6.7 GHz Methanol Masers Associated with Jets in Very Early High Mass Protostars

Date Issued
2015
Author(s)
Rosero, Viviana
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Claussen, Mark J.
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Kurtz, Stan
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Abstract
6.7 GHz (or class II) methanol masers have been detected exclusively toward high mass star forming regions and may be a tracer of an accretion disk around a highly embedded high mass protostar. Several studies have shown a lack of radio continuum associated with methanol maser emission, which could indicate that these masers are related to the earliest stages of high mass star formation. We recently performed a large, high sensitive (~3-10 uJy) Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) survey to search for radio continuum emission from a sample of hot molecular cores and infrared dark cloud cores, previously undetected in the radio continuum at 1 mJy sensitivity. The morphology and spectrum of most of our radio detections are consistent with being ionized jets. As models of star formation predict that jets are collimated by accretion disks, we have selected 6 prominent examples of ionized jet candidates to study the behavior of the masers with respect to the jet and to understand the role that both disks and jets play in the process of high mass star formation. Using the VLA, we performed simultaneous observations of the radio continuum and the 6.7 GHz methanol maser, obtaining accurate relative positions between them. From the accuracy of our observations, we found that all the methanol masers detected are associated with the radio continuum from the jet. Furthermore, for some sources the maser spots show a linear distribution with a velocity gradient nearly perpendicular to the ionized jet, a further indication of emission from an accretion disk.

Coverage
American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #225
Volume
225
Start page
280
Conferenece
225th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society
Conferenece place
Seattle
Conferenece date
January 2015
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