The Population of Compact Radio Sources in the Orion Nebula Cluster

TL;DR

This study provides a comprehensive, high-resolution radio source catalog of the Orion Nebula Cluster, revealing complex emission structures and expanding the known population of compact radio sources significantly.

Contribution

It presents the deepest centimeter-wavelength radio catalog of the ONC, increasing known sources sevenfold and analyzing their spectral and multi-wavelength properties.

Findings

Detected 556 compact radio sources, seven times more than previous catalogs.

Identified complex emission structures across various spatial scales.

Determined spectral indices for 170 sources, enhancing understanding of their emission mechanisms.

Abstract

We present a deep centimeter-wavelength catalog of the Orion Nebula Cluster (ONC), based on a 30h single-pointing observation with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array in its high-resolution A-configuration using two 1 GHz bands centered at 4.7 GHz and 7.3 GHz. A total of 556 compact sources were detected in a map with a nominal rms noise of 3 muJy/bm, limited by complex source structure and the primary beam response. Compared to previous catalogs, our detections increase the sample of known compact radio sources in the ONC by more than a factor of seven. The new data show complex emission on a wide range of spatial scales. Following a preliminary correction for the wideband primary-beam response, we determine radio spectral indices for 170 sources whose index uncertainties are less than +/-0.5. We compare the radio to the X-ray and near-infrared point-source populations, noting similarities and differences.