273 research outputs found
CO and CH3OH observations of the BHR71 outflows with APEX
Context : Highly-collimated outflows are believed to be the earliest stage in
outflow evolution, so their study is essential for understanding the processes
driving outflows. The BHR71 Bok globule is known to harbour such a
highly-collimated outflow, which is powered by a protostar belonging to a
protobinary system. Aims : We aimed at investigating the interaction of
collimated outflows with the ambient molecular cloud by using molecular
tracers. Methods : We mapped the BHR71 highly-collimated outflow in CO(3-2)
with the APEX telescope, and observed several bright points of the outflow in
the molecular transitions CO(4-3), 13CO(3-2), C18O(3-2), and CH3OH(7-6). We use
an LVG code to characterise the temperature enhancements in these regions.
Results : In our CO(3-2) map, the second outflow driven by IRS2, which is the
second source of the binary system, is completely revealed and shown to be
bipolar. We also measure temperature enhancements in the lobes. The CO and
methanol LVG modelling points to temperatures between 30 and 50K in the IRS1
outflow, while the IRS2 outflow seems to be warmer (up to 300K).Comment: 4 pages, 5 Figures, accepted by A&A Letters, to appear in the APEX
First results special issu
SiO excitation from dense shocks in the earliest stages of massive star formation
Molecular outflows are a direct consequence of accretion, and therefore they
represent one of the best tracers of accretion processes in the still poorly
understood early phases of high-mass star formation. Previous studies suggested
that the SiO abundance decreases with the evolution of a massive young stellar
object probably because of a decay of jet activity, as witnessed in low-mass
star-forming regions. We investigate the SiO excitation conditions and its
abundance in outflows from a sample of massive young stellar objects through
observations of the SiO(8-7) and CO(4-3) lines with the APEX telescope. Through
a non-LTE analysis, we find that the excitation conditions of SiO increase with
the velocity of the emitting gas. We also compute the SiO abundance through the
SiO and CO integrated intensities at high velocities. For the sources in our
sample we find no significant variation of the SiO abundance with evolution for
a bolometric luminosity-to-mass ratio of between 4 and 50 . We
also find a weak increase of the SiO(8-7) luminosity with the bolometric
luminosity-to-mass ratio. We speculate that this might be explained with an
increase of density in the gas traced by SiO. We find that the densities
constrained by the SiO observations require the use of shock models that
include grain-grain processing. For the first time, such models are compared
and found to be compatible with SiO observations. A pre-shock density of
cm is globally inferred from these comparisons. Shocks with a
velocity higher than 25 km s are invoked for the objects in our sample
where the SiO is observed with a corresponding velocity dispersion. Our
comparison of shock models with observations suggests that sputtering of
silicon-bearing material (corresponding to less than 10% of the total silicon
abundance) from the grain mantles is occurring.Comment: Accepted for publication by A&
Multi-line (sub)millimetre observations of the high-mass proto cluster IRAS 05358+3543
Since most high- and intermediate-mass protostars are at great distance and
form in clusters, high linear resolution observations are needed to investigate
their physical properties. To study the gas in the innermost region around the
protostars in the proto-cluster IRAS 05358+3543, we observed the source in
several transitions of methanol and other molecular species with the Plateau de
Bure Interferometer and the Submillimeter Array, reaching a linear resolution
of 1100 AU. We determine the kinetic temperature of the gas around the
protostars through an LVG and LTE analysis of their molecular emission; the
column densities of CH3OH, CH3CN and SO2 are also derived. Constrains on the
density of the gas are estimated for two of the protostellar cores. We find
that the dust condensations are in various evolutionary stages. The powerhouse
of the cluster, mm1a, harbours a hot core with T~220 (75<T<330) K. A
double-peaked profile is detected in several transitions toward mm1a, and we
found a velocity gradient along a linear structure which could be perpendicular
to one of the outflows from the vicinity of mm1a. Since the size of the
double-peaked emission is less than 1100 AU, we suggest that mm1a might host a
massive circumstellar disk. The other sources are in earlier stages of star
formation. The least active source, mm3, could be a starless massive core,
since it is cold (T<20 K), with a large reservoir of accreting material (M ~ 19
M_\odot), but no molecular emission peaks on it.Comment: 16 pages, 10 figures, accepted by A&
H2CO and CH3OH maps of the Orion Bar photodissociation region
A previous analysis of methanol and formaldehyde towards the Orion Bar
concluded that the two molecular species may trace different physical
components, methanol the clumpy material, and formaldehyde the interclump
medium. To verify this hypothesis, we performed multi-line mapping observations
of the two molecules to study their spatial distributions. The observations
were performed with the IRAM-30m telescope at 218 and 241 GHz, with an angular
resolution of ~11''. Additional data for H2CO from the Plateau de Bure array
are also discussed. The data were analysed using an LVG approach.
Both molecules are detected in our single-dish data. Our data show that CH3OH
peaks towards the clumps of the Bar, but its intensity decreases below the
detection threshold in the interclump material. When averaging over a large
region of the interclump medium, the strongest CH3OH line is detected with a
peak intensity of ~0.06K. Formaldehyde also peaks on the clumps, but it is also
detected in the interclump gas. We verified that the weak intensity of CH3OH in
the interclump medium is not caused by the different excitation conditions of
the interclump material, but reflects a decrease in the column density of
methanol. The abundance of CH3OH relative to H2CO decreases by at least one
order of magnitude from the dense clumps to the interclump medium.Comment: 11 pages, accepted for publication in A&
The evolutionary state of the southern dense core Cha-MMS1
Aims: Our goal is to set constraints on the evolutionary state of the dense
core Cha-MMS1 in the Chamaeleon I molecular cloud. Methods: We analyze
molecular line observations carried out with the new submillimeter telescope
APEX. We look for outflow signatures around the dense core and probe its
chemical structure, which we compare to predictions of models of gas-phase
chemistry. We also use the public database of the Spitzer Space Telescope (SST)
to compare Cha-MMS1 with the two Class 0 protostars IRAM 04191 and L1521F,
which are at the same distance. Results: We measure a large deuterium
fractionation for N2H+ (11 +/- 3 %), intermediate between the prestellar core
L1544 and the very young Class 0 protostar L1521F. It is larger than for HCO+
(2.5 +/- 0.9 %), which is probably the result of depletion removing HCO+ from
the high-density inner region. Our CO(3-2) map reveals the presence of a
bipolar outflow driven by the Class I protostar Ced 110 IRS 4 but we do not
find evidence for an outflow powered by Cha-MMS1. We also report the detection
of Cha-MMS1 at 24, 70 and 160 microns by the instrument MIPS of the SST, at a
level nearly an order of magnitude lower than IRAM 04191 and L1521F.
Conclusions: Cha-MMS1 appears to have already formed a compact object, either
the first hydrostatic core at the very end of the prestellar phase, or an
extremely young protostar that has not yet powered any outflow, at the very
beginning of the Class 0 accretion phase.Comment: Accepted by Astronomy & Astrophysics as a letter, to appear in the
special issue on the APEX first result
Water and acetaldehyde in HH212: The first hot corino in Orion
Aims: Using the unprecedented combination of high resolution and sensitivity
offered by ALMA, we aim to investigate whether and how hot corinos,
circumstellar disks, and ejected gas are related in young solar-mass
protostars. Methods: We observed CHCHO and deuterated water (HDO)
high-excitation ( up to 335 K) lines towards the Sun-like protostar
HH212--MM1. Results: For the first time, we have obtained images of CHCHO
and HDO emission in the inner 100 AU of HH212. The multifrequency line
analysis allows us to contrain the density ( 10 cm),
temperature ( 100 K), and CHCHO abundance ( 0.2--2
10) of the emitting region. The HDO profile is asymmetric at low
velocities ( 2 km s from ). If the HDO line is
optically thick, this points to an extremely small ( 20--40 AU) and dense
( 10 cm) emitting region. Conclusions: We report the first
detection of a hot corino in Orion. The HDO asymmetric profile indicates a
contribution of outflowing gas from the compact central region, possibly
associated with a dense disk wind.Comment: Astronomy & Astrophysics Letter, in pres
Detection of 6.7 GHz methanol absorption towards hot corinos
Methanol masers at 6.7 GHz have been found exclusively towards high-mass star
forming regions. Recently, some Class 0 protostars have been found to display
conditions similar to what are found in hot cores that are associated with
massive star formation. These hot corino sources have densities, gas
temperatures, and methanol abundances that are adequate for exciting strong 6.7
GHz maser emission. This raises the question of whether 6.7 GHz methanol masers
can be found in both hot corinos and massive star forming regions, and if not,
whether thermal methanol emission can be detected. We searched for the 6.7 GHz
methanol line towards five hot corino sources in the Perseus region using the
Arecibo radio telescope. To constrain the excitation conditions of methanol, we
observed thermal submillimeter lines of methanol in the NGC1333-IRAS 4 region
with the APEX telescope. We did not detect 6.7 GHz emission in any of the
sources, but found absorption against the cosmic microwave background in
NGC1333-IRAS 4A and NGC1333-IRAS 4B. Using a large velocity gradient analysis,
we modeled the excitation of methanol over a wide range of physical parameters,
and verify that the 6.7 GHz line is indeed strongly anti-inverted for densities
lower than 10^6 cm^-3. We used the submillimeter observations of methanol to
verify the predictions of our model for IRAS 4A by comparison with other CH3OH
transitions. Our results indicate that the methanol observations from the APEX
and Arecibo telescopes are consistent with dense (n ~ 10^6 cm^-3), cold (T ~
15-30 K) gas. The lack of maser emission in hot corinos and low-mass
protostellar objects in general may be due to densities that are much higher
than the quenching density in the region where the radiation field is conducive
to maser pumping.Comment: Accepted by A&
High mass star formation in the IRAS 17233-3606 region: a new nearby and bright hot core in the southern sky
We present molecular line observations of the massive star forming region
IRAS 17233-3606 aimed at studying the molecular core associated with the
source. The observations were made using the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment
telescope in the CO (3-2) and HCO^+ (4-3) transitions, and in the CH_3OH
(6_K-5_K), (7_K-6_K) and CH_3CN (16_K-15_K) bands. For the CO(3-2) and HCO^+
(4-3) transitions, we obtained maps with a size of 70''\times 70''. The typical
angular resolution of the data is ~18''. Our observations reveal an
exceptionally rich molecular spectrum, a signpost of hot core activity.
Comparisons with two other prominent southern hot cores were made through
observations in the same frequency setups. We also detected a bipolar outflow
in CO (3-2) and HCO^+ (4-3) lines. Modelling reveals a hot core of size ~3''
and a temperature of 150 K in the IRAS17233-3606 region. The parameters of the
molecular outflow are derived through the analysis of the CO (3-2) emission,
and are typical of outflows driven by high-mass young stellar objects.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figures (plus 8 figures as Online material), accepted by
A&
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