2023/01/10 by Jones, Olivia C., Nally, Conor, Habel, Nolan +23
#Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA) #FOS: Physical sciences #Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR)
paper · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2301.03932
JWST observations of NGC 346, a star-forming region in the metal-poor Small Magellanic Cloud, reveal a substantial population of sub-solar mass young stellar objects (YSOs) with IR excess. We detected ∼500 YSOs and pre main sequence (PMS) stars from more than 45,000 unique sources utilizing all four NIRCam wide filters with deep, high-resolution imaging, where ongoing low-mass star formation is concentrated along dust filaments. From these observations, we construct detailed near-IR colour-magnitude diagrams with which preliminary categorizations of YSO classes are made. For the youngest, most deeply-embedded objects, JWST/NIRCam reaches over 10 magnitudes below Spitzer observations at comparable wavelengths, and two magnitudes fainter than HST for more-evolved PMS sources, corresponding to ∼0.1 M_\odot. For the first time in an extragalactic environment, we detect embedded low-mass star-formation. Furthermore, evidence of IR excess and accretion suggests that dust required for rocky planet formation is present at metallicities as low as 0.2 Z_\odot.