VISION - Vienna survey in Orion. I. VISTA Orion A Survey

Author(s): Stefan Meingast, Joao Alves, Diego Mardones, Paula Stella Viveiros Teixeira, Marco Lombardi, Josefa Elisabeth Großschedl, Joana Ascenso, Hervé Bouy, Jan Forbrich, Alyssa A. Goodman, Alvaro Hacar Gonzalez, Birgit Hasenberger, Jouni Kainulainen, Karolina Kubiak, Charles J. Lada, Elizabeth A. Lada, André Moitinho, Monika Petr-Gotzens, Lara Rodrigues, Carlos G. Román-Zúñiga
Abstract: Context. Orion A hosts the nearest massive star factory, thus offering a unique opportunity to resolve the processes connected with the formation of both low- and high-mass stars. Here we present the most detailed and sensitive near-infrared (NIR) observations of the entire molecular cloud to date.
Aims: With the unique combination of high image quality, survey coverage, and sensitivity, our NIR survey of Orion A aims at establishing a solid empirical foundation for further studies of this important cloud. In this first paper we present the observations, data reduction, and source catalog generation. To demonstrate the data quality, we present a first application of our catalog to estimate the number of stars currently forming inside Orion A and to verify the existence of a more evolved young foreground population.
Methods: We used the European Southern Observatory's (ESO) Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA) to survey the entire Orion A molecular cloud in the NIR J,H, and KS bands, covering a total of ~18.3 deg². We implemented all data reduction recipes independently of the ESO pipeline. Estimates of the young populations toward Orion A are derived via the KS-band luminosity function.
Results: Our catalog (799 995 sources) increases the source counts compared to the Two Micron All Sky Survey by about an order of magnitude. The 90% completeness limits are 20.4, 19.9, and 19.0 mag in J,H, and KS, respectively. The reduced images have 20% better resolution on average compared to pipeline products. We find between 2300 and 3000 embedded objects in Orion A and confirm that there is an extended foreground population above the Galactic field, in agreement with previous work.
Conclusions: The Orion A VISTA catalog represents the most detailed NIR view of the nearest massive star-forming region and provides a fundamental basis for future studies of star formation processes toward Orion.
Based on observations made with ESO Telescopes at the La Silla Paranal Observatory under program ID 090.C-0797(A).Image data and full Table B.1 are only available at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (ftp://130.79.128.5) or via cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/qcat
Organisation(s): Department of Astrophysics
External organisation(s): Universidad de Chile, Universidade de Lisboa, European Southern Observatory (Germany), Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie, University of Florida, Gainesville, Universidade Técnica de Lisboa, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico
Journal: Astronomy & Astrophysics
Volume: 587
No. of pages: 31
ISSN: 0004-6361
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201527160
Publication date: 03-2016
Peer reviewed: Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012: 103003 Astronomy, 103004 Astrophysics
Keywords
ASJC Scopus subject areas: Astronomy and Astrophysics, Space and Planetary Science
Portal url: https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/2f22444d-ff0a-446f-bdd1-4de3f680e8c0