An Enhanced Spectroscopic Census of the Orion Nebula Cluster

TL;DR

This study provides an updated spectral classification for over 600 stars in the Orion Nebula Cluster using medium-resolution optical spectra, improving the spectral type coverage from 68% to 90%, and highlights spectral variability and accretion activity.

Contribution

It offers a comprehensive, updated spectral catalog for ONC stars with refined classifications and insights into spectral variability and accretion phenomena.

Findings

Increased spectral type coverage from 68% to 90%.

Detected significant spectral variability in several stars.

Approximately 20% of stars show Ca II triplet emission indicating strong accretion.

Abstract

We report new spectral types or spectral classification constraints for over 600 stars in the Orion Nebula Cluster (ONC) based on medium resolution R~ 1500-2000 red optical spectra acquired using the Palomar 200" and Kitt Peak 3.5m telescopes. Spectral types were initially estimated for F, G, and early K stars from atomic line indices while for late K and M stars, constituting the majority of our sample, indices involving TiO and VO bands were used. To ensure proper classification, particularly for reddened, veiled, or nebula-contaminated stars, all spectra were then visually examined for type verification or refinement. We provide an updated spectral type table that supersedes Hillenbrand (1997), increasing the percentage of optically visible ONC stars with spectral type information from 68% to 90%. However, for many objects, repeated observations have failed to yield spectral types primarily due to the challenges of adequate sky subtraction against a bright and spatially variable nebular background. The scatter between our new and our previously determined spectral types is approximately 2 spectral sub-classes. We also compare our grating spectroscopy results with classification based on narrow-band TiO filter photometry from Da Rio et al. (2012, finding similar scatter. While the challenges of working in the ONC may explain much of the spread, we highlight several stars showing significant and unexplained bona fide spectral variations in observations taken several years apart; these and similar cases could be due to a combination of accretion and extinction changes. Finally, nearly 20% of ONC stars exhibit obvious Ca II triplet emission indicative of strong accretion.