Cold CO gas in the envelopes of FU Orionis-type young eruptive stars

Abstract

FUors are young stellar objects experiencing large optical outbursts due to highly enhanced accretion from the circumstellar disk onto the star. FUors are often surrounded by massive envelopes, which play a significant role in the outburst mechanism. Conversely, the subsequent eruptions might gradually clear up the obscuring envelope material and drive the protostar on its way to become a disk-only T Tauri star. Here we present an APEX ${}^{12}$CO and ${}^{13}$CO survey of eight southern and equatorial FUors. We measure the mass of the gaseous material surrounding our targets. We locate the source of the CO emission and derive physical parameters for the envelopes and outflows, where detected. Our results support the evolutionary scenario where FUors represent a transition phase from envelope-surrounded protostars to classical T Tauri stars.

5 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in the ApJ

References in corpus (5)

• The Burst Mode of Protostellar Accretion
• Millimeter- and Submillimeter-Wave Observations of the OMC-2/3 Region. III. An Extensive Survey for Molecular Outflows
• Spitzer-IRS Observations of FU Orionis Objects
• Evolution of dust and ice features around FU Orionis objects
• Millimeter- and Submillimeter-Wave Observations of the OMC-2/3 Region; I. Dispersing and Rotating Core around an Intermediate-mass Protostar MMS 7

Cited by in corpus (11)

• The chemistry of episodic accretion in embedded objects. 2D radiation thermo-chemical models of the post-burst phase
• Massive compact disks around FU Orionis-type young eruptive stars revealed by ALMA
• Mass transport from the envelope to the disk of V346 Nor: a case study for the luminosity problem in an FUor-type young eruptive star
• Interferometric view of the circumstellar envelopes of northern FU Orionis-type stars
• An ALMA Study of the FU-Ori Type Object V900 Mon: Implications for the Progenitor
• An APEX study of molecular outflows in FUor-type stars
• APEX Observations of the CO Envelope around the Young FUor-type Star V883 Ori
• The Effelsberg survey of FU Orionis and EX Lupi objects I. -- Host environments of FUors/EXors traced by NH${}_3$
• Molecular inventory of a young eruptive star's environment -- Case study of the classical FU Orionis star V1057 Cyg
• The Effelsberg survey of FU~Orionis and EX~Lupi objects II. -- H${}_2$O maser observations
• Episodic accretion in focus: revealing the environment of FU Orionis-type stars