A HOT MOLECULAR CIRCUMSTELLAR DISK AROUND THE MASSIVE PROTOSTAR ORION SOURCE I

Journal Article · Thu Feb 20 04:00:00 EST 2014 · Astrophysical Journal Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/782/2/L28· OSTI ID:22363980

Hirota, Tomoya; Honma, Mareki ^[1]; Kim, Mi Kyoung ^[2]; Kurono, Yasutaka ^[3]

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1. National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588 (Japan)
2. Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, Hwaam-dong 61-1, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 305-348 (Korea, Republic of)
3. Chile Observatory, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Osawa 2-21-1, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588 (Japan)

We report new Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) observations of a circumstellar disk around Source I in Orion KL, an archetype of massive protostar candidates. We detected two ortho-H{sub 2}O lines at 321 GHz (10{sub 2,} {sub 9}-9{sub 3,} {sub 6}) and 336 GHz (ν{sub 2} = 1, 5{sub 2,} {sub 3}-6{sub 1,} {sub 6}) for the first time in Source I. The latter one is in a vibrationally excited state at the lower state energy of 2939 K, suggesting evidence of hot molecular gas close to Source I. The integrated intensity map of the 321 GHz line is elongated along the bipolar outflow while the 336 GHz line map is unresolved with a beam size of 0.''4. Both of these maps show velocity gradients perpendicular to the bipolar outflow. The velocity centroid map of the 321 GHz line implies a spatial and velocity structure similar to that of vibrationally excited SiO masers tracing the root of the outflow emanating from the disk surface. In contrast, the 336 GHz line is most likely emitting from the disk midplane with a diameter of 0.''2 (84 AU) as traced by radio continuum emission and a dark lane devoid of the vibrationally excited SiO maser emission. The observed velocity gradient and the spectral profile of the 336 GHz H{sub 2}O line can be reconciled with a model of an edge-on ring-like structure with an enclosed mass of >7 M{sub ☉} and an excitation temperature of >3000 K. The present results provide further evidence of a hot and neutral circumstellar disk rotating around Source I with a diameter of ∼100 AU scale.

• OSTI ID: 22363980
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal Letters, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal Letters Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 782; ISSN 2041-8205
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
EXCITATION
EXCITED STATES
GHZ RANGE
MASERS
MASS
MOLECULES
PHOTON EMISSION
PROTOSTARS
SILICON OXIDES
STAR ACCRETION
STARS
SURFACES
VELOCITY