Empirical determination of Einstein A-coefficient ratios of bright [Fe II] lines

The Einstein spontaneous rates (A-coefficients) of Fe+ lines have been computed by several authors with results that differ from each other by up to 40%. Consequently, models for line emissivities suffer from uncertainties that in turn affect the determination of the physical conditions at the base of line excitation. We provide an empirical determination of the A-coefficient ratios of bright [Fe II] lines that would represent both a valid benchmark for theoretical computations and a reference for the physical interpretation of the observed lines. With the ESO-Very Large Telescope X-shooter instrument between 3000 Å and 24700 Å, we obtained a spectrum of the bright Herbig-Haro object HH 1. …

The diagnostic potential of Fe lines applied to protostellar jets

We investigate the diagnostic capabilities of the iron lines for tracing the physical conditions of the shock-excited gas in jets driven by pre-main sequence stars. We have analyzed the 300-2500 nm X-shooter spectra of two jets driven by the pre-main sequence stars ESO-Halpha 574 and Par-Lup 3-4. Both spectra are very rich in [FeII] lines over the whole spectral range; in addition, lines from [FeIII] are detected in the ESO-H\alpha 574 spectrum. NLTE codes along with codes for the ionization equilibrium are used to derive the gas excitation conditions of electron temperature and density, and fractional ionization. The iron gas-phase abundance is provided by comparing the iron lines emissivi…

An X-shooter survey of star forming regions: Low-mass stars and sub-stellar objects

We present preliminary results of our X-shooter survey in star forming regions. In this contribution we focus on sub-samples of young stellar and sub-stellar objects (YSOs) in the Lupus star forming region and in the TW Hya association. We show that the X-shooter spectra are suitable for conducting several parallel studies such as YSO + disk fundamental parameters, accretion and outflow activity in the very low-mass (VLM) and sub-stellar regimes, as well as magnetic activity in young VLM YSOs, and Li abundance determinations. The capabilities of X-shooter in terms of wide spectral coverage, resolution and limiting magnitudes, allow us to assess simultaneously the accretion/outflow, magnetic…

Accretion-ejection connection in the young brown dwarf candidate ISO-ChaI 217*

As the number of observed brown dwarf outflows is growing it is important to investigate how these outflows compare to the well-studied jets from young stellar objects. A key point of comparison is the relationship between outflow and accretion activity and in particular the ratio between the mass outflow and accretion rates (Ṁout/Ṁacc). The brown dwarf candidate ISO-ChaI 217 was discovered by our group, as part of a spectro-astrometric study of brown dwarfs, to be driving an asymmetric outflow with the blue-shifted lobe having a position angle of ~20°. The aim here is to further investigate the properties of ISO-ChaI 217, the morphology and kinematics of its outflow, and to better constrai…

The diagnostic capability of iron limes