First Abundance Measurement of Organic Molecules in the Atmosphere of HH 212 Protostellar Disk

HH 212 is one of the well-studied protostellar systems, showing the first vertically resolved disk with a warm atmosphere around the central protostar. Here we report a detection of 9 organic molecules (including newly detected ketene, formic acid, deuterated acetonitrile, methyl formate, and ethanol) in the disk atmosphere, confirming that the disk atmosphere is, for HH 212, the chemically rich component, identified before at a lower resolution as a "hot-corino". More importantly, we report the first systematic survey and abundance measurement of organic molecules in the disk atmosphere within $\sim$ 40 au of the central protostar. The relative abundances of these molecules are similar to those in the hot corinos around other protostars and in Comet Lovejoy. These molecules can be either (i) originally formed on icy grains and then desorbed into gas phase or (ii) quickly formed in the gas phase using simpler species ejected from the dust mantles. The abundances and spatial distributions of the molecules provide strong constraints on models of their formation and transport in star formation. These molecules are expected to form even more complex organic molecules needed for life and deeper observations are needed to find them.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure

A Rotating Disk in the HH 111 Protostellar System

The HH 111 protostellar system is a young Class I system with two sources, VLA 1 and VLA 2, at a distance of 400 pc. Previously, a flattened envelope has been seen in C18O to be in transition to a rotationally supported disk near the VLA 1 source. The follow-up study here is to confirm the rotationally supported disk at 2-3 times higher angular resolutions, at ~ 0.3" (or 120 AU) in 1.33 mm continuum, and ~ 0.6" (or 240 AU) in 13CO (J=2-1) and 12CO (J=2-1) emission obtained with the Submillimeter Array. The 1.33 mm continuum emission shows a resolved dusty disk associated with the VLA 1 source perpendicular to the jet axis, with a Gaussian deconvolved size of ~ 240 AU. The 13CO and 12CO emissions toward the dusty disk show a Keplerian rotation, indicating that the dusty disk is rotationally supported. The density and temperature distributions in the disk derived from a simple disk model are found to be similar to those found in bright T-Tauri disks, suggesting that the disk can evolve into a T-Tauri disk in the late stage of star formation. In addition, a hint of a low-velocity molecular outflow is also seen in 13CO and 12CO coming out from the disk.Comment: 16 pages including 5 figure

A Change of Rotation Profile in the Envelope in the HH 111 Protostellar System: A Transition to a Disk?

The HH 111 protostellar system consists of two Class I sources (VLA 1 and 2) with putative disks deeply embedded in a flattened envelope at a distance of 400 pc. Here is a follow-up study of this system in C18O (J=2-1), SO (N_J = 5_6-4_5), and 1.33 mm continuum at ~ 1" (400 AU) resolution, and it may show for the first time how a rotationally supported disk can be formed inside an infalling envelope. The 1.33 mm continuum emission is seen arisen from both sources, likely tracing the dusty putative disks around them. In particular, the emission around the VLA 1 source is elongated in the equatorial plane with a radius of ~ 300 AU. The envelope is well seen in C18O, extending to ~ 7000 AU out from the VLA 1 source, with the innermost part overlapping with the dusty disk. It has a differential rotation, with the outer part (~ 2000-7000 AU) better described by a rotation that has constant specific angular momentum and the inner part (~ 60-2000 AU) by a Keplerian rotation. The envelope seems to also have some infall motion that is smaller than the rotation motion. Thus, the material in the outer part of the envelope seems to be slowly spiraling inward with its angular momentum and the rotation can indeed become Keplerian in the inner part. A compact SO emission is seen around the VLA 1 source with a radius of ~ 400 AU and it may trace a shock such as an (inner) accretion shock around the disk.Comment: 22 pages, 7 figure