbulent core accretion (TCA) theory to derive key protostellar properties, including initial core mass, M c , clump environment mass surface density, Σ cl , and current protostellar mass, m * . We also carry out empirical graybody (GB) estimation of Σ cl , which allows a case of restricted SED fitting within the TCA model grid. We also release version 2.0 of the open-source Python package sedcreator , which is designed to automate the aperture photometry and SED building and fitting process for sources in clustered environments, where flux contamination from close neighbors typically complicates the process. Using these updated methods, SED fitting yields values of M c ∼ 30–200 M ⊙ , Σ cl,SED ∼ 0.1–3 g cm −2 , and m * ∼ 4–50 M ⊙ . The GB fitting yields smaller values of Σ cl,GB ≲ 1 g cm −2 . From these results, we do not find evidence for a critical Σ cl needed to form massive (≳8 M ⊙ ) stars. However, we do find tentative evidence for a dearth of the most massive ( m * ≳ 30 M ⊙ ) protostars in the clustered regions, suggesting a potential impact of environment on the stellar initial mass function.
Authors
- M. Bonfand (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6551-6444)
- Zoie Telkamp (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6465-9590)
- Viviana Rosero (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8596-1756)
- Giuliana Cosentino (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5551-9502)
- Prasanta Gorai (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1602-6849)
- Adele Plunkett (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9912-5705)
- Jonathan C. Tan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3389-9142)
- Yao-Lun Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8227-2816)
- S. Crowe (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-0394-3754)
- Ryan D. Boyden (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9857-1853)
- Chi-Yan Law (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1964-970X)
- M. T. Beltrán (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3315-5626)
- Kei Tanaka (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6907-0926)
- R. Fedriani (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4040-4934)
- Kotomi Taniguchi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4402-6475)
- James M. De Buizer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7378-4430)
- Tatiana M. Rodríguez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0090-9137)
- Yichen Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7511-0034)
- Mengyao Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6159-2394)
Publication Details
- Journal
- The Astrophysical Journal
- Published
- 2025-06-03
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adcd79
- Citations
- 4
- Primary Topic
- Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 4.62
Funders
- Center for Selective C-H Functionalization, National Science Foundation
- Fundación Carmen y Severo Ochoa
- Universities Space Research Association
- Vetenskapsrådet
- Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación