A 10,000 YEAR OLD EXPLOSION IN DR21
- Centro de Radioastronomia y Astrofisica, UNAM, Apdo. Postal 3-72 (Xangari), 58089 Morelia, Michoacan (Mexico)
- Max-Planck-Institut fuer Radioastronomie, Auf dem Huegel 69, D-53121 Bonn (Germany)
- Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Taipei, Taiwan (China)
- Instituto de Astronomia, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Ap. 70-264, 04510 DF (Mexico)
Sensitive high angular resolution ({approx}2'') CO(2-1) line observations made with the Submillimeter Array of the flow emanating from the high-mass star-forming region DR21 located in the Cygnus X molecular cloud are presented. These new interferometric observations indicate that this well known enigmatic outflow appears to have been produced by an explosive event that took place about 10,000 years ago, and that might be related to the disintegration of a massive stellar system such as the one that occurred in Orion Becklin-Neugebauer/Kleinman-Low 500 years ago, but about 20 times more energetic. This result therefore argues in favor of the idea that the disintegration of young stellar systems perhaps is a frequent phenomenon present during the formation of massive stars. However, many more theoretical and observational studies are still needed to confirm our hypothesis.
- OSTI ID:
- 22130838
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 765, Issue 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 2041-8205
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
DISCOVERY OF AN EXPANDING MOLECULAR BUBBLE IN ORION BN/KL
EXPLOSIVE DISINTEGRATION OF A MASSIVE YOUNG STELLAR SYSTEM IN ORION