NGC 7538 IRS. 1. Interaction of a polarized dust spiral and a molecular outflow

Journal Article · Mon Dec 01 04:00:00 EST 2014 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/796/2/112· OSTI ID:22370155

Wright, M. C. H.; Hull, Charles L. H. ^[1]; Pillai, Thushara ^[2]; Zhao, Jun-Hui ^[3]; Sandell, Göran ^[4]

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1. Department of Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States)
2. Max Planck Institut für Radioastronomie, Auf dem Hügel 69, D-53121 Bonn (Germany)
3. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)
4. SOFIA-USRA, NASA Ames Research Center, MS 232-12, Building N232, Room 146, PO Box 1, Moffett Field, CA 94035-0001 (United States)

We present dust polarization and CO molecular line images of NGC 7538 IRS 1. We combined data from the Submillimeter Array, the Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-wave Astronomy, and the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope to make images with ∼2.''5 resolution at 230 and 345 GHz. The images show a remarkable spiral pattern in both the dust polarization and molecular outflow. These data dramatically illustrate the interplay between a high infall rate onto IRS 1 and a powerful outflow disrupting the dense, clumpy medium surrounding the star. The images of the dust polarization and the CO outflow presented here provide observational evidence for the exchange of energy and angular momentum between the infall and the outflow. The spiral dust pattern, which rotates through over 180° from IRS 1, may be a clumpy filament wound up by conservation of angular momentum in the infalling material. The redshifted CO emission ridge traces the dust spiral closely through the MM dust cores, several of which may contain protostars. We propose that the CO maps the boundary layer where the outflow is ablating gas from the dense gas in the spiral.

• OSTI ID: 22370155
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 796; ISSN ASJOAB; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
ANGULAR MOMENTUM
ASTRONOMY
BOUNDARY LAYERS
CARBON MONOXIDE
DUSTS
EMISSION
INTERACTIONS
MAGNETIC FIELDS
MAPS
MOLECULES
POLARIZATION
PROTOSTARS
RED SHIFT
SPECTRA
STARS
TELESCOPES