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| VLA 1623 | |
|---|---|
| Name | VLA 1623 |
| Type | Protostellar system |
| Epoch | J2000 |
| Constellation | Ophiuchus |
| Distance | ~400 ly |
| Mass | multiple solar masses (combined) |
| Discovered | 1993 (VLA observations) |
VLA 1623 is a deeply embedded, multiple protostellar system in the rho Ophiuchi molecular cloud complex, notable for being one of the nearest Class 0 protostars and a prototype for early stellar evolution. The source has been studied with radio, submillimeter, infrared, and millimeter facilities, linking observations from the Very Large Array to the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array and space telescopes. VLA 1623 serves as a benchmark for comparisons with objects in the Orion Nebula, Taurus Molecular Cloud, Perseus molecular cloud, and other nearby star-forming regions.
VLA 1623 lies within the rho Ophiuchi cloud complex, an active region cataloged alongside star-forming sites such as the Ophiuchus North, the Rho Ophiuchi Dark Cloud, and the L1688 core. The system is often referenced in studies alongside protostellar examples like IRAS 16293-2422, HH 46/47, and the L1551 IRS 5 binary, and is compared with well-known targets observed by the Hubble Space Telescope, the Spitzer Space Telescope, and the Herschel Space Observatory. Its proximity has made it a touchstone in papers from teams connected to institutions such as the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, the European Southern Observatory, and the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy.
The source was identified in radio surveys performed with the Very Large Array and associated with submillimeter peaks seen by instruments like the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope and the Submillimeter Array. Follow-up work involved the Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique and the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory, and later precise imaging with the ALMA Partnership and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array. Observational campaigns referenced observatories such as the Keck Observatory, the Very Large Telescope, the Gemini Observatory, and the Infrared Space Observatory. The object has been included in catalogs assembled by collaborations including the Two Micron All-Sky Survey teams, the Sloan Digital Sky Survey ancillary studies, and star-formation surveys linked to researchers at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and the Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie.
VLA 1623 is characterized as a cold, dense source with a spectral energy distribution typical of Class 0 protostar envelopes. Measured properties involve envelope masses and bolometric luminosities compared against benchmarks such as Class I protostar examples and prestellar cores found in surveys by the Submillimeter Common-User Bolometer Array teams. Thermal emission and molecular line studies using tracers like CO, HCO+, and N2H+ were conducted with facilities including the Green Bank Telescope, the Nobeyama Radio Observatory, and the Effelsberg 100-m Radio Telescope. Analyses draw on radiative transfer models developed in the tradition of work by researchers associated with the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, the University of Cambridge, and the California Institute of Technology.
High-resolution imaging reveals a multiple protostellar configuration with components resolved at centimeter and millimeter wavelengths; these components have been discussed in the context of multiplicity statistics derived from surveys such as those conducted by the VLA Nascent Disk and Multiplicity project and comparative studies in the Perseus and Taurus regions. VLA 1623 drives bipolar molecular outflows and Herbig–Haro objects analogous to those cataloged with names like HH 212 and HH 211, and the jets have been traced in CO and SiO lines by teams from institutions including the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics and the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan. Outflow morphologies are compared to paradigms established by surveys using the Spitzer Space Telescope and the Herschel Space Observatory.
Interferometric imaging revealed compact disk-like structures embedded in a massive envelope, prompting comparisons with disks around protostars such as those in the HL Tau system and disks studied in the Dunham et al. and Andrews et al. surveys. Dust continuum and molecular line maps from ALMA and the Submillimeter Array constrain disk radii and mass surface density profiles in analyses affiliated with the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy and the Leiden Observatory. Envelope infall signatures and rotational kinematics have been modeled using methods developed at institutions like the Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge and Caltech.
Multi-epoch radio and submillimeter observations have tracked proper motions of components and knots in the jet, cross-referenced with astrometric programs such as those conducted with the Very Long Baseline Array and the European VLBI Network. Variability in centimeter flux and episodic ejection events are discussed in the context of accretion variability observed in protostars in surveys by the Carnegie Institution for Science and teams associated with the Space Telescope Science Institute. Comparisons include objects monitored by long-term campaigns at the Large Millimeter Telescope and the Subaru Telescope.
VLA 1623 is a key laboratory for theories of protostellar evolution, disk formation, and multiplicity, influencing theoretical work from groups at the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, Princeton University, the University of California, Berkeley, and MIT. Its status among nearby protostars places it alongside influential targets such as the Orion KL Region, T Tauri, and Betelgeuse (as a contrasting late-stage example) in pedagogical and review literature. Studies of VLA 1623 inform models of angular momentum transport, magnetic braking, and episodic accretion developed at research centers including the Harvard Center for Astrophysics and the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics.
Category:Protostars Category:rho Ophiuchi cloud complex